The Fragile Line
Donation protected
On the day we were to fly home to Portland, Oregon from a beautiful gathering of the Power Sisters and their husbands in The Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland, Steve was admitted at Galway Clinic private hospital for emergency surgery for a dangerously infected massive appendix. Left to heal in Kinvara, Co. Galway, we have had to cancel all work for June (or longer), extend the car rental, hotel, food and costs of living that go with daily needs and post-surgery medical costs. The policy for care of private patients in Ireland from outside the country requires prepayment before admission. There's more to the story, that was just the beginning, but the short version is that what had started out as a family celebration turned into a life-threatening event that set us back dearly and ate up our savings in a matter of days.
We are in a modest room that is serving us well at Kinvara Guesthouse within steps of markets, pharmacy, and the medical clinic for the duration of our stay. It remains to be seen how much, if any, of the medical bill will be reimbursed. The surgeon in Galway will remove Steve's twenty-seven staple-stitches in a few days, and then he will need at least a week, possibly more, to endure the long flight home without danger. It is a slow and very painful process because the muscle was cut deeply to extract the infected area.
We are homesick for our life and all who wait for us back home, and we are incredibly thankful for Steve's life, our family and community at home, and our dear friends who have encircled us here to support us in this little Irish village we love so much.
Thank you for any help you can offer without distress. It's not easy to ask for this kind of help, but we trust you to know that your contribution will go a long way to ease the trauma of medical economics in the unexpected life-or-death turning point in Steve's fate. If he had boarded that plane on time, he might not have survived.
Steve's recovery is worth more than money, and however we figure out how to pay the bills, it will be worth it - to me, to our family, and to the people in our community who know and love him for all that he has given each of us over the years.
Take heart, and please accept our thanks for the many ways you enrich the life we get to share.
(Photo thanks to Elizabeth Campbell)
We are in a modest room that is serving us well at Kinvara Guesthouse within steps of markets, pharmacy, and the medical clinic for the duration of our stay. It remains to be seen how much, if any, of the medical bill will be reimbursed. The surgeon in Galway will remove Steve's twenty-seven staple-stitches in a few days, and then he will need at least a week, possibly more, to endure the long flight home without danger. It is a slow and very painful process because the muscle was cut deeply to extract the infected area.
We are homesick for our life and all who wait for us back home, and we are incredibly thankful for Steve's life, our family and community at home, and our dear friends who have encircled us here to support us in this little Irish village we love so much.
Thank you for any help you can offer without distress. It's not easy to ask for this kind of help, but we trust you to know that your contribution will go a long way to ease the trauma of medical economics in the unexpected life-or-death turning point in Steve's fate. If he had boarded that plane on time, he might not have survived.
Steve's recovery is worth more than money, and however we figure out how to pay the bills, it will be worth it - to me, to our family, and to the people in our community who know and love him for all that he has given each of us over the years.
Take heart, and please accept our thanks for the many ways you enrich the life we get to share.
(Photo thanks to Elizabeth Campbell)
Organizer
Kate Power
Organizer
Portland, OR
