Ankylosing Spondylitis and Young Children

Dylan Clark, from Castlewood SD, is 26 years old with a wife and 2 children under 2.  Dylan owned his own company, DC Construction, and was a volunteer fireman, he loved a fish and hunt; although he can go fishing maybe on a good day most days he struggles to do activities of daily living. Up until the birth of his youngest in November he got up every morning and suffered every day to provide for his family. His back pain has slowly became  worse and worse to the point he cannot work anymore and will more likely never be able to work again.

He was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis 2 years ago after years and years of doctor’s appointments and treatments that failed. This is an inflammatory disease that, over time, causes the vertebrae in the spine to fuse making the spine much less flexible and can result in a hunched-forward posture and debilitating pain. In Dylan’s case the disease has spread to the hip joints and up into the rib cage as well which, over time, can make it difficult to breath. This can also start to affect his eyes and his heart. There is no cure and all but 2 treatments have been exhausted with no relief. His next option was a spinal stimulator to interrupt the pain signal from the back to in brain but has had no relief. The only other option is a narcotic pain pump.

He has checkups for his stimulator every 2 weeks. The family has taken a huge cut in their income.  On May 10th, his wife Alicia injured her back at work and was out of work for over the month. The family had no income to speak of as work comp was not paying. She was forced to go back to work even though her injury was not healed. She still has Physical Therapy 3 time a week, an MRI and checkups every 2 weeks. She has gone back to work part time to try and keep up. 

This family is in need to help cover medical expenses, household expenses, and child care. Dylan cannot care for the kids at home while Alicia works. Anything that can be spared will be greatly appreciated.