Medical Expenses for Brian
Donation protected
Brian has always been the main provider for his family. A family man who is present every second he's not on the road working. Track meets, Volleyball Games, Choir Shows, Band Concerts, parent nights, birthday parties, weekends at home, you name it... You can always count to see him cheering everyone on, especially his Gem, Kylie.
While he does pay for monthly insurance through the health care exchange, after an injury like this there are a ton of medical expenses we need to cover in addition to the deductible and out of pocket limits with our policy.
I never thought I would be starting a go fund me for our family. I've done many of these in the past for various friends and family emergencies and toys for tots, but never for us. It really is humbling, but I need to put my pride aside and do what I need to do to help my husband.
I don't want him stressed out about money when he needs to be focused on his recovery.
What happened to Brian?
For those of you who don't know.
On Friday, November 29 we prepared to spend the evening at a friend's house for a Friendsgiving celebration. We all brought something to the gathering. Most important ourselves and the friendship we share. We spent the evening eating, laughing, drinking, playing card games and singing, while the kids played.
Brian went outside to smoke a cigarette. Then he walked back inside to wind down the night. He tripped on air, or that's what it seems like. He was walking inside on a flat surface with no spills or things in the way. He fell forward and his face top right head portion caught the bottom step of the stairs into the main portion of our friend's house.
He did not have a stroke, it wasn't his sugar or blood pressure.
He immediately could not feel his legs or lower body. He was taken by ambulance to the first hospital where they did a CAT scan before they helicoptered him over to a hospital that has a unit that specializes in Spine Trauma. November 30th after an MRI he went into surgery to remove a few discs that were injured to help relieve some of the pressure on the spine. He had a plate put in to help support his spine better.
on December 1 he was moving his lower extremities slightly and his left arm was beginning to function better. December 2 he was feeding himself steak fries with his left hand and able to baby grip a cup in his hands to drink from a cup with a lid.
December 3 by 5:30 pm the ambulance was there to take him to a rehabilitation center that has a unit that specializes in spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
December 4th when I came to visit he was in pt therapy. when I saw him in a wheelchair my knees buckled. It's better than a bed for sure, but I can't get the image of me trying to pull him off the dance floor 10 days ago on our cruise because he wanted to keep dancing.
This pt session was an evaluation to see how much they could do with him during his regular 3-hour sessions. They stood him up between the bars and with a lot of struggle he was able to take some steps.
He has a long road ahead of him in his recovery and I plan on being there every step of the way. The facility is about an hour away from us. I want to be there all day but he does NOT want me driving back and forth to pick up kylie to come see him. So today I sit at home in my office wanting to be there in physical therapy cheering him on until Kylie gets out of school.
Everyone asks how I'm feeling so here it goes:
1. I feel sucker-punched like really really freaking hard right in the chest.
2. Humbled beyond all measures, ever have to fill out a disability form for your husband? That sucked, but hey I'm happy he is alive!
3. A mess: but a great friend reminded me yesterday that I have been training for this my whole life and she is right.
The doctor told him yesterday that if he had landed a few inches away towards the center of his head we would not be sending him recovery wishes but planning his funeral instead.
I am so overwhelmed with all things right now trying to make it by day by day without letting him know how broken I really am. I find the strength to only shed a few tears in front of kylie because she is already anxious and sad enough.
I am blessed to have such a great support system <3 I am thankful for all of your prayers and good luck wishes.
Life is so precious and time is not promised, my friends. Yesterday I had to listen to him telling the psychologist that his biggest fear is not seeing Kylie grow up, not being there for her games, graduations, wedding, etc. That broke me. Brian is a business owner, a busy one, volunteers as the President of our Homeowners association and he always made time to go to every game, race, show possible. So present every day and night. Home feels so empty without him here. I know he is where he needs to be.
While he does pay for monthly insurance through the health care exchange, after an injury like this there are a ton of medical expenses we need to cover in addition to the deductible and out of pocket limits with our policy.
I never thought I would be starting a go fund me for our family. I've done many of these in the past for various friends and family emergencies and toys for tots, but never for us. It really is humbling, but I need to put my pride aside and do what I need to do to help my husband.
I don't want him stressed out about money when he needs to be focused on his recovery.
What happened to Brian?
For those of you who don't know.
On Friday, November 29 we prepared to spend the evening at a friend's house for a Friendsgiving celebration. We all brought something to the gathering. Most important ourselves and the friendship we share. We spent the evening eating, laughing, drinking, playing card games and singing, while the kids played.
Brian went outside to smoke a cigarette. Then he walked back inside to wind down the night. He tripped on air, or that's what it seems like. He was walking inside on a flat surface with no spills or things in the way. He fell forward and his face top right head portion caught the bottom step of the stairs into the main portion of our friend's house.
He did not have a stroke, it wasn't his sugar or blood pressure.
He immediately could not feel his legs or lower body. He was taken by ambulance to the first hospital where they did a CAT scan before they helicoptered him over to a hospital that has a unit that specializes in Spine Trauma. November 30th after an MRI he went into surgery to remove a few discs that were injured to help relieve some of the pressure on the spine. He had a plate put in to help support his spine better.
on December 1 he was moving his lower extremities slightly and his left arm was beginning to function better. December 2 he was feeding himself steak fries with his left hand and able to baby grip a cup in his hands to drink from a cup with a lid.
December 3 by 5:30 pm the ambulance was there to take him to a rehabilitation center that has a unit that specializes in spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
December 4th when I came to visit he was in pt therapy. when I saw him in a wheelchair my knees buckled. It's better than a bed for sure, but I can't get the image of me trying to pull him off the dance floor 10 days ago on our cruise because he wanted to keep dancing.
This pt session was an evaluation to see how much they could do with him during his regular 3-hour sessions. They stood him up between the bars and with a lot of struggle he was able to take some steps.
He has a long road ahead of him in his recovery and I plan on being there every step of the way. The facility is about an hour away from us. I want to be there all day but he does NOT want me driving back and forth to pick up kylie to come see him. So today I sit at home in my office wanting to be there in physical therapy cheering him on until Kylie gets out of school.
Everyone asks how I'm feeling so here it goes:
1. I feel sucker-punched like really really freaking hard right in the chest.
2. Humbled beyond all measures, ever have to fill out a disability form for your husband? That sucked, but hey I'm happy he is alive!
3. A mess: but a great friend reminded me yesterday that I have been training for this my whole life and she is right.
The doctor told him yesterday that if he had landed a few inches away towards the center of his head we would not be sending him recovery wishes but planning his funeral instead.
I am so overwhelmed with all things right now trying to make it by day by day without letting him know how broken I really am. I find the strength to only shed a few tears in front of kylie because she is already anxious and sad enough.
I am blessed to have such a great support system <3 I am thankful for all of your prayers and good luck wishes.
Life is so precious and time is not promised, my friends. Yesterday I had to listen to him telling the psychologist that his biggest fear is not seeing Kylie grow up, not being there for her games, graduations, wedding, etc. That broke me. Brian is a business owner, a busy one, volunteers as the President of our Homeowners association and he always made time to go to every game, race, show possible. So present every day and night. Home feels so empty without him here. I know he is where he needs to be.
Organizer
Maria La Duca
Organizer
Paradise Township, PA