Heilman Family Medical Costs

I am Laura Rustad and I am trying to help ease the burden of medical debt for my daughter, Tara, and her family. They still have close to $100,000 in medical debt and due to the the health issues of my granddaughters it will only keep accumulating. I am grandma to 3 little girls, Zoey(6), Jada(5) and Lexi(3). 

At the age of 1, Zoey received a diagnosis of periodic fever syndrome. Every monthshe would spike a high fever and it would last about a week. She would have swollen glands and tonsils and fevers up to 106,which were very hard to even control with fever reducing medication. The first month it happened an ambulance was called due to the fever spiking from 98 to 106 in under 10 minutesand also resulted in a seizure. She is also dealing with other health issues that we do not have answers for yet. In May, she had emergency surgery to remove her appendix and last year at the age of 5 she was diagnosed with epilepsy, along with both of her sisters.

At the age of 1, Jada was diagnosed with epilepsy. It’s been an ongoing battle trying to control the seizures. She is on her 5th medication and had struggles while switching over. The breakthrough seizures got worse and she started choking and vomiting in her sleep. Last year she also had surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids and currently has had to go to weekly OT appointments. They have now been told she has refractory epilepsy which means it’s hard to control. She has been referred to Mayo in Rochester for further testing. 

Lexi, the youngest of the 3, was diagnosed with juevenile rheumatoid arthritis justbefore her 1st birthday. They think it started at just 6 months old. They have to travel to Madison to get her the care she needs. Shortly after the diagnosis she was also diagnosed with epilepsy. For a while, the seizures weren’t controlled very well and she had to go on 2 seizure medications and earlier this year she had a 3 day hospital stay in Madison for an EEG. Due to the arthritis she had to go through physical and occupational therapy so that she could learn to walk and use her hands. For months she was unable to straighten one of her legs. She was put on methotrexate injections(chemo) to control the arthritis. She was still unable to straighten her leg and had to have a joint injection in Madison. She has had to have a few to get rid of swelling and have fluid taken out. Due to rheumatoid arthritis being an autoimmune disorder, it has caused other issues. She had to have a colonoscopy at the age of 2, has had broken bones and seen many specialists. It not only affects her joints but also her organs. Earlier this year she had a bad flare up and was put on a 2nd injection to control it. 

As you can imagine, this has all taken a toll on them, financially, physically and mentally. My daughter also has autoimmune diseases and due to the history of seizures and autoimmune the chances are slim that any of this will get better any time soon. With Jada’s recent referral to Mayo they will have bills coming in from a 3rd hospital., not to mention the several prescriptions they have to pay for every month. We greatly appreciate and thank you for any help that is given. Thank you for taking the time to read their story. - Laura