Team Dadinator

Many of you know my parents. Many of you lived at our house at some point. Many of you call my Mom, "Mom". Many of you know she would be there for you in a second. Most of you know what I put them through as a rotten kid.  Most of you know that my dad has worked his tail off for his family for the past 38 years. Before he was a family man, he'd had had a job since he was 15 years old. If you know my Dad, you know he's my hero. You know he works harder than anyone I know. If you know my parents, you know that this NOT what they would want me to be doing, and I assume that most of you will understand why. Most of you know I would do anything for my parents. No one wants to be here, but here is where they are. This is so personal and private and I know most of these go fund me pages are set up for amazing purposes. I wish that I was setting one up to help feed hungry people, to shelter a homeless person or some other amazing cause. That's not why, but this is just as important to me. (And hey, why not give it a try, I've seen $27,000 raised to help someone get a pool in their backyard and one for someone who wants to fly to Betty White's location and protect her. That one has raised $9000.) I am as uncomfortable doing it as my parents are going to be when they receive the money. So.... here it goes! 

A bit of a backstory for those that don't know....

My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006, and colo-rectal cancer in 2009. He worked every day through his chemo and radiation treatments. He had a surgery (2010) to remove the tumor and praise God is in remission for the colo-rectal cancer. Because the prostate cancer has metastasize to his bones he will not be in remission, but praise God again is doing pretty well. My mom has been right by his side through all of this, and it's been awesome for us to watch their love for each other transform and grow. 

In 2012, my Dad had a major heart attack and had a couple of stents put in. Then, as the Superman he is, he went back to work. 

He took a fall at work in 2015 and was taken to the hospital with a banged up face and a broken humerus. It was a pretty gnarly break, but with his heart condition, they didn't want to perform surgery. He was in a sling for a while and not supposed to do much work, but again, if you know my Dad, you know how that went. 

All this happened and he still continued to work every day. Until he was laid off a few months ago. If you know my Dad, you know that I've always said, when that man stops working, he's gonna start slowing down a ton. 

Well he has. 

Last week, he had an angiogram and the Dr drew a picture for my parents. The picture shows 13 spots that are being blocked. (Including the two stents put in previously.) He needs to have open heart surgery ASAP. Although, he has insurance and a lot of this will be covered, there will be some cost. He is unable to look for another job at the moment and he wouldn't be able to work right now anyway. 

Bills are staking up, savings has been depleted, and social security barely covers the house payment. My mom works part time as an in home care aid, but that doesn't pay much and she has had to be home a lot more to be with my dad. 

This is the strangest place I've been in, and if you know me, lol, that's saying a lot. I can't help. I can't make it better. I can't pay their bills. I can't take away the sadness or feeling of despair. I can't take away the discomfort they are gonna feel when they find out I've done this. I hate this.

What I CAN DO is, I can pray. I can set this page up. Whether it's to add to the list of people we have praying or get them some financial comfort. Without going in to great detail about their home life and mental state at the moment, I'm here, humbly, uncomfortably, asking for help. 

If you are in a position to help, please do. If you aren't, that's ok! Please pray for my family!

Thank you for taking the time to read and share this.