Recovery Fund for the Lackie Family
Donation protected
My name is Todd Lackie. On October 22, 2013, everything changed. While I was at my office for a late meeting, a friend came and told me that my wife (Paula Adams Lackie) had been hit by a car while walking our dog. When I arrived at the hospital, I found Paula dazed and confused. She did not know her phone number, our address, her birthdate, etc. Doctors worked with her assessing the damage. I knew something was dreadfully wrong when she asked me to call her grandma. She called her every night for years and did not want her to be worried if she didn't call. Unfortunately, Paula's grandma had passed away almost 11 months before this night.
Paula was diagnosed with a Grade 3 concussion and spent 5 days in the hospital with physical therapy and more assessment. She could barely walk and was in need of more intensive physical and occupational therapy. She spent the next 5 months in PT and OT. Paula worked hard to finish the programming and improve her condition as much as possible.
While the physical difficulties of standing, walking, getting in and out of bed improved some over those months, the cognitive, vestibular, and seizure issues remained. The cognitive impairments range from dyscalculia like symptoms (inability to use numbers) to partial amnesia (loss of people, events, places, etc.) to difficulty with executive function (order and organization). The vestibular issues range from vertigo to dizziness to balance to fixation suppression. She developed exotropia (eyes going out/opposite of cross-eyed) from the trauma to the head which have made the balance and vertigo issues worse. She has also suffered from seizures which have recently escalated in intensity and frequency.
We were told initially that cognitive improvement would happen in 3 weeks. Then we were told it would take 3 months. Then we were told we would need to prepare because it might never change, and she would just need to get used to it. The thought that she might never remember the birth of our son, think upon the last days of her grandma, count past 12, or pick a familiar face out of a crowd is overwhelming. Even today, 19 months later, she continues to work toward cognitive improvement with more hard work and more therapy.
The seizures are the scariest thing that we are dealing with today. They began as olfactory seizures where she would smell something burning, and we would search the whole house only to find nothing. Recently she had a more severe seizure where she became disoriented and blanked out. She lost a whole evening and then she had another one the following evening. As a result, she was bedridden for the next several days. We had been told this could happen, and it has.
Paula has worked all of her life with over 20 years in the optical field. In fact in March of 2013, she started working at the best job she ever had. She enjoyed the workplace, her co-workers, the hours, her pay, etc. Needless to say, since she cannot return to work, she no longer has her favorite job. It is hard to imagine what job a college graduate who can only count to 12 could get. We have applied for SSDI but will not find out their ruling for another 4 months. Few people are approved on the first try however. We never imagined we'd be in this position.
Our auto insurance which was covering medical expenses and wage loss has stopped covering anything. We are now on our own as far as expenses and therapies above what our health insurance will cover. Some of the treatments/diagnostics Paula needs are not covered by our health insurance at all.
Our health insurance has a cap on the number of PT/OT sessions you can use per year. Paula will soon start vestibular therapy (3 times/week), and we will only have 10 weeks available this calendar year. All therapies after that will be our financial responsibility. The vestibular therapy will cost us around $60/session now and about $300/session when we have exceeded our allowed visits (or $1700/week). Paula just stopped cognitive therapy because it is not covered by our insurance and would cost around $1500/week.
The cost of treatment is incredible. One of Paula's meds is an anticonvulsant that costs us $590/month and is not covered by insurance. She will need new glasses for the exotropia in a few months which cost $600, and the neuro-ophthalmologist said they will need to be changed several times a year. She also receives multiple injections for pain in her head and back that cost almost $300 per incident after insurance. This does not even include copay, deductible, coinsurance, or other meds.
Our goal is to raise enough money ($90,000) through this campaign to cover medical expenses we have accrued, the expense of current and future treatment, and some of our debt. We have made adjustments in our life by cutting back on expenses where possible and paying down our debt. We want to be able to function on my salary. We lost almost 40% of our income when we lost Paula's salary. If we reach our goal, we will be able to keep our house and live a modest life. We do not desire luxury, only security.
I serve as a minister in Michigan with a wonderful church family. Their support, prayers, and encouragement have helped us make it this far. We developed this gofundme campaign as to not burden them. If you are one of our church family, we appreciate all the help you have given us and ask that you not contribute to this fund. We love you all and could not have made it this far without you.
To everyone else out there, thank you in advance for any and all donations. Anything you can contribute is helpful. Feel free to share or forward this post on your social media. Even if you are not able to contribute, all prayers are welcome. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to read our appeal. We don't know if this will work, but we remain hopeful.
Sincerely,
Todd and Paula Lackie
P.S.
Buddy, our dog, was not hit and was lying by Paula when she was found. Since the accident he seldom leaves her side. Also, Paula still cannot remember her grandma's last days, the birth of our 20 year old son, and she can still only count to 12. Finally, the person who hit Paula was never apprehended.
Paula was diagnosed with a Grade 3 concussion and spent 5 days in the hospital with physical therapy and more assessment. She could barely walk and was in need of more intensive physical and occupational therapy. She spent the next 5 months in PT and OT. Paula worked hard to finish the programming and improve her condition as much as possible.
While the physical difficulties of standing, walking, getting in and out of bed improved some over those months, the cognitive, vestibular, and seizure issues remained. The cognitive impairments range from dyscalculia like symptoms (inability to use numbers) to partial amnesia (loss of people, events, places, etc.) to difficulty with executive function (order and organization). The vestibular issues range from vertigo to dizziness to balance to fixation suppression. She developed exotropia (eyes going out/opposite of cross-eyed) from the trauma to the head which have made the balance and vertigo issues worse. She has also suffered from seizures which have recently escalated in intensity and frequency.
We were told initially that cognitive improvement would happen in 3 weeks. Then we were told it would take 3 months. Then we were told we would need to prepare because it might never change, and she would just need to get used to it. The thought that she might never remember the birth of our son, think upon the last days of her grandma, count past 12, or pick a familiar face out of a crowd is overwhelming. Even today, 19 months later, she continues to work toward cognitive improvement with more hard work and more therapy.
The seizures are the scariest thing that we are dealing with today. They began as olfactory seizures where she would smell something burning, and we would search the whole house only to find nothing. Recently she had a more severe seizure where she became disoriented and blanked out. She lost a whole evening and then she had another one the following evening. As a result, she was bedridden for the next several days. We had been told this could happen, and it has.
Paula has worked all of her life with over 20 years in the optical field. In fact in March of 2013, she started working at the best job she ever had. She enjoyed the workplace, her co-workers, the hours, her pay, etc. Needless to say, since she cannot return to work, she no longer has her favorite job. It is hard to imagine what job a college graduate who can only count to 12 could get. We have applied for SSDI but will not find out their ruling for another 4 months. Few people are approved on the first try however. We never imagined we'd be in this position.
Our auto insurance which was covering medical expenses and wage loss has stopped covering anything. We are now on our own as far as expenses and therapies above what our health insurance will cover. Some of the treatments/diagnostics Paula needs are not covered by our health insurance at all.
Our health insurance has a cap on the number of PT/OT sessions you can use per year. Paula will soon start vestibular therapy (3 times/week), and we will only have 10 weeks available this calendar year. All therapies after that will be our financial responsibility. The vestibular therapy will cost us around $60/session now and about $300/session when we have exceeded our allowed visits (or $1700/week). Paula just stopped cognitive therapy because it is not covered by our insurance and would cost around $1500/week.
The cost of treatment is incredible. One of Paula's meds is an anticonvulsant that costs us $590/month and is not covered by insurance. She will need new glasses for the exotropia in a few months which cost $600, and the neuro-ophthalmologist said they will need to be changed several times a year. She also receives multiple injections for pain in her head and back that cost almost $300 per incident after insurance. This does not even include copay, deductible, coinsurance, or other meds.
Our goal is to raise enough money ($90,000) through this campaign to cover medical expenses we have accrued, the expense of current and future treatment, and some of our debt. We have made adjustments in our life by cutting back on expenses where possible and paying down our debt. We want to be able to function on my salary. We lost almost 40% of our income when we lost Paula's salary. If we reach our goal, we will be able to keep our house and live a modest life. We do not desire luxury, only security.
I serve as a minister in Michigan with a wonderful church family. Their support, prayers, and encouragement have helped us make it this far. We developed this gofundme campaign as to not burden them. If you are one of our church family, we appreciate all the help you have given us and ask that you not contribute to this fund. We love you all and could not have made it this far without you.
To everyone else out there, thank you in advance for any and all donations. Anything you can contribute is helpful. Feel free to share or forward this post on your social media. Even if you are not able to contribute, all prayers are welcome. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to read our appeal. We don't know if this will work, but we remain hopeful.
Sincerely,
Todd and Paula Lackie
P.S.
Buddy, our dog, was not hit and was lying by Paula when she was found. Since the accident he seldom leaves her side. Also, Paula still cannot remember her grandma's last days, the birth of our 20 year old son, and she can still only count to 12. Finally, the person who hit Paula was never apprehended.
Organizer
Todd Lackie
Organizer
Farmington, MI
