Deanna Luce

Hi, my name is Deanna, and I am reaching out with a desperate plea for help for my husband, Craig. At the beginning of September, my husband got sick. He began to feel tired, weak, and forgetful. He became unable to perform simple tasks, such as carrying groceries from the car, without feeling like he had just run a 5 K race. At first, we thought it might be covid and he took several tests that were all negative. He began losing strength in his legs and noticed numbness in his lower abdomen down to his thighs. Within weeks, he couldn’t feel anything from his navel to his ankles, then he started falling because he couldn’t feel anything. We went through weeks of hospital stays, endless tests, and countless tears, only to be sent home twice without answers. I refused to accept that nothing could be done. He could no longer walk or even get up from a chair. I fought to keep him in care, but every test came back “negative.” Finally, after several hospitalizations and pushing for answers, we got the strangest diagnoses we never thought we would hear, and definitely not the one we wanted. My husband tested positive for West Nile Virus antibodies, meaning he had been infected. Though it was no longer an active virus, it triggered a rare autoimmune disorder called Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). For my husband, his body began attacking the nerves in his spine causing his muscles to no longer receive signals from his brain. GBS causes the body’s immune system to attack the nerves. It’s like his body’s electrical wiring is shot. He is now partially paralyzed and will be in a wheelchair for the foreseeable future. After weeks in a rehabilitation facility, he will be coming home on November 10th, and we are completely unprepared for this new reality. We have spent nearly all of our savings over the last three months on hospital stays, specialists, co-pays, and medical equipment that insurance wouldn’t cover. We are humbly asking for help to make our home safe and accessible so my husband can live with dignity and continue his recovery at home. Our Goals for Funding ($15,000) 1. Bariatric Electric Wheelchair (400+ lbs) and vehicle carry attachment. 2. Wheelchair Ramp – Our porch is extremely high so the ramp will have to be long or built in sections. 3. Lowering the Front Door Threshold – Our doorway is too high to safely roll a wheelchair across. 4. Widening the Bedroom Doorway – The current 28” door needs to be replaced with a 36” door for wheelchair access. 5. Modifying the Shower – We need to lower the 6” step to allow him to enter safely. 6. Home Physical Therapy Equipment – A small home gym or therapy station so he can continue the daily rehab exercises that have helped him regain strength. Every donation, no matter how small, brings us closer to getting our home ready for him to come back safely and continue fighting for his mobility. This has been the hardest and most terrifying time of our lives. My husband is a proud, hardworking man, and now we need help to make our home livable for him. If you can donate, share, or simply send prayers and encouragement, please know it means more than words can express. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Deanna L. https://cash.app/$DeL222 Paypal-@DeannaLuce Venmo - @DeannaLuce222