17 Days in Two Hospitals plus ?????
Donation protected
Hi, my name is John. I am William's son, thus my Facebook moniker.
NO HEALTH INSURANCE
Due to South Carolina state law, I do not have health insurance. In their “infinite wisdom” they decided that people with incomes below the federal poverty threshold do not need health insurance assistance or rebates. So, I am being asked to pay all of my hospital bills, though I have asked them for assistance.
MOUNTING BILLS
My bills are already well over $20,000, and they will continue to grow. My income is effectively zero. I am living off of the inheritance my mother left for me, but it is not enough for the rest of my life, so I am thankful that I will, in two years, be getting around $500 per month from Social Security.
INITIAL DIAGNOSIS AND HOSPITALS
On September 11, 2015, my growing inability to walk, fluid pressure in my legs and arms (and even in a certain male extremity) forced me to go to the doctor, as my friend had been urging me to do for many, too many, weeks. The doctor immediately arranged for me to be admitted to the local hospital (Clarendon Health Systems Hospital, Manning SC) where I spent ten days, then I was transferred to Providence Hospital in the state capitol (Columbia SC) for additional tests to confirm the initial diagnoses.
www.clarendonhealth.com/contact
www.providencehospitals.com/locations-directions/providence-hospital-(downtown)/
BIRTHDAY TRIVIA
I spent my birthday in the hospital, but the nurses will certainly remember the patient who talked Cardiologist Dr. Ian Smith into prescribing that he be allowed to go outside and try to see the super lunar eclipse of September 2015. (He prescribed it in writing, a nurse had to go outside with me and stay with me, and all of SC was clouded over so I had to end up watching it on www.NASA.gov.)
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
I was diagnosed with CHF, Chronic Heart Failure, and the doctor at Columbia Providence Hospital also confirmed what I'd known since childhood, I had been born with a heart murmer which contributed to this problem.
They also diagnosed me with controlled Afibrillation, my heart rate varies but is almost always below 100 beats per minute unless I have been exerting myself. There are, of course, other things wrong, but these are the two main diagnoses.
For several days, I had to urinate through a catheter. That was quite an experience feeling it pass into my body. Eventually, I also experienced a heart catherization.
As it was explained to me, I had some type of heart attack some months back (I'm guessing late 2014 or early 2015) which caused my heart to become weaker. It can pump blood out to my body reliably, but it does not always pump the fluid back from my extremities, so I was accumulating fluid in both legs, both arms, even my scrotum. (That last is a condition I would not wish on my worst enemy.)
Before the onset of this illness, I weighed in the general vicinity of 240 pounds. During the worst of my illness, it was above 270 pounds. Now, my weight is in the lower 190's, and dropping at a healthy rate. (I weigh myself and take my blood pressure daily). My blood rate is healthy, usually at the lower end of the healthy range. Only twice has my pulse rate hit 101 beats per minute (so far) and both times, there were exertions beforehand.
I’m taking water pills (the most expensive of my presciptions by far), a blood thinner, blood pressure pills (I don’t fully understand them), and other pills.
MOUNTING BILLS
My bills continue to climb. Not only bills from the two hospitals, but I have two cardiologists cooperating with each other. I have appointments with Dr. Rozich in Manning every 28 days. The hospital bills themselves total well above $20,000.00. I do not know how high the total will climb.
OTHER DISABILITIES
I have other disabilities that make it hard for me to work, so I am mostly retired now. I have Asperger's Syndrome (an Autism Spectrum Disorder which I've had all my life, but was only diagnosed with in my early 40's), Attention Deficit Disorder (primarily the non-hyperactive kind), Dysgraphia (a writing disorder -- you should see my printing and writing), and other problems.
ZERO INCOME
My income has been zero since 2005. I do have my little business, but my expenses regularly exceed my income, but at least it helps me buy occasional things like a better laptop. I choose not to report my losses to the IRS because if I were to report a loss three years out of the past five years, they would call my activity a hobby instead of a business.
Charts and letters from Social Security proving that my income has been zero since 2005 are being sent to both hospitals and to the other offices with whom I have medical bills.
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ????
I applied for Social Security Disability early in 2014, and am currently waiting for a court hearing to be scheduled for my disability appeal.
SAVINGS INHERITANCE
I do not have enough in savings to live on for the rest of my life, even after adding what I will get in Social Security starting either at age 66 or last year if my appeal is successful. I ran the numbers. Based on my life expectancy, my savings (an inheritance from my mother), and Social Security payments of about $550 per month, my monthly total will be just under the federal government’s poverty threshold, but I will try to spend less than that total each month because I want my funds to last longer than my life expectancy.
MY HOME AND MONTHLY SAVINGS
Fortunately, I do own my own house, which is paid in full. Mom left an account to cover that, a small 1000 square foot house near downtown, walking distance from Piggly-Wiggly, IGA, several restaurants, a dry cleaner, and even a few blocks from CHS Hospital.
I’m keeping my utility bills down by mainly heating and cooling one room, a combined office/bedroom, but I have made wise investments to shrink my utilities. I put in a tankless water heater, so I only heat the water when I need it. I primarily keep it set at a comfortable shower temperature, but turn it up all the way to run the dishwasher. I also had Clay Riddle spray foam insulation under the roof, below the floor, and in the walls of the rooms I use the most (bedroom, living room, bathroom). During the SC flooding (we got 27 inches in early October), during the city wide power failure, which lasted for thirteen hours, my bedroom office did not go below 70 degrees, while my neighbors across the street were shivering under blankets.
YOUR DONATIONS
Your donations will be used for medical expenses. If you want to make sure of this, you may make your donations directly to the two hospitals. You can confirm that their addresses are correct by googling them. In any case, except for the 8% plus 30 cents per donation fee that GoFundMe takes from each donation, all of your GoFundMe donations will go toward hospital and other medical expenses.
Clarendon Health Systems Hospital
Re: Financial Aid for John William, William’s Son
10 East Hospital Street
P O Box 550
Manning, SC 29102-0550
Providence Hospitals
Re: Financial Aid for John William, William’s Son
2435 Forest Drive
Columbia, SC 29204
Any donations in excess of my bills will be used to help other people with medical bills, especially those who were harmed during our major SC thunderstorms of early October 2015. (Manning was cut off from the rest of the country for several days, and we only recently got our Interstate back.)
Yes, they will know in a few days that I have listed them here. They know who I am, though I have left off my last name.
I hope that you are able to help me out.
In God’s Infinite Love, I thank you.
NO HEALTH INSURANCE
Due to South Carolina state law, I do not have health insurance. In their “infinite wisdom” they decided that people with incomes below the federal poverty threshold do not need health insurance assistance or rebates. So, I am being asked to pay all of my hospital bills, though I have asked them for assistance.
MOUNTING BILLS
My bills are already well over $20,000, and they will continue to grow. My income is effectively zero. I am living off of the inheritance my mother left for me, but it is not enough for the rest of my life, so I am thankful that I will, in two years, be getting around $500 per month from Social Security.
INITIAL DIAGNOSIS AND HOSPITALS
On September 11, 2015, my growing inability to walk, fluid pressure in my legs and arms (and even in a certain male extremity) forced me to go to the doctor, as my friend had been urging me to do for many, too many, weeks. The doctor immediately arranged for me to be admitted to the local hospital (Clarendon Health Systems Hospital, Manning SC) where I spent ten days, then I was transferred to Providence Hospital in the state capitol (Columbia SC) for additional tests to confirm the initial diagnoses.
www.clarendonhealth.com/contact
www.providencehospitals.com/locations-directions/providence-hospital-(downtown)/
BIRTHDAY TRIVIA
I spent my birthday in the hospital, but the nurses will certainly remember the patient who talked Cardiologist Dr. Ian Smith into prescribing that he be allowed to go outside and try to see the super lunar eclipse of September 2015. (He prescribed it in writing, a nurse had to go outside with me and stay with me, and all of SC was clouded over so I had to end up watching it on www.NASA.gov.)
DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT
I was diagnosed with CHF, Chronic Heart Failure, and the doctor at Columbia Providence Hospital also confirmed what I'd known since childhood, I had been born with a heart murmer which contributed to this problem.
They also diagnosed me with controlled Afibrillation, my heart rate varies but is almost always below 100 beats per minute unless I have been exerting myself. There are, of course, other things wrong, but these are the two main diagnoses.
For several days, I had to urinate through a catheter. That was quite an experience feeling it pass into my body. Eventually, I also experienced a heart catherization.
As it was explained to me, I had some type of heart attack some months back (I'm guessing late 2014 or early 2015) which caused my heart to become weaker. It can pump blood out to my body reliably, but it does not always pump the fluid back from my extremities, so I was accumulating fluid in both legs, both arms, even my scrotum. (That last is a condition I would not wish on my worst enemy.)
Before the onset of this illness, I weighed in the general vicinity of 240 pounds. During the worst of my illness, it was above 270 pounds. Now, my weight is in the lower 190's, and dropping at a healthy rate. (I weigh myself and take my blood pressure daily). My blood rate is healthy, usually at the lower end of the healthy range. Only twice has my pulse rate hit 101 beats per minute (so far) and both times, there were exertions beforehand.
I’m taking water pills (the most expensive of my presciptions by far), a blood thinner, blood pressure pills (I don’t fully understand them), and other pills.
MOUNTING BILLS
My bills continue to climb. Not only bills from the two hospitals, but I have two cardiologists cooperating with each other. I have appointments with Dr. Rozich in Manning every 28 days. The hospital bills themselves total well above $20,000.00. I do not know how high the total will climb.
OTHER DISABILITIES
I have other disabilities that make it hard for me to work, so I am mostly retired now. I have Asperger's Syndrome (an Autism Spectrum Disorder which I've had all my life, but was only diagnosed with in my early 40's), Attention Deficit Disorder (primarily the non-hyperactive kind), Dysgraphia (a writing disorder -- you should see my printing and writing), and other problems.
ZERO INCOME
My income has been zero since 2005. I do have my little business, but my expenses regularly exceed my income, but at least it helps me buy occasional things like a better laptop. I choose not to report my losses to the IRS because if I were to report a loss three years out of the past five years, they would call my activity a hobby instead of a business.
Charts and letters from Social Security proving that my income has been zero since 2005 are being sent to both hospitals and to the other offices with whom I have medical bills.
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY ????
I applied for Social Security Disability early in 2014, and am currently waiting for a court hearing to be scheduled for my disability appeal.
SAVINGS INHERITANCE
I do not have enough in savings to live on for the rest of my life, even after adding what I will get in Social Security starting either at age 66 or last year if my appeal is successful. I ran the numbers. Based on my life expectancy, my savings (an inheritance from my mother), and Social Security payments of about $550 per month, my monthly total will be just under the federal government’s poverty threshold, but I will try to spend less than that total each month because I want my funds to last longer than my life expectancy.
MY HOME AND MONTHLY SAVINGS
Fortunately, I do own my own house, which is paid in full. Mom left an account to cover that, a small 1000 square foot house near downtown, walking distance from Piggly-Wiggly, IGA, several restaurants, a dry cleaner, and even a few blocks from CHS Hospital.
I’m keeping my utility bills down by mainly heating and cooling one room, a combined office/bedroom, but I have made wise investments to shrink my utilities. I put in a tankless water heater, so I only heat the water when I need it. I primarily keep it set at a comfortable shower temperature, but turn it up all the way to run the dishwasher. I also had Clay Riddle spray foam insulation under the roof, below the floor, and in the walls of the rooms I use the most (bedroom, living room, bathroom). During the SC flooding (we got 27 inches in early October), during the city wide power failure, which lasted for thirteen hours, my bedroom office did not go below 70 degrees, while my neighbors across the street were shivering under blankets.
YOUR DONATIONS
Your donations will be used for medical expenses. If you want to make sure of this, you may make your donations directly to the two hospitals. You can confirm that their addresses are correct by googling them. In any case, except for the 8% plus 30 cents per donation fee that GoFundMe takes from each donation, all of your GoFundMe donations will go toward hospital and other medical expenses.
Clarendon Health Systems Hospital
Re: Financial Aid for John William, William’s Son
10 East Hospital Street
P O Box 550
Manning, SC 29102-0550
Providence Hospitals
Re: Financial Aid for John William, William’s Son
2435 Forest Drive
Columbia, SC 29204
Any donations in excess of my bills will be used to help other people with medical bills, especially those who were harmed during our major SC thunderstorms of early October 2015. (Manning was cut off from the rest of the country for several days, and we only recently got our Interstate back.)
Yes, they will know in a few days that I have listed them here. They know who I am, though I have left off my last name.
I hope that you are able to help me out.
In God’s Infinite Love, I thank you.
Organizer
John Williamson
Organizer
Manning, SC
