Ramps are too expensive - let's pour a sidewalk!!!

****GOAL HAS BEEN REACHED****

Thank you all! - your support means the world! ❤️

So much has happened in the 2 months since my last update! I'll fill you in in a moment. I'd first like to say Thank you from the bottom of my humbled heart for all you've done to help me get that temporary ramp up and in place for several months! It was decided to return the ramp when I was recommended to go to a skilled rehab facility as an inpatient. Meaning I'd be away from home for a while and wouldn't be using the ramp. Remember it cost $570/monthly to keep it rented and in place. $570 more than I could afford, and since I wasn't even home, the decision was made to remove it - since we all thought that after rehab I'd be up walking again and wouldn't need it.

Life had other plans though. Just when we thought all was well with the foot healing nicely, what we couldn't see was the bone infection destroying what was left of my foot.

In a follow up appointment with my podiatrist, she sent me for a CT scan and saw the damage being done. My options were

1. Continue to fight the infection with strong antibiotics - which is not good for my transplanted kidney.

2. A Below the knee (BtK) amputation.

It didn't take long for me to decide it would be best for my overall health to go with option 2, the BtK amputation.

My podiatrist sent me to the ER (her practice is inside St Mary's Trinity - Livonia). I was admitted and saw the vascular surgeon she highly recommended. I was heavily bloated with excess water weight from a combination of factors. My kidney function had plummeted from the antibiotics being pumped into me, and the three surgeries to my foot caused some of it also. The surgeon did two surgeries, the first was to amputate just above the ankle to stop the spread of the bone infection. He wanted to wait until all of the swelling went down to do the BtK amputation so that the wound closure would be cleaner and not be affected by the swelling going down. After his BtK surgery, my kidney function was still not good, so I transferred to Beaumont Royal Oak's kidney floor so I could be seen by the team that performed my transplant. It took a lot of adjusting meds and giving me diuretics to get rid of the bloating (I went from 349 pounds at the time of check-in to 298 at discharge!). The Prosthetic people saw me right after surgery and said once the staples are removed they can start fitting me for a Prosthetic leg. Those appointments are set up for next week (5/15). I will still need the wheelchair for quite some time as they never know how long the fitting process will last. Also, if there are issues with it not fitting correctly, I'll need to use the wheelchair while they adjust the prosthetic. I have a temporary ramp set up at my side door, it isn't ADA compliant because the slope is too steep for me to be able to use alone, so for now I need someone to push me up and down the ramp. Since installing a permanent ramp is too expensive - super expensive. I got quotes to pour a cement sidewalk from my driveway to my front door. If that gets done, I can easily get a small threshold ramp to get from the sidewalk into my front door, and then I'd be able to independently get in and out of the house.

I know I've asked a lot, and you all have overwhelming responded with help when I needed to get a ramp up quickly, and paid for a few months of the rental costs, so I feel super guilty asking for more, but I'm going to anyway . This will be a permanent solution that will enable me to get to and from appointments and visit family on my own terms and not rely on someone to push me everywhere I need to go.

I've gotten 3 quotes so far, and they range from 2,000 to 4,200. The lower priced quote has excellent ratings, so I'm going to reset this fundraiser and set the goal to $2,000. Thank you again for all of your help thus far, and I completely understand if you are not able to give more at this time. I love you all for the love and support you've shown me thus far.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️