Urgent Home Care Needed for Chris Claiborne

2024 NEW DIAGNOSIS

My brother, Chris Claiborne, was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson's Disease about 7 years ago and has been valiantly fighting to maintain a 'normal' life while this debilitating disease has made even the smallest daily tasks extremely difficult for him. For more information on the initial diagnosis, see "Original Story" below.

Chris recently received some unfortunate news regarding his diagnosis. He saw a new neurologist last week to find out why the Deep Brain Stimulation is not helping him, as he is rapidly declining, with more issues daily. The doctor believes that he has a very rare disease called MSA-P, Multiple System Atrophy-Parkinsonian type. It is very similar to Parkinson's, and often misdiagnosed as PD, and the treatment is essentially the same, except the DBS does NOT help. We are all heartbroken to hear this news, but it explains a lot.

Chris needs home health care, and moving into Assisted Living is on the horizon. We are working on Longterm Care options and finances, but there is a 90 day waiting period for the insurance to be available, and the SSDI could take up to 6 months and he needs help NOW. With the exhorbitant prices of care (which shocked me!!!) I'd love to be able to offer him a bit of relief from the financial stresses he is under, as he has enough stress just getting through each day. We've set up care for 4 hours per day, but he REALLY needs 8 -- he has been falling daily and has been to the ER for stitches, staples, etc A LOT in the past few months.

We are reopening this campaign -- if you already donated, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I humbly ask that you share this with anyone who you know that knows Chris and may be in a position to help. Again, we are exhausting insurance options and have filed for Social Security Disability Insurance and just need a buffer until aid kicks in. Please help us by sharing this with others, tagging people who know Chris on social media ... anything you can do to help me get the word out.

Thank you in advance; we appreciate each and every one of you SO VERY MUCH.

Shawna Claiborne Sprowls and Julie Claiborne Careaga

Original story:

5 years ago my brother, Chris Claiborne, was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson's Disease, aka Young Onset Parkinson's Disease. We didn't know a lot about the disease, but what we did know wasn't encouraging. He'd spent a year trying to figure out what was going on after noticing that, when running on the treadmill, his arm was just hanging abnormally, rather than swinging back and forth. He was told that he'd likely need a walker within 5 years and there was not much that could be done, aside from medication to alleviate the various symptoms that would shortly arise. Not encouraging, to say the least.

Fast-forward to 2023 and my brother is two weeks past his surgeries and procedures to install Deep Brain Stimulation -- a new procedure that helps control tremors with a brain implant that is programmed and adjusted by remote control. First was brain surgery to implant the device, then a separate surgery to install the battery pack. So far, the results are encouraging, and there is hope that he may soon be able to decrease some of the many medications which cause myriad issues, compounding his constant state of pain and discomfort.

While we are all thrilled with the progress, and the possibilities, the cost of these procedures is also debilitating. Fortunately, Chris has health insurance, and a kind and understanding employer that enables him to take the time off he needs, the costs have completely drained his resources. The costs are well over $100,000 and rising. If you can help, all funds raised will be used exclusively for medical bills and any extra funds raised will be donated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation.