Saturday, September 8, 2012

Bad News, Good News, More Bad News…Help Needed Urgently

 

The eye surgeon's office called this morning and said they need to schedule hubby's surgery for September 24th or it will have be postponed until sometime in November. The doctor doesn't recommend waiting that long because further deterioration will occur  but he will be out of the state most of October, attending Opthalmology conferences.

We have $302.00. I know gas roundtrip will cost about $120.00 so that leaves $182.00 for other expenses. I'm not really concerned about food because we can take some stuff from home with us. Finding a motel or hotel is what worries me.

The surgeon wants hubby to stay in the area until the 28th. We have to have a handicapped accessible room because of my being in a wheelchair. I've checked online and the least expensive room I can find that is handicapped accessible is $280.00 after taxes and it is nearly 20 miles from the hospital. I called and asked if they could give us a discount because of our situation but the clerk said the rate I was quoted was their lowest . That leaves us nearly $100.00 short plus it will take additional gas driving back and forth.

Hubby doesn't want to travel so far with no extra money for emergencies but I told him that we have to take the chance. I don't want him to go blind and I am so afraid that is what will happen if he puts this surgery off until November.

Does anyone have any suggestions about where we might be able to find a lower priced hotel or motel with a handicapped accessible room. The bathroom needs to be accessible with a raised toilet.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated and thanks so much for the help received so far.

 

 

Pictures of all the new pens are now up at:

http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/

Thanks to everyone for their generosity, From pen sales and donations we now have just over $300.00. I think we need about $200.00 more to cover everything and to have a little safety net.

I have added more pens to the site and I am working on getting pictures of them uploaded.

http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/

Please pass the link to anyone who might have an interest.

Hubby and I truly appreciate all the help.

********************************

 

 

Thanks to some pen sales and donations we have raised almost $160.00 for the trip for my husband’s eye surgery.

My husband is the most unselfish person that I know and he always puts my needs ahead of his own. When I told him how much money we have raised for the trip he said that’s great but it’s not enough money to get a room for the three nights or possibly more that we will have to stay in the area after his surgery. I told him we could sleep in a chair in the lobby but he said no because he is worried that I might get another blood clot if I sit up that long. I would sleep in the floor but I have a lot of health problems and have to use a wheelchair so doing that isn’t possible.

I had a pulmonary embolism three years ago after sitting in my wheelchair for two days after taking a bus trip to Dallas to visit our son. We got stranded in Atlanta where we were supposed to change buses. The bus we were supposed to board didn’t have a lift to load me in my wheelchair on the bus so what was supposed to be a two hour layover ended up being a twelve hour nightmare and the trip to Dallas that was supposed to take 27 hours took over 40. My husband said he will not put me in a situation that could cause me to get another clot.

His going alone isn’t an option because he is diabetic and sometimes forgets where  working will be having the surgery to see if we could stay at the Ronald McDonald house but she said it was for families with sick children. She did say that some of the motels/hotels in the larea offer 10 to 15 percent discounts to family members of cancer patients but she didn’t know if we would be able to get a discount or not.

I am praying that we can sell more pens so my husband can have this surgery. If he doesn’t have it, the doctor said his vision will keep getting worse and he could possibly go blind.

Please consider buying a pen and/or send the link for the pens to anyone you know who might be interested. I hate having to ask for help but I just can’t think of any other way to get the money we need.

I will be adding some more pens to the site later today so if you looked before and didn’t see anything that you liked, check back

http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/

Thanks again for the donations, purchases, helpful suggestions and encouragement. It’s truly appreciated.

Blade

The Bad News

My husband has been havding problems with his vision since he had cataracts removed in the Spring of 2011. He kept complaining to the doctor who did the surgery that his sight wasn’t getting any better but the doctor kept telling him to just give things some time. So he did.

Six months after the surgery, there was still no improvement. He was having double vision, seeing shooting lights, etc. The doctor still kept telling him that sometimes it takes awhile for vision to settle down after the trauma of surgery. That was the last time my husband saw that doctor because the doctor sold his office and patients’ records to the local hospital. The hospital brought in a new doctor who took over my husband’s care.

The new doctor did a lot of tests and tried treating my husband’s eyes with steroid eye drops but his sight still wasn’t as good as it should be and he was still seeing shooting lights. Finally, the doctor asked a colleague from another part of the state if he would come to his office and examine my husband because he just couldn’t figure out exactly what was causing his problems. His colleague agreed and examined my husband on Thursday.

The doctor who came to look at my husband’s eyes specializes in problems with the retina. He said the problems my husband is having are caused by blood pooling in his eyes, near the retinas, Electrical impulses cause the the blood to shake  around which causes my husband to see what looks like sparks.

The Good News

The condition can be corrected with surgery that can be done in an outpatient surgery center and chances are good that my husband’s vision will be close to normal.

The Other Bad News

In order to have the surgery, my husband will have to travel to Winston-Salem which is nearly 160 miles away. He will need to stay in the area for at least 3 days for follow-up. The doctor wants to do the surgery as soon as possible but my husband can’t schedule it because we don’t have enough money to pay for gas and a motel room for 3 nights. I talked to Social Services yesterday and they said that they can devreimburse part of our gas expense after the trip but that would be all they could do. I knew they usually don’t help with travel upfront because I have tried to get help with gas money when I visit my Oncologist but I was hoping that since my husband needed surgery they might make an exception.

So right now I don’t know what to do. I’m not asking for donations but if anyone is thinking of buying pens as gifts for Christmas or other occasions now would be a great time. If we are just able to get enough money for gas up there and back maybe we can stay in the hospital lobby.

It would be such a relief if hubby can have this surgery. He tries to hide it but I know he’s really worried about going blind. I have seen him walking around the house with his eyes closed and I know he’s trying to prepare himself.

Here is the link to the pen site and many thanks for any purchases made.

http://www.hubbyshandcraftedinkpens.yolasite.com/

bladecatz@mail.com

Blade

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Blade, have you tried couch surfing and homestay websites? There are people who allow travelers to make use of a bed or a couch as they pass through, usually for a very very cheap fee or for free. It could be worth looking into. I am so sorry to hear about your husbands health issues, and I hope that this situation has the best possible outcome for both of you. I can't buy a pen as I live in New Zealand and the shipping costs would be huge, but I would like to make a donation or something, anything, to contribute. I'm a Full time university student so I can't do much, but I would like to do my part.