One Heart, One Beat, One Goal,Joel!

As a friend, I am reaching out for this amazing family who is facing an extreme uphill battle and the uncertainty of  continued health for one of their beloved.  

Megan and Joel are two people who once you meet you will want to know and have on your list of friends.  They are both bright smiled and beaming.  Always the life of the party and never letting the daily grind get them down.  Megan and Joel can often be found dancing together late into the night, they have never lost the spark for each other. 

They were married, bought a home in South Milwaukee, and had a beautiful daughter named Laila.  She is now 6 years old.  This past year, they welcomed another baby girl, Clara.  They were ecstatic! 

Megan, a social worker, was plugging along to graduate with her Master's in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee this Fall and Joel was working overtime to support her effort to complete her schooling. 

On Monday, November 16th  2015,  Megan recieved a call while she was at work that Joel blacked out while he was working.   She rushed over to pick him up and took him to the Emergency Room.   It was confirmed after a CT scan that Joel had a brain tumor.

Joel was immediately admitted and taken into the intensive care unit.   He is awaiting surgury on the tumor which is scheduled for 11/20/15.  A drainage tube was administered to alleviate the pressure that was building up in the intracranial space. 

The family will not know if the tumor is malignant until the tumor is sent for testing post surgery. 

Megan and Joel are asking for financial donations as he is unable to work to support the family at this time and he is ineligible for any vacation pay, short term disability, or long-term disability benefits due to his length of employment with the new employer.   Joel began working for his current employer 8 months prior to this occurence which puts him outside the range of qualification for these benefits.

Megan reduced her hours with her employer to 20 hours per week prior to this incident in order to complete her Master's in Social Work.  She was planning on returning to a full-time status upon completion of her degree.  

Megan and Joel have always relied on both of their incomes to support their costs of living.  Due to the estimated time of recovery for Joel being at a minimum of 60 days, Megan will need assistance in order to avoid financial hardship.

Megan and Joel have a dream for their family and they were very close to achieving it.  If we all pull together to get them through this tough period, Megan will be able to finsih her degree and resume full-time employment and earn an income far greater than if she is not able to complete her schooling.

Let us all join together to keep Megan in school, the family in their home, Laila stable in her school, and allow for Joel to have that peace of mind that his family is well cared for so he can focus on recovery.

The family thanks you for all of your kindness and consideration in their time of need.