OUR FAMILY NEEDS YOUR HELP TO KEEP OUR HOME
Donation protected
***When this was first published I was blown away by the response, so many people trying to help us, it renewed my faith in people, we live in such a cynical world , we were amazed. Even more so when I recvd a call in mid-December 2018 that told me of a local builder in my town that helps out local families in need and he wanted to renovate my garage...it was as if my prayers were answered, looked like everything was actually working out as best as could be expected, I breathed easier for first time in over a year and to John, well he could finally be relieved of the stress of wondering if we were going to lose the house, he could finally just concentrate on his Chemo and healing as best as he could. Well this man came over, measured everything, and was excited about helping, told me to make a wish list. I asked him if he could move one thing and save another, he said yes to one and maybe to the other and told me he would be in touch and he was gone. By the end of January 2019 I still had not heard a word so I called him. He told me that building permit stage was not there yet, etc., etc. but he would let me know.
By mid March I called .....no response, no email, no phone call, no text. Called the next week, same thing, I then emailed him ccing his partner and he responded the very next day and he said, "I am sorry that I have upset you but many things have happened since I was at your house and I can no longer help you." I thought this had to be a mistake, how could a human being do that to a terminally ill man's family???
I thought and prayed on this and I know what it is like to have something change, perhaps he has troubles. But what I can't understand is why he DIDN'T tell us, he waited 3 months until he was forced to tell us and destroyed an opportunity, time was of the essence and he had to know that, so why did he do that? I emailed him one last time, begging him to reconsider and he asked me to call him, I did. This is what he said, "please stop sending me such NEGATIVE emails the negativity was bothering him. I told him I was so sorry about that but after what you have done to my family NEGATIVE was all I had and still no explanation, apology, Nothing. I also told him that from what I see I would pray for him, he seemed to need it more than us.
SO, we are asking any builder, contractor, carpenter that can lend a hand, donate time, we live on the East End, to help us get this started and done. I will feed you - I am a great cook. Donations of Materials(Riverhead Building Supply or Home Depot)is great
PR and finished conversion can be photoed or video taken and be used for advertisement or
what a large corporation can do for the local community.....also charitable tax deductions perhaps.
Donations for salary, materials would really help.........thanks to everyone and God Bless
During the summer of 2017, at around the same time we closed on the house we had worked many years to attain, my husband John began to feel unsteady on his feet. After the tumultuous year described below, filled with medical tests, surgeries, pneumonia, and hospitalizations we have learned that he not only had had several strokes and a damaged heart wall, but that he has non-operable, Stage IV lung cancer, and only 1 year to live.
John still is trying to work and is not giving up, but he is getting weaker. He is going crazy with stress about losing the house because of the loss of his income. Our son is on active duty and helping as much as he can, but is stationed far away. Although just back from deployment, he is getting ready for another one and is not here to help as much as he would like to.
1) In order to keep paying the mortgage on our house and get up to date, we need financial assistance to cover some of the lost income that John would normally be earning.
2) In addition to donations, I am hoping to gain income by renting out a small apartment in our garage. To do this, I need contractors, carpenters, plumbers, etc. to help complete it or hire
them to complete it THIS IS A KEY FACTOR, with out the tenant and income I will shortly
be back to a foreclosure situation.
Our story began in the summer of 2017. My husband began to be unsteady on his feet (which, as stated above, was the same time we closed on our house, the one we had worked many years to attain). He had knee surgery, but there was only a little improvement. Summer of 2017 was a slow time in the construction business out here, so he did little jobs and waited until September to go back to construction with the contractor he was working under, but his mobility was getting worse . He went back late September of 2017 and worked 3 for weeks until they let him go after falling and being no longer able to climb scaffolding, lift heavy weight, or climb on the ladders. He was out of work until the end of January 2018 when the contractor took him back after he agreed to a $10 reduction in pay, all while they used his ladders, tools, etc. In early April he woke up with 1/2 of one eye blurry, went to a retinal specialist, and was diagnosed with a stroke in his eye; tests were ordered to see if there were any further blockages. One week went by, he went to work in the morning, climbed a ladder, felt so dizzy and disoriented he climbed down and came home. A few hours later a doctor called and told him to go the hospital immediately based on the results of the tests. He was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook, and diagnosed with another stroke of the brain. A further brain angiogram was performed which indicated small bleeding and scar tissue from a stroke that they now feel he had had back in the summer of 2017, meaning he had had 3 strokes in 10 months. They have also found that he has a damaged heart wall, so cardiology became involved. He was told he could no longer do construction work, and that is all he knows. He rested, took his meds and vitamins and felt well enough to try and work as a handyman, but on his second day on the job he blacked out and fell. With a cracked a rib and a punctured a lung, he went to hospital for 3 days, but within 24 hours of his release, he was readmitted for a week, as he had contracted pneumonia. It was during this time that chest x-rays were performed, and a mass was spotted in his lung; a biopsy showed non-small cell lung cancer. We now know, after PET Scan and PDL1 testing that John has stage 4 cancer that is non-operable, his options are Chemo and/or keytruda treatments, but they have given him just 1 year to live.
If anyone can see it in their heart to help us in our time of need, we will not forget it, and will be forever grateful.
The Hands Family
By mid March I called .....no response, no email, no phone call, no text. Called the next week, same thing, I then emailed him ccing his partner and he responded the very next day and he said, "I am sorry that I have upset you but many things have happened since I was at your house and I can no longer help you." I thought this had to be a mistake, how could a human being do that to a terminally ill man's family???
I thought and prayed on this and I know what it is like to have something change, perhaps he has troubles. But what I can't understand is why he DIDN'T tell us, he waited 3 months until he was forced to tell us and destroyed an opportunity, time was of the essence and he had to know that, so why did he do that? I emailed him one last time, begging him to reconsider and he asked me to call him, I did. This is what he said, "please stop sending me such NEGATIVE emails the negativity was bothering him. I told him I was so sorry about that but after what you have done to my family NEGATIVE was all I had and still no explanation, apology, Nothing. I also told him that from what I see I would pray for him, he seemed to need it more than us.
SO, we are asking any builder, contractor, carpenter that can lend a hand, donate time, we live on the East End, to help us get this started and done. I will feed you - I am a great cook. Donations of Materials(Riverhead Building Supply or Home Depot)is great
PR and finished conversion can be photoed or video taken and be used for advertisement or
what a large corporation can do for the local community.....also charitable tax deductions perhaps.
Donations for salary, materials would really help.........thanks to everyone and God Bless
During the summer of 2017, at around the same time we closed on the house we had worked many years to attain, my husband John began to feel unsteady on his feet. After the tumultuous year described below, filled with medical tests, surgeries, pneumonia, and hospitalizations we have learned that he not only had had several strokes and a damaged heart wall, but that he has non-operable, Stage IV lung cancer, and only 1 year to live.
John still is trying to work and is not giving up, but he is getting weaker. He is going crazy with stress about losing the house because of the loss of his income. Our son is on active duty and helping as much as he can, but is stationed far away. Although just back from deployment, he is getting ready for another one and is not here to help as much as he would like to.
1) In order to keep paying the mortgage on our house and get up to date, we need financial assistance to cover some of the lost income that John would normally be earning.
2) In addition to donations, I am hoping to gain income by renting out a small apartment in our garage. To do this, I need contractors, carpenters, plumbers, etc. to help complete it or hire
them to complete it THIS IS A KEY FACTOR, with out the tenant and income I will shortly
be back to a foreclosure situation.
Our story began in the summer of 2017. My husband began to be unsteady on his feet (which, as stated above, was the same time we closed on our house, the one we had worked many years to attain). He had knee surgery, but there was only a little improvement. Summer of 2017 was a slow time in the construction business out here, so he did little jobs and waited until September to go back to construction with the contractor he was working under, but his mobility was getting worse . He went back late September of 2017 and worked 3 for weeks until they let him go after falling and being no longer able to climb scaffolding, lift heavy weight, or climb on the ladders. He was out of work until the end of January 2018 when the contractor took him back after he agreed to a $10 reduction in pay, all while they used his ladders, tools, etc. In early April he woke up with 1/2 of one eye blurry, went to a retinal specialist, and was diagnosed with a stroke in his eye; tests were ordered to see if there were any further blockages. One week went by, he went to work in the morning, climbed a ladder, felt so dizzy and disoriented he climbed down and came home. A few hours later a doctor called and told him to go the hospital immediately based on the results of the tests. He was taken by ambulance to Stony Brook, and diagnosed with another stroke of the brain. A further brain angiogram was performed which indicated small bleeding and scar tissue from a stroke that they now feel he had had back in the summer of 2017, meaning he had had 3 strokes in 10 months. They have also found that he has a damaged heart wall, so cardiology became involved. He was told he could no longer do construction work, and that is all he knows. He rested, took his meds and vitamins and felt well enough to try and work as a handyman, but on his second day on the job he blacked out and fell. With a cracked a rib and a punctured a lung, he went to hospital for 3 days, but within 24 hours of his release, he was readmitted for a week, as he had contracted pneumonia. It was during this time that chest x-rays were performed, and a mass was spotted in his lung; a biopsy showed non-small cell lung cancer. We now know, after PET Scan and PDL1 testing that John has stage 4 cancer that is non-operable, his options are Chemo and/or keytruda treatments, but they have given him just 1 year to live.
If anyone can see it in their heart to help us in our time of need, we will not forget it, and will be forever grateful.
The Hands Family
Organizer
Deirdre Luisi Hands
Organizer
Northwest Harbor, NY
