We have been helping one local family for a little over a year now. Here is their story:
*****
Hi readers. I wanted to take a moment to share my story.
This
has been the most challenging year and a half of my life. I was
injured while helping my boss of 15 years, as he neared the end of his
battle with cancer, and his 6'3' size was no match for me. I thought
I'd pulled my back and knees. At the time, I was working at a newspaper
for a decade and a half, while teaching Zumba classes 3 nights a week.
I continued trying to teach with braces on my knees and back. Then it
became crutches. Then subs. Then I gave up my
business and the joy of my life that I'd worked so hard for, as I could
no longer barely stand.
I
went from one sports orthopaedic surgeon to another. By the time I
reached my 3rd opinion, I'd already had two normal MRIs and undergone 3
mos of PT, both in the pool and gym, without progress. My right knee
swelled a week after my boss fell on me. I didn't think to file
workman's comp since his family was now dealing with him in hospice, and
didn't want to cause further stress. Plus, what's $50 copay for a one
time deal when
I'll just take ibuprofen and get on the heating pad and be better in a
week? Well, I never thought it would turn into something much much
bigger. So, by my second $1000 MRI and PT 3x's a week at $50 a pop,
still puzzling orthos, rheumatologists and internists, I informed my
deceased boss's wife I was filing workman's comp since I couldn't
afford the financial burden any longer. She then fired me.
Rich
was already on unemployment after losing his job, and benefits ran out.
We were without an income for 5 months and me
and my two girls were going hungry and when Rich's son with Downs
visited, he eats like any other teenage boy and we would go without..
We fell between the cracks of not qualifying for any aid, including
Obamacare. I felt so helpless that I was still on crutches 8 mos after
the injury, no resolution on a diagnosis, and no way to work.
Shortly
after being fired, my mother got sick and passed away a month later at
68. She was in the ICU for a little over a month and had arrested and
been resuscitated twice. I found out she was
hanging on with the hopes of making it to her two year date of life
insurance becoming payable to leave me something. She died 3 weeks
before it had reached it's date after I gave her permission to go home
and that I couldn't bear to watch her suffer and we'd be okay. She
passed 24 hrs later. I wasn't prepared for the profound loss. It
consumed me.
No
child support, no job, no income, no mobility; and two children to
feed, I was anything but okay, as I had reassured my dying mother with a
smile of confidence before bolting out of
the ICU to cry..
Finally
my 3rd opinion doc diagnosed me. I was shocked. Reflex Sympathetic
Dystrophy (RSD) aka Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) was the
verdict. Most people are not aware of this monster, but it is more
common than MS and affects children, women and men alike. It is the
MOST painful disease of the medical profession's McGill Pain Scale,
ranking more painful than natural child birth or cancer of amputation
minus anesthetics. I was beyond shocked. I was angry and depressed.
How could this happen?
Why me? Would I end up having a leg amputation like the admin of the
RSD website? Or end up in a wheelchair for life like the 14 yr old on
20/20 and CNN? This disease naturally also has the highest suicide rate
because who can stand 24/7 unbearable pain? My children have given me a
reason to fight, although I'm bed bound now 90% of the time. This once
active gardener, world traveler, scuba diver, baker, zumba and dance
lover now has almost no quality of life.
I
met Melissa in my classes. I then found out she had a ministry. I was
always the giver, the volunteer, the rescuer. Now I had to swallow my
pride for the sake of my children and reach out to her for help. Her
and Dean came to
our aid. I am now waiting for disability, after my first denial and
appeal, and expect to have at least one more, followed by a judge
ruling. It could be another year or two or more. Rich has finally
found work 3 days a week, but we're so in debt after being without
income for over 5 months that it may take us a year or two to pay off
the credit we lived off. My compressor blew and we've been without heat
or AC the whole winter. Now it's getting hot. But we don't have the
money to fix it since credit cards are maxed out. Who ever thought the
small gesture of helping a man walk to his car would turn into a
lifetime of pain? I'm so grateful for Melissa and Dean's help. My
children are fed, and that's one less thing to worry about in what seems
to be an avalanche of trials. They have delivered food to our home
when we couldn't make it there. We live off of what they provide and
I'm in tears
as I write this, thinking of the days when my children complained that
there wasn't anything to eat. I will be forever grateful that at least
tummies are full!!! We have come to know and love their family and I
just can't say enough about what they've done for ours.
Thanks for reading my little saga (lol while crying).
For more information on RSD, visit:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaTlI6bfF64 (video on YouTube of the 14 yr old) or see http://rsdfoundation.org/
THANK YOU PADGETT FAMILY FROM THE BOTTOMS OF OUR HEARTS!!!
Jill, Rich, Erin, Ivy, and Mason <3*****
There are many other families in our area that have been helped by this aspect of the ministry. I wish I could share all of their stories.
Two members of our ministry, Marcia Rowland and Jean Nine, handle the Sunday pick ups and distributions. I know for certain that they help between 5-10 families every Sunday. These ladies are essential to our ministry and expand the window of opportunity with all the people that they know.
If you feel led to help with the food ministry in any way, please let us know! We can always use food donations, grocery store gift cards (for families that need specific items that we do not receive), and gas station gift cards (for the weekly pick ups and deliveries).
Thank you, as always, for praying for us. Please keep this portion of our ministry in your prayers as well.
Loving Radically Through Christ,
Melissa
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