Joe K's Medical & Rehab Costs
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WHO WE ARE AND WHO THIS FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN IS FOR
This site is created by church friends of the Joe Kotoch family of Fitchburg MA to help defray their expenses related to Joe’s recent debilitating stroke. Those expenses are for the emergency medical treatment (3 weeks in the ICU), the rehab period at a residential facility (3-4 months at least, and probably longer), and the renovations that will be needed to allow their apartment to accommodate a wheelchair and someone with limited mobility. These are described in more detail below.
Joseph Kotoch is a 68-year-old Lebanese Christian (that's him on the right in front of the white-haired woman) who emigrated to the U.S. in the 70s as a young man and married Pamela, an American woman from West Virginia. They settled down and raised their two sons, Jason and Gregory, in New England. Joe was eventually joined here by his sister, Marie, and their brother, Artie, and they now all live next door to each other in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
When his wife’s father was hospitalized in 2005, Joe was impressed with the love expressed by his father-in-law’s church. After attending for a while, Joe’s faith became more personal, and he was baptized and became a member of Bethany Baptist Church in Gardner, MA in 2006.
Before moving to the states, Joe had planned to enter the ministry (Greek Orthodox church), even as he and his family were being persecuted for their Christian faith in Lebanon. He speaks several Middle Eastern languages and has been a great resource to others for that reason.
Joe, Pam and Greg have been faithful members of Bethany Baptist Church in Gardner, MA, for the past 9 years. Even though he doesn’t read music, he is a member of the choir who often blesses the congregation with his haunting vocal solos. He also accompanies the worship team on drums. Joe is known for his mischievous sense of humor and ability to make others laugh. (This is a rare photo where he's not smiling!)
On September 21st, Joe attended an evening Bible study with another church member and seemed perfectly fine then. But during the middle of the night, he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain), the type that the doctors believe is inter-cerebral and causes right-sided weakness. He has been in the ICU since entering the hospital in Worcester, MA, on 9/22/15, where he’s had two surgeries so far: the first to relieve the pressure on his brain, the second to remove a ventilator and perform a tracheotomy. In between those, he also suffered a heart attack; fortunately, he was in the ICU then and they were able to deal with that event immediately and effectively.
THE FAMILY’S FINANCIAL SITUATION
Joe has been a jack-of-all-trades over the years, often self-employed, and most recently his sole proprietorship business has taken him to China and Canada. Pam is no longer able to work outside the home due to a severe case of emphysema and is on disability. Joe and Pam own a three-family apartment building in Fitchburg, where they have been living on the second floor, along with Pam’s disabled sister. They have struggled to maintain this older dwelling, especially when they had empty apartments with no income coming in.
Because of his employment situation, Joe and Pam are seriously underfunded for health insurance. Although he is on Medicare, he is not enrolled in any other supplemental Medicare programs. Pam is on disability and Medicare, but that does not always able pay for the medications needed to treat her condition. She is determined to improve her own health as much as she can so she will have the strength and endurance to care for her husband during his convalescence.
For these reasons, and out of Christian love and compassion, their church family at Bethany Baptist Church has risen to the occasion in many ways. Members are taking meals to the family home on a regular basis. Volunteers from the church are now working on the house to remodel the first floor (whose tenants had moved out shortly before this episode, thus freeing up that space and showing God’s Providential care in an important yet simple way) so Joe can live there when he’s able to return home. This needs to be completed as soon as possible so their belongings can be moved to the first floor and the 2nd floor apartment rented out to bring in needed income.
HOW THE FUNDS WILL BE USED
Home Renovations
Joe always performed the maintenance on the apartment building, but it’s an older structure with many deficiencies: drafty windows, oil heat, and a leaky roof, to name just a few of the most significant ones. These problems cause extremely high heating bills in the New England winters. Because of his age and financial situation, he’s been unable to address the most serious problems, but if Joe is going to be able to return to his home eventually, those problems must be taken care of so more money doesn’t fly out the window with the escaping heat.
So far, the church work crew has fixed the leaky roof and have replacedthe bathtub with a shower that has a seat, an undertaking that requires a significant amount of plumbing and associated supplies. To help reduce the high heating costs, the oil furnace must be converted to natural gas; that entails a total replacement of the existing system. New heat-retaining windows must replace the old drafty ones, of which there are around 5-6 per floor. The crew has refinished the floors and painted the downstairs apartment. A ramp also needs to be built from the top of the driveway to the back porch steps to accommodate a wheel chair, and the door will have to be widened there for the same reason. All of these needed changes significantly exceed their normal budget and income. The current rough estimate is at least $10,000.
In the face of the mounting medical expenses, and because Joe will be unable to resume his business dealings for the foreseeable future, Pam and Joe are looking at a significant shortfall to pay for either the medical treatments -- which eventually will include his extended residence in a rehabilitation home – or the remodeling effort, never mind both! The church is contributing what it can to help out, but these expenses far exceed what is usually available through the Deacon Fund for church members. Funds for the remodeling just needed so the volunteers can purchase the materials and pay the contractors when they are needed (e.g., for the furnace replacement).
Medical Expenses
Joe was been in the ICU at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester MA, an excellent healthcare facility, for 4 weeks. The ICU costs $2000/day. He was on a ventilator that helped him breathe until that was replaced by a tracheotomy on 10/8. Since then, after being heavily sedated so he wouldn't fight the ventilator, he has regained consciousness and is aware of his surroundings. Joe is still unable to speak and was not responding to English initially; however, the attending physician in the ICU spoke Arabic, which he could understand, and he was able to communicate with the physician in a limited way. We have learned that, even though he still can’t speak, he can respond to jokes with facial expressions.
In mid-October, Joe was moved to a residential rehabilitation facility week where he will begin physical and speech therapy. The cost of the rehab facility is not quite as expensive as the ICU, but he will be there for at least 3-4 months, before moving to a different facility that requires fewer medical resources as his condition continues to improve.
By 11/20/15, Joe had improved enough to be moved to The Highlands, another rehabilitation facility in his hometown of Fitchburg. That was good news for his family, as they live about two blocks away from the new place. There, he will continue daily speech and physical therapy. The facility's hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Joe loves to receive visitors. He's normally a very active man, so this enforced inactivity is very hard for him.
Please continue to lift up the whole family in prayer. The work remodeling work on their home also continues apace, and the family is so thankful for the donations they have received from their church family and others.
All of these facilities and treatments are extremely expensive and are not all covered by Medicare.
For all these reasons, Joe’s friends at Bethany Baptist Church have set up this GoFundMe site to help the family pay for the house remodeling and medical expenses. We pray that all who read this background information will prayerfully consider contributing whatever amount is comfortable for you in your own circumstances to help this brother-in-Christ and all-around good guy. We will be extremely grateful for all contributions to help defray these enormous expenses. All contributions received will go directly to the family.
This site is created by church friends of the Joe Kotoch family of Fitchburg MA to help defray their expenses related to Joe’s recent debilitating stroke. Those expenses are for the emergency medical treatment (3 weeks in the ICU), the rehab period at a residential facility (3-4 months at least, and probably longer), and the renovations that will be needed to allow their apartment to accommodate a wheelchair and someone with limited mobility. These are described in more detail below.
Joseph Kotoch is a 68-year-old Lebanese Christian (that's him on the right in front of the white-haired woman) who emigrated to the U.S. in the 70s as a young man and married Pamela, an American woman from West Virginia. They settled down and raised their two sons, Jason and Gregory, in New England. Joe was eventually joined here by his sister, Marie, and their brother, Artie, and they now all live next door to each other in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
When his wife’s father was hospitalized in 2005, Joe was impressed with the love expressed by his father-in-law’s church. After attending for a while, Joe’s faith became more personal, and he was baptized and became a member of Bethany Baptist Church in Gardner, MA in 2006.
Before moving to the states, Joe had planned to enter the ministry (Greek Orthodox church), even as he and his family were being persecuted for their Christian faith in Lebanon. He speaks several Middle Eastern languages and has been a great resource to others for that reason.
Joe, Pam and Greg have been faithful members of Bethany Baptist Church in Gardner, MA, for the past 9 years. Even though he doesn’t read music, he is a member of the choir who often blesses the congregation with his haunting vocal solos. He also accompanies the worship team on drums. Joe is known for his mischievous sense of humor and ability to make others laugh. (This is a rare photo where he's not smiling!)
On September 21st, Joe attended an evening Bible study with another church member and seemed perfectly fine then. But during the middle of the night, he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain), the type that the doctors believe is inter-cerebral and causes right-sided weakness. He has been in the ICU since entering the hospital in Worcester, MA, on 9/22/15, where he’s had two surgeries so far: the first to relieve the pressure on his brain, the second to remove a ventilator and perform a tracheotomy. In between those, he also suffered a heart attack; fortunately, he was in the ICU then and they were able to deal with that event immediately and effectively.
THE FAMILY’S FINANCIAL SITUATION
Joe has been a jack-of-all-trades over the years, often self-employed, and most recently his sole proprietorship business has taken him to China and Canada. Pam is no longer able to work outside the home due to a severe case of emphysema and is on disability. Joe and Pam own a three-family apartment building in Fitchburg, where they have been living on the second floor, along with Pam’s disabled sister. They have struggled to maintain this older dwelling, especially when they had empty apartments with no income coming in.
Because of his employment situation, Joe and Pam are seriously underfunded for health insurance. Although he is on Medicare, he is not enrolled in any other supplemental Medicare programs. Pam is on disability and Medicare, but that does not always able pay for the medications needed to treat her condition. She is determined to improve her own health as much as she can so she will have the strength and endurance to care for her husband during his convalescence.
For these reasons, and out of Christian love and compassion, their church family at Bethany Baptist Church has risen to the occasion in many ways. Members are taking meals to the family home on a regular basis. Volunteers from the church are now working on the house to remodel the first floor (whose tenants had moved out shortly before this episode, thus freeing up that space and showing God’s Providential care in an important yet simple way) so Joe can live there when he’s able to return home. This needs to be completed as soon as possible so their belongings can be moved to the first floor and the 2nd floor apartment rented out to bring in needed income.
HOW THE FUNDS WILL BE USED
Home Renovations
Joe always performed the maintenance on the apartment building, but it’s an older structure with many deficiencies: drafty windows, oil heat, and a leaky roof, to name just a few of the most significant ones. These problems cause extremely high heating bills in the New England winters. Because of his age and financial situation, he’s been unable to address the most serious problems, but if Joe is going to be able to return to his home eventually, those problems must be taken care of so more money doesn’t fly out the window with the escaping heat.
So far, the church work crew has fixed the leaky roof and have replacedthe bathtub with a shower that has a seat, an undertaking that requires a significant amount of plumbing and associated supplies. To help reduce the high heating costs, the oil furnace must be converted to natural gas; that entails a total replacement of the existing system. New heat-retaining windows must replace the old drafty ones, of which there are around 5-6 per floor. The crew has refinished the floors and painted the downstairs apartment. A ramp also needs to be built from the top of the driveway to the back porch steps to accommodate a wheel chair, and the door will have to be widened there for the same reason. All of these needed changes significantly exceed their normal budget and income. The current rough estimate is at least $10,000.
In the face of the mounting medical expenses, and because Joe will be unable to resume his business dealings for the foreseeable future, Pam and Joe are looking at a significant shortfall to pay for either the medical treatments -- which eventually will include his extended residence in a rehabilitation home – or the remodeling effort, never mind both! The church is contributing what it can to help out, but these expenses far exceed what is usually available through the Deacon Fund for church members. Funds for the remodeling just needed so the volunteers can purchase the materials and pay the contractors when they are needed (e.g., for the furnace replacement).
Medical Expenses
Joe was been in the ICU at the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester MA, an excellent healthcare facility, for 4 weeks. The ICU costs $2000/day. He was on a ventilator that helped him breathe until that was replaced by a tracheotomy on 10/8. Since then, after being heavily sedated so he wouldn't fight the ventilator, he has regained consciousness and is aware of his surroundings. Joe is still unable to speak and was not responding to English initially; however, the attending physician in the ICU spoke Arabic, which he could understand, and he was able to communicate with the physician in a limited way. We have learned that, even though he still can’t speak, he can respond to jokes with facial expressions.
In mid-October, Joe was moved to a residential rehabilitation facility week where he will begin physical and speech therapy. The cost of the rehab facility is not quite as expensive as the ICU, but he will be there for at least 3-4 months, before moving to a different facility that requires fewer medical resources as his condition continues to improve.
By 11/20/15, Joe had improved enough to be moved to The Highlands, another rehabilitation facility in his hometown of Fitchburg. That was good news for his family, as they live about two blocks away from the new place. There, he will continue daily speech and physical therapy. The facility's hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Joe loves to receive visitors. He's normally a very active man, so this enforced inactivity is very hard for him.
Please continue to lift up the whole family in prayer. The work remodeling work on their home also continues apace, and the family is so thankful for the donations they have received from their church family and others.
All of these facilities and treatments are extremely expensive and are not all covered by Medicare.
For all these reasons, Joe’s friends at Bethany Baptist Church have set up this GoFundMe site to help the family pay for the house remodeling and medical expenses. We pray that all who read this background information will prayerfully consider contributing whatever amount is comfortable for you in your own circumstances to help this brother-in-Christ and all-around good guy. We will be extremely grateful for all contributions to help defray these enormous expenses. All contributions received will go directly to the family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Carolyn Abbott
Organizer
Westminster, MA
Louis Gagne Jr.
Beneficiary
