Hello, my name is Scott Crowe and I am a 64 year old disabled carpenter, married to Penny, a 74 year old retiree and quilter who is the joy of my life and the very reason I am both alive today and filled with hope and happiness regardless of our situation.

After battling terrible chronic pain and osteoporosis for over 2 decades, due to 4 failed brain surgeries, we found ourselves up against our biggest fight yet. One thing it is important to know is that we fight medical trauma, by staying busy, and helping family, friends and others by building, sewing and anything else that gives freely without talking about it or asking for anything in return.  It keeps me out of my pain and into not thinking about my problems. 

Unfortunately , recently I was diagnosed with stage 4 spinal cancer, which took away the use of my legs a short while later.  Because of great medical help including an operation that is slowly reversing some of my paralysis we were sent home from the UPMC hospital system, including the Mercy Spinal Cord Trauma Unit, to gather ourselves for this new fight.

We were overwhelmed by the paralysis on top of the cancer and by how much we needed and how little our insurance pays for these necessities.  I am living in our basement sewing room, formerly a 1 car garage, as I am unable to use our first and second floors, due to a lack of ramps or wheelchair lift (both excluded from insurance coverage) and without use of a bathroom or shower. The steep basement stairs are dangerous for my wife and only caregiver, who has to travel up and down many times a day carrying food and other necessities. I am grateful I remodeled this area, but being sort of claustrophobic due to the brain surgeries I can say it’s not ideal.

We are in need of a wheelchair van as I am in a 500 lb wheelchair and additional help to make our home wheelchair accessible and useful with things like a ramps or lift, bathroom and shower, hard surface floors to accommodate the wheelchair.  Note:  We found a van for a very good price.  Penny's brother lent us the money to purchase the van before it was sold to someone else. We have to repay that loan.

There isn’t enough room to express the kind, thoughtless, loving bravery my wife pours out, without ever complaining, and I mean never.  I am lucky in so many ways I can’t count them. Asking for help from others is just not in our makeup, but we are in a terrible place without any other alternatives but to do just that.  So, I humbly ask anyone who knows us and knows what we are like to help us in anyway you can and, good wishes and prayers  count too, as I believe they fuel the fire of hope that have carried us this far.  I ask for help for us both with the utmost humility knowing how many are in need right now. 

I thank you for listening and sincerely thank anyone and anything that eases our situation. Please take care of yourselves and most importantly stake care of each other.   May health and happiness find you all.  No gesture or good wish is to small or unimportant. 

Sincerely, and God Bless,

Scott Crowe