Jerry's Medical Bills
Donation protected
He thought he had a touch of the flu and called in. When he couldn't walk, he blew it off as a bit of weakness and didn't think to tell me. When I found him hours later, he was crawling, had a high fever, and insisted he didn't need a doctor. It took four hours to get him down one set of stairs to the dining room. By this time, he had fallen three times and was having trouble answering me. Ignoring his protests, I called 911 for the first time in my life. I watched him fade as men and women began filling my house, checking his vitals, working on pushing snow out of the way and figuring out how to best get him out of the house. I stood there, trying to control the tears, as I watched them strap my husband onto a gurney and take him the thirty miles to the hospital.
Jerry spent nearly a week in the hospital, diagnosed with sepsis. The infections had started in his feet and legs and spread upwards, affecting his kidneys. His heart had been monitored for days to check for damage, and had somehow escaped unscathed. I spent days and nights watching him, struggling to walk just a few steps, bathing him in bed, listening to doctors describe how dangerous the infections had been. In short, he could have died. It would be a long process to find healing, to settle his high blood pressure and diabetes and recover his strength. He would need to do physical therapy, see specialists, have more testing over the next few months.
I was thrilled my husband of just three and a half years was still with me. We would still have more years ahead of us. More picnics by the lake. More playing board games with friends. More movies and popcorn and silly songs on the couch. More playing with the cats and discussing books and walks in the twilight.
I knew what else was lying ahead of us, too, though. Medical bills. His job didn't offer insurance, and we could never afford a decent national plan for him, so I had just taken a new full-time job so I could get insurance that would cover him. Jerry went into the hospital on February 3. The new insurance would cover him on March 1. Over the short month of February, we quickly amassed nearly $40,000 of medical bills between the ambulance, different doctors, radiologists, ultrasound technicians, specialists, and the hospital stay. We are still getting more bills every day, and I'm not sure what the final settlements will be--more or less. The hospital has already adjusted the bill down nearly $20k, which is a surprising blessing of its own.
We have applied for state aid, but it's not looking hopeful. In the meantime, we need to be making payments, and while most of the billers are allowing us to make very low monthly payments, one is insisting on very high payments (about 20% of our current income) or we'll be reported to collections in six months. Jerry is on medical leave from his one full-time job, and the other is part-time, minimum wage, and his hours keep getting cut. We're pretty much dependent on my income right now, and the help of family to keep ends met.
Neither of us thought this would happen. Neither of us ever wanted to be in the position where we would have to be asking for help for something like this. Still, we know that there are people out there who love us, who want to help, and we shouldn't close that door when the likelihood of having all this debt land at our feet is so high.
If you feel led to help us out, our humble thankfulness knows no limits. If you can't afford to, just your prayers are more than enough. We can use those just as much if not more. Thank you so much for loving us. We love you, too.
Jerry spent nearly a week in the hospital, diagnosed with sepsis. The infections had started in his feet and legs and spread upwards, affecting his kidneys. His heart had been monitored for days to check for damage, and had somehow escaped unscathed. I spent days and nights watching him, struggling to walk just a few steps, bathing him in bed, listening to doctors describe how dangerous the infections had been. In short, he could have died. It would be a long process to find healing, to settle his high blood pressure and diabetes and recover his strength. He would need to do physical therapy, see specialists, have more testing over the next few months.
I was thrilled my husband of just three and a half years was still with me. We would still have more years ahead of us. More picnics by the lake. More playing board games with friends. More movies and popcorn and silly songs on the couch. More playing with the cats and discussing books and walks in the twilight.
I knew what else was lying ahead of us, too, though. Medical bills. His job didn't offer insurance, and we could never afford a decent national plan for him, so I had just taken a new full-time job so I could get insurance that would cover him. Jerry went into the hospital on February 3. The new insurance would cover him on March 1. Over the short month of February, we quickly amassed nearly $40,000 of medical bills between the ambulance, different doctors, radiologists, ultrasound technicians, specialists, and the hospital stay. We are still getting more bills every day, and I'm not sure what the final settlements will be--more or less. The hospital has already adjusted the bill down nearly $20k, which is a surprising blessing of its own.
We have applied for state aid, but it's not looking hopeful. In the meantime, we need to be making payments, and while most of the billers are allowing us to make very low monthly payments, one is insisting on very high payments (about 20% of our current income) or we'll be reported to collections in six months. Jerry is on medical leave from his one full-time job, and the other is part-time, minimum wage, and his hours keep getting cut. We're pretty much dependent on my income right now, and the help of family to keep ends met.
Neither of us thought this would happen. Neither of us ever wanted to be in the position where we would have to be asking for help for something like this. Still, we know that there are people out there who love us, who want to help, and we shouldn't close that door when the likelihood of having all this debt land at our feet is so high.
If you feel led to help us out, our humble thankfulness knows no limits. If you can't afford to, just your prayers are more than enough. We can use those just as much if not more. Thank you so much for loving us. We love you, too.
Organizer
Tamara Frost
Organizer
Green City, MO
