uninsured brain surgery
Donation protected
We find ourselves in a position where we have to sell or give a way all our belongings due to my wife, Kristina, needing brain surgery, but the journey that got us here is the story of how life has nearly broken us. As unbelievable as it may sound it is all true, and the surgery is just the final event that has marked the closing of a chapter in our lives, and the opening of another.
In March of 2018 Kristina and I went out on a date in downtown Boise. As we were leaving we were attacked and this event started a series of events that, while unrelated, has left us where we are today. From the attack, which the man used my head to crack a cement wall, I received not only broken bones in my face, but spinal injuries that have not, and may never heal. Kristina was mercifully spared serious injury. I, being a welder, am still in recovery. I have not been released back to work, and will probably never be able to weld professionally again due to the physical demands of the industry. As my doctor has not yet released me, and the fact that I am in pain daily, my employer is in a position where they must terminate my employment with the company so that they can fill my position. This we found out last week. That our insurance will be gone has not come at a worse period of or lives. I reached out to our church and never received one phone call in return, not an email, not a text. We had only relocated to the Boise area a short while before and didn't have any family in the area and few friends. We felt abandoned.
Shortly after the assault Liam, our 8 year old son, was playing outside in our backyard. He decided that it would be a great idea to swing by a bungee cord from his belt, which sounds like fun, and when his belt broke the bungee cord hook grabbed him in his arm pit and cut him open which required 13 stitches. He was transported to the emergency room by ambulance and did an amazing job being treated. The doctors said that he was centimeters from tearing the axillary artery in his arm which would have probably killed him. Thankfully he healed up great and has only scar to show for it. God was watching out for him and us on that day. On top of dealing with the assault this added a tremendous amount of emotional stress and medical bills on top of medical bills.
Despite our injuries we pulled our resolve and decided that we would make the best of it and try to have a great summer. I have two children on the east coast and we coordinated with their mother to have them come and stay with us for the summer. She would not allow my two little ones to come alone (no, there is no good reason for this as I have never been abusive, neglectful, in trouble with the law, or anything else that would warrant my kids not being with me) so we, at her mercy, offered to house her as well. She raised concerns of not being able to afford to come out for that amount of time and Kristina, being a manager, offered and secured a job for her while she was out here with us. After months of communication and agreement that everything was set we purchased them 3 plane tickets. It had been over two years since I had been able to see them due to my moving west for work that never came through, which forced me to start again on the opposite side of the country. The day before the flight she informed us that they would not be coming because she was simply too busy. Through my work I was part of a prepaid legal plan and we immediately reached out to an attorney to begin working on a custody case that would ensure that, despite her unfounded desire to keep them from me, they would in fact grow up with their father in their lives. Unfortunately we will be losing our insurance at the end of the month and there is no knowing how this will turn out.
In June of this year we were having a talk with our 8 year old son, Liam, about “stranger danger” and making sure that he understood that it is never ok for anyone to touch him in areas that his bathing suit covers. With the exception of doctors and mom and dad helping him those parts of his body there is no reason for anyone to ever have any contact there. We were reassuring him that he can always talk to us and his doctor about anything when he began to cry. He revealed to us that his 16 year old brother had raped him (which he described in vivid detail for an 8 year old) and under threat of violence from his brother he was never to talk to anyone about what had transpired. The 16 year old was sent a state away to live with his father and is no longer a danger to him, and the investigation has begun. He recently had his forensic interview with local detectives and as a testament to the strength of children he is the same wonderful kid that he has always been. We know that there is much unpacking that needs to be done and there will be years of counseling, which we have begun, but with the loss of our insurance it will be difficult to maintain the level of care that he deserves. Non the less we will continue to do everything we must to see to it that he recovers.
Before my injury my best friend asked me to buy him out of equipment that I could use to start a business. I understood him to be a “good christian man” and I invested a significant amount of money into equipment and material that he was getting rid of. Even after my injuries we continued to try to work with him to pay of the remaining amount. Now, on an extremely tight budget, we saw it as the best option for me to get back to helping my family financially, how ever meager an income it may be. Out of the blue he turned on us saying that we could no longer have the equipment, and the money we paid was lost.
My wife, Kristina, was just diagnosed with a Chiari Malformation and will soon require brain surgery. For those of you that don't know, a Chiari Malformation is a condition that a person is generally born with. Everyone has a small opening in the back of the skull where the brain stem attaches to the spinal column. In Kristina this small opening is nearly 3 times the size it should be. As a result her brain is slowly slipping through this enlarged opening and it is compressing and folding the medulla oblongata causing numbness and tingling coldness throughout her body, vertigo, constant pain, and debilitating migraines. The only way to try to (hopefully) remedy the condition is to have a piece of her skull removed and a support put in place to hopefully stop the slippage in the brain. While we don't have an exact dollar amount of what the procedure, medication, medical equipment, and recovery care will cost us we estimate between $30,000 $50,000. This does not include any of the other costs that we have such as rent, food, utilities, etc. that are incurred on a day to day, and monthly basis. Recovery time for this surgery is estimated at 3-6 months and Kristina will be immobile for much of that time.
Financially we are now in a position that we need to file bankruptcy. Due to an extreme cut in our income we have tapped out our savings and used all the credit that was available to us. Without insurance current medications for our family, not including those associated with the surgery, will cost us nearly $1,500 a month.
After all that our family has been through we must sell nearly all of our belongings and travel from Boise Idaho to Erie Pennsylvania where I have family that will house us, and help with Kristina's recovery. It seems like nearly every aspect of our lives has been striped from us. I am faced with having to begin a new career that will accommodate my injuries, we have lost a son, Kristina is in danger of loosing her life, we are financially ruined, we have lost friends and our support system, and those that remain will be on the other side of the country, we have a long struggle ahead with custody for our son and daughter on the east coast, and we live in constant pain both physically and emotionally. We have been broken in nearly every way.
We are not the type of people that ask for help easily. We have always been the ones to lend a hand, an ear, and a shoulder to cry on. We give of ourselves to those in need, often times to our own detriment, and now find ourselves in a position that we must humble ourselves and plead for help. We hold in our hearts the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us and know that everything that we are going through is for His glory. We WILL remain faithful servants until He calls us home. With our broken family, and our unwavering faith, we will continue to travel the path that He has laid before us and praise Him for all the blessings that we have in our lives. Our mantra has been that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose, and we have faith that He will see us through to greener pastures.
We need your prayers, and any love that you can give. Please send this to your churches, friends, family, groups that you are affiliated with, and professionals and businesses that you are associated with. Anyone that you can think of. Any help at all is greatly appreciated and prayers are appreciated most of all. Kristina, Liam, and I truly appreciate all of you, and while we may never be able to pay anyone back, know that we will also keep you in our prayers.
Forever faithful,
Josh, Kristina, and Liam
In March of 2018 Kristina and I went out on a date in downtown Boise. As we were leaving we were attacked and this event started a series of events that, while unrelated, has left us where we are today. From the attack, which the man used my head to crack a cement wall, I received not only broken bones in my face, but spinal injuries that have not, and may never heal. Kristina was mercifully spared serious injury. I, being a welder, am still in recovery. I have not been released back to work, and will probably never be able to weld professionally again due to the physical demands of the industry. As my doctor has not yet released me, and the fact that I am in pain daily, my employer is in a position where they must terminate my employment with the company so that they can fill my position. This we found out last week. That our insurance will be gone has not come at a worse period of or lives. I reached out to our church and never received one phone call in return, not an email, not a text. We had only relocated to the Boise area a short while before and didn't have any family in the area and few friends. We felt abandoned.
Shortly after the assault Liam, our 8 year old son, was playing outside in our backyard. He decided that it would be a great idea to swing by a bungee cord from his belt, which sounds like fun, and when his belt broke the bungee cord hook grabbed him in his arm pit and cut him open which required 13 stitches. He was transported to the emergency room by ambulance and did an amazing job being treated. The doctors said that he was centimeters from tearing the axillary artery in his arm which would have probably killed him. Thankfully he healed up great and has only scar to show for it. God was watching out for him and us on that day. On top of dealing with the assault this added a tremendous amount of emotional stress and medical bills on top of medical bills.
Despite our injuries we pulled our resolve and decided that we would make the best of it and try to have a great summer. I have two children on the east coast and we coordinated with their mother to have them come and stay with us for the summer. She would not allow my two little ones to come alone (no, there is no good reason for this as I have never been abusive, neglectful, in trouble with the law, or anything else that would warrant my kids not being with me) so we, at her mercy, offered to house her as well. She raised concerns of not being able to afford to come out for that amount of time and Kristina, being a manager, offered and secured a job for her while she was out here with us. After months of communication and agreement that everything was set we purchased them 3 plane tickets. It had been over two years since I had been able to see them due to my moving west for work that never came through, which forced me to start again on the opposite side of the country. The day before the flight she informed us that they would not be coming because she was simply too busy. Through my work I was part of a prepaid legal plan and we immediately reached out to an attorney to begin working on a custody case that would ensure that, despite her unfounded desire to keep them from me, they would in fact grow up with their father in their lives. Unfortunately we will be losing our insurance at the end of the month and there is no knowing how this will turn out.
In June of this year we were having a talk with our 8 year old son, Liam, about “stranger danger” and making sure that he understood that it is never ok for anyone to touch him in areas that his bathing suit covers. With the exception of doctors and mom and dad helping him those parts of his body there is no reason for anyone to ever have any contact there. We were reassuring him that he can always talk to us and his doctor about anything when he began to cry. He revealed to us that his 16 year old brother had raped him (which he described in vivid detail for an 8 year old) and under threat of violence from his brother he was never to talk to anyone about what had transpired. The 16 year old was sent a state away to live with his father and is no longer a danger to him, and the investigation has begun. He recently had his forensic interview with local detectives and as a testament to the strength of children he is the same wonderful kid that he has always been. We know that there is much unpacking that needs to be done and there will be years of counseling, which we have begun, but with the loss of our insurance it will be difficult to maintain the level of care that he deserves. Non the less we will continue to do everything we must to see to it that he recovers.
Before my injury my best friend asked me to buy him out of equipment that I could use to start a business. I understood him to be a “good christian man” and I invested a significant amount of money into equipment and material that he was getting rid of. Even after my injuries we continued to try to work with him to pay of the remaining amount. Now, on an extremely tight budget, we saw it as the best option for me to get back to helping my family financially, how ever meager an income it may be. Out of the blue he turned on us saying that we could no longer have the equipment, and the money we paid was lost.
My wife, Kristina, was just diagnosed with a Chiari Malformation and will soon require brain surgery. For those of you that don't know, a Chiari Malformation is a condition that a person is generally born with. Everyone has a small opening in the back of the skull where the brain stem attaches to the spinal column. In Kristina this small opening is nearly 3 times the size it should be. As a result her brain is slowly slipping through this enlarged opening and it is compressing and folding the medulla oblongata causing numbness and tingling coldness throughout her body, vertigo, constant pain, and debilitating migraines. The only way to try to (hopefully) remedy the condition is to have a piece of her skull removed and a support put in place to hopefully stop the slippage in the brain. While we don't have an exact dollar amount of what the procedure, medication, medical equipment, and recovery care will cost us we estimate between $30,000 $50,000. This does not include any of the other costs that we have such as rent, food, utilities, etc. that are incurred on a day to day, and monthly basis. Recovery time for this surgery is estimated at 3-6 months and Kristina will be immobile for much of that time.
Financially we are now in a position that we need to file bankruptcy. Due to an extreme cut in our income we have tapped out our savings and used all the credit that was available to us. Without insurance current medications for our family, not including those associated with the surgery, will cost us nearly $1,500 a month.
After all that our family has been through we must sell nearly all of our belongings and travel from Boise Idaho to Erie Pennsylvania where I have family that will house us, and help with Kristina's recovery. It seems like nearly every aspect of our lives has been striped from us. I am faced with having to begin a new career that will accommodate my injuries, we have lost a son, Kristina is in danger of loosing her life, we are financially ruined, we have lost friends and our support system, and those that remain will be on the other side of the country, we have a long struggle ahead with custody for our son and daughter on the east coast, and we live in constant pain both physically and emotionally. We have been broken in nearly every way.
We are not the type of people that ask for help easily. We have always been the ones to lend a hand, an ear, and a shoulder to cry on. We give of ourselves to those in need, often times to our own detriment, and now find ourselves in a position that we must humble ourselves and plead for help. We hold in our hearts the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us and know that everything that we are going through is for His glory. We WILL remain faithful servants until He calls us home. With our broken family, and our unwavering faith, we will continue to travel the path that He has laid before us and praise Him for all the blessings that we have in our lives. Our mantra has been that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose, and we have faith that He will see us through to greener pastures.
We need your prayers, and any love that you can give. Please send this to your churches, friends, family, groups that you are affiliated with, and professionals and businesses that you are associated with. Anyone that you can think of. Any help at all is greatly appreciated and prayers are appreciated most of all. Kristina, Liam, and I truly appreciate all of you, and while we may never be able to pay anyone back, know that we will also keep you in our prayers.
Forever faithful,
Josh, Kristina, and Liam
Organizer
Josh Williams
Organizer
Caldwell, ID
