Medical Help for Broken Ankles
Donation protected
Please do read our whole story, here's an update as of 10/29/2016 -
Mike's medical bills are starting to pile in and I watch as he gets sullen and stressed over the accumulation. At the moment I do believe they are pushing beyond $13K with pending bills that haven't come in yet to add to it.
Mike has two appts weekly for wound care for the gauge on his left ankle. These are always on Mon and Thurs which take away from any ability to get much work done those two week days (for either of us). This is a local appt, but estimated cost is just over $400 each visit - so $800 weekly!
Mike has follow up at this point for what seems every 6 weeks with the ortho surgeon and we are having nothing but issues with Mike feeling as if no one is listening. He has a bone chip in his right ankle that the surgery didn't fix and he continues to have pain from it even with pretty hefty pain medications!
Mike is constantly interupted at both appointments and there were other issues at the facilities that leave him feeling unsettled, uncertain and not confident in the ability of these facilities fully giving him the care he needs. While he can try to switch, it's a process because there's no insurance. It's frustrating to watch him fall apart, but we work hard to remain optmistic.
This fund was set up to help with the replacement of a family vehicle in addition to medical bills, but Mike and I being who we are - freelance web developer & social media guru who have the forward thinking mindset - we built a site to help gain income to work towards the purchase of a family vehicle. This go fund me campaign is now fully 100% to put towards Mike's medical bills to help alleviate some stress as I watch the stress pile up each time he has a sharp pain in his ankle where the bone chip is and sees bills pile in. We continue to appreciate the support, the kind words, prayers and gestures of all of our online friends and family.
There will be another 6 weeks of no weight bearing, which totals 12 weeks at this moment he won't be able to walk yet and it is really eating him up.
***Our full story of what occured is found below this line***
After renting a home for a year, we went into foreclosure. Rent had been paid timely but still the owners faced foreclosure. We watched as the auction was held on the property and then it happened, we received notice that the bank now owned this property. The auction man told us we had rights, such as relocation assistance and there’s this other option of a 90 day stay but reality was, within 90 days we had to be out of this property. Period. With three kids in tow, we couldn’t take the risk of pushing out 90 days; we needed that relocation assistance to move without extra costs. We are a family of five; well that’s what we were working towards. You see, I have three kids and Mike is my boyfriend. The plan was in July of 2016 to work towards moving in together, but ultimately the home we move to couldn’t be the one I had resided in the last year due to foreclosure. We searched for places, looked at a few and the prices for rentals in our area were super expensive. The only option was to work with the bank to be able to move and replenish the savings after paying for deposit on the home and any other upfront costs associated with moving. We needed that relocation assistance in order to survive and move on towards our next chapter of residing together.
Then it happened, on Friday September 2, 2016 Mike got hurt. We had signed a lease for a new rental property, had the keys and had already begun moving stuff but there were a few loose strings at the old place. The broker stated we had to have everything out of the old home which included an old upright piano built around 1910/1911. The thing was heavy, we reached out to various sources and even listed it for free. Eventually Mike and I had gotten the thing out of the home and had a free sign on it, no one wants an old piano and in order to have someone pick it up we were looking at between $300-$500 that we didn’t have. Remember, we just signed a lease on a new place and our relocation assistance wasn’t coming until September 3, 2016. Our money was diminished until we cleared the home and got that check from the bank.
Mike and I were able to get that piano outside, as I stated. We used a dolly and maneuvered it carefully to the front porch. On the night of September 2, 2016 I left Mike at the old home with the piano, he was dismantling it with screw drivers and other tools. This was our only option at the time, dismantle the piano as it had to go and we felt we had exhausted all other efforts of getting rid of this thing. I went to bring my kids to the new home so they could tend to themselves while Mike and I wrapped up the finishing items at the old home. What happened next neither of us could have ever anticipated;
I arrived back to the old home around 7:14pm to the neighbor standing over Mike. Mike was on the ground, clearly in pain. As I walked over to him I noticed blood at his ankles and all over his shoes. Tears instantly came and the neighbor patted my back telling me, “You can’t cry, be strong. You have to be strong for him!” I wiped the tears away and was told an ambulance would be on the way. A police officer arrived, looked over Mike and then the ambulance came. It took many people to get my 6’6” boyfriend up off the ground onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Mike knew he had broken something and the front of his shin was totally gouged out. It was gross and scary all at once. I recall placing my hand in his and telling him to squeeze as hard as he needed to help him focus beyond the pain but he was shaking in pain and couldn’t really speak well due to the pain that consumed him.
The ambulance delivered him to New London Hospital where had had X-rays and they did finally give him something for the pain. The whole time Mike was more concerned with getting back home because in his mind he needed to get that house cleared because his family mattered to him, meanwhile I am here telling him his health is more important. Mike still had the level head during this process of knowing if we didn’t get that relocation check we would be screwed financially. All I could think about is that my man is in pain and he needs to be fixed! After discussions with the ER doc, Mike was told that his injury was bad enough that Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Centers doc wanted to see him that night and sounded like he would be worked on immediately yet there was no guarantee of that. Mike still was convinced he had to do whatever he could to ensure his family received this relocation check the next day. He had to be there, because we are a team and the fear was if I did this alone with the broker that I wouldn’t fight for the check had the broker given me a hard time. I am that person; I am very non-confrontational and would not have fought for the right to get that check if the broker deemed the property not clear enough. I get it, but at this time all I could think is Mike needs to get fixed, he is broken. :(
After discussions with the doctor at New London Hospital Mike was able to convince the doctors that this was a priority and an urgent matter; that he had to go home this night and he promised to return to DHMC the next night after we got the relocation assistance check. Saturday came and we found the broker was on vacation so the length of time got extended to the following Tuesday. This was fine, but reality is the home had to be clear still. My friend, my Dad, and my ex-husband joined me at the old house and we got that piano torn apart, removed and all other items out of that home that Saturday while Mike was home resting his wounds.
Fast forward to the next day – the van broke down as I was headed to get the kids to the fair. The kids had been left home alone two nights for a few hours because of the move and Mike’s injuries; they deserved a day of fun. Headed on I89 my engine blew. The van is down and I nearly cried so hard. This sucked. Thankfully my friend Heidi and her husband came to pick us up and a tow guy gave me a super deal on a tow back home. My Dad was able to let me use his smaller car that is an extra and I got those kids to the fair!
Today we are still waiting to make enough cash to fix the van engine; it will run us about $800. This van needs to get on the road because it’s easier to bring Mike back and forth to the hospital in. A wheelchair doesn’t fit in my Dad’s car and there just isn’t enough room if the whole family has to ride along for Mike’s appointments. So that is partially what this GoFundMe will be for, getting our family rig up and running.
The majority of funds we can raise using this will be used to help offset medical costs. Mike has already had 2 ER visits, at least 4 sets of x-rays that I can recall, 1 ultra sound, blood work and never mind the visits with the ortho doc, 12 staples and the 2 splints he has received. In addition he has medications that have had to be filled totally around $80 by now or so. This whole situation is going to put him medically in debt and we want to find a way to gather the online community to help raise funds to pay these medical bills as they come in. Nothing sucks worse than watching him be upset about the impending medical bills when he got hurt simply trying to keep the family from a financial struggle.
Today we ask of you to help us get moving forward, help us get that family van fixed and the medical bills covered. Mike continues to try to do his coding work but with the pain? There are days he can barely focus beyond the pain. To this day as we await surgery for Monday, September 19th where he will have plates and screws placed in his right ankle we still are trying our best to work our businesses so that we can keep the family afloat … currently I am the one working full time to keep our family surviving and continue to take on extra work from clients beyond my regular capacity because his work is slow coming due to the pain keeping him from working to full potential.
This whole scenario sucks and it’s difficult to remain positive through it all but I have Faith that the online community will see that we are a family that truly can use a leg up in helping with the family van and medical bills … if you can only share this as help please do. Even a $5 donation can help us to start getting an account setup to fix the family van and pay for those medical bills once they start arriving. We have no idea how much a surgery will cost without insurance and are super scared of this. Remember he got hurt trying to keep our family financially stable which is the worst part of it all.
We both thank you for reading this and for thinking about our family during this struggle. We most certainly will be updating this as the procedure goes along and as those bills pile in so that you can truly see the progress and how much this process is setting our family back financially. Have a great day everyone.
Recap of what occurred (shortened version):
· Rental property got foreclosed on and we needed to clear the home of all owners’ items and our stuff by September 3, 2016 in order to afford a deposit on new place with the bank’s relocation assistance.
· An upright piano that had been dismantled slightly weighing about 500lbs after all the pieces we took off were gone, fell on Mike’s legs.
· X-rays showed one broken ankle in two spots – this will require plates and screws on one part of ankle and screws in another spot. Surgery supposed to happen 9/19/2016 so as long as his swelling is down enough.
· A fractured left ankle that has been ruled as a possible old injury and is in stable condition.
· 12 staples placed on the front of the left shin for the gouge that happened when the piano fell on him.
· A broken down van that is going to cost $800 to replace engine and have my ex-husband put into the van so we can have our family vehicle running and be easier to transport Mike to his many doctors’ appointments that are going to happen after surgery.
· We are raising funds mostly for medical with the first $800 being placed to fix our family vehicle so that we have a more wheelchair friendly vehicle to transport Mike to the hospital and doctors.
· We plan to pay it forward after all of this is over, and also will update/document the hospital bills, van updates and so forth so that anyone who donates to this will see the progress.
· I’ve researched the costs of uninsured medical that Mike is undergoing and it goes well beyond $20,000. This is a debt that incurred all over a man trying to do what he felt right to get his family financially secure in a new place due to us having to move due to no fault of our own. That is why our GoFundMe is set at a goal of $20,000 which I don’t feel will fully cover everything but will help with offsetting the bills for sure.
· Looking at an estimated three month recovery time, which essentially could keep Mike from working at full potential during that time.
9/20/2016 Upates
Surgery happened on 9/19/2016. They couldn't place the plate and screws as planned due to ankle still being swollen. A rod was instead placed on his right ankle. He is under strict orders of no weight bearing on that right ankle. We were able to borrow a walker from an extended family member for him to try to get around.
New London Hospital bill came in which put us at $2k due to them. I called NH Medicaid and due to income guidelines - he is considered family of one. WE are not married and he doesn't have any of his own kids. He is above the guidelines for income under NH law for being eligible for Medicaid. As far as other financial aid options, we will continue to look into them - based on basic review, he may not get any help there due to them going off last years self-employment income versus a regular employee who they would go off current income (which isn't much with him being in so much pain).
We will keep updated and chugging along, next follow up is on 9/29/2016. Today he is headed to the health center to have them look at where his staples are, the ortho surgeon was majorly concerned with that left leg so we will update once we know more. Thank you for your continued prayers, support, donations and kind words!
Mike's medical bills are starting to pile in and I watch as he gets sullen and stressed over the accumulation. At the moment I do believe they are pushing beyond $13K with pending bills that haven't come in yet to add to it.
Mike has two appts weekly for wound care for the gauge on his left ankle. These are always on Mon and Thurs which take away from any ability to get much work done those two week days (for either of us). This is a local appt, but estimated cost is just over $400 each visit - so $800 weekly!
Mike has follow up at this point for what seems every 6 weeks with the ortho surgeon and we are having nothing but issues with Mike feeling as if no one is listening. He has a bone chip in his right ankle that the surgery didn't fix and he continues to have pain from it even with pretty hefty pain medications!
Mike is constantly interupted at both appointments and there were other issues at the facilities that leave him feeling unsettled, uncertain and not confident in the ability of these facilities fully giving him the care he needs. While he can try to switch, it's a process because there's no insurance. It's frustrating to watch him fall apart, but we work hard to remain optmistic.
This fund was set up to help with the replacement of a family vehicle in addition to medical bills, but Mike and I being who we are - freelance web developer & social media guru who have the forward thinking mindset - we built a site to help gain income to work towards the purchase of a family vehicle. This go fund me campaign is now fully 100% to put towards Mike's medical bills to help alleviate some stress as I watch the stress pile up each time he has a sharp pain in his ankle where the bone chip is and sees bills pile in. We continue to appreciate the support, the kind words, prayers and gestures of all of our online friends and family.
There will be another 6 weeks of no weight bearing, which totals 12 weeks at this moment he won't be able to walk yet and it is really eating him up.
***Our full story of what occured is found below this line***
After renting a home for a year, we went into foreclosure. Rent had been paid timely but still the owners faced foreclosure. We watched as the auction was held on the property and then it happened, we received notice that the bank now owned this property. The auction man told us we had rights, such as relocation assistance and there’s this other option of a 90 day stay but reality was, within 90 days we had to be out of this property. Period. With three kids in tow, we couldn’t take the risk of pushing out 90 days; we needed that relocation assistance to move without extra costs. We are a family of five; well that’s what we were working towards. You see, I have three kids and Mike is my boyfriend. The plan was in July of 2016 to work towards moving in together, but ultimately the home we move to couldn’t be the one I had resided in the last year due to foreclosure. We searched for places, looked at a few and the prices for rentals in our area were super expensive. The only option was to work with the bank to be able to move and replenish the savings after paying for deposit on the home and any other upfront costs associated with moving. We needed that relocation assistance in order to survive and move on towards our next chapter of residing together.
Then it happened, on Friday September 2, 2016 Mike got hurt. We had signed a lease for a new rental property, had the keys and had already begun moving stuff but there were a few loose strings at the old place. The broker stated we had to have everything out of the old home which included an old upright piano built around 1910/1911. The thing was heavy, we reached out to various sources and even listed it for free. Eventually Mike and I had gotten the thing out of the home and had a free sign on it, no one wants an old piano and in order to have someone pick it up we were looking at between $300-$500 that we didn’t have. Remember, we just signed a lease on a new place and our relocation assistance wasn’t coming until September 3, 2016. Our money was diminished until we cleared the home and got that check from the bank.
Mike and I were able to get that piano outside, as I stated. We used a dolly and maneuvered it carefully to the front porch. On the night of September 2, 2016 I left Mike at the old home with the piano, he was dismantling it with screw drivers and other tools. This was our only option at the time, dismantle the piano as it had to go and we felt we had exhausted all other efforts of getting rid of this thing. I went to bring my kids to the new home so they could tend to themselves while Mike and I wrapped up the finishing items at the old home. What happened next neither of us could have ever anticipated;
I arrived back to the old home around 7:14pm to the neighbor standing over Mike. Mike was on the ground, clearly in pain. As I walked over to him I noticed blood at his ankles and all over his shoes. Tears instantly came and the neighbor patted my back telling me, “You can’t cry, be strong. You have to be strong for him!” I wiped the tears away and was told an ambulance would be on the way. A police officer arrived, looked over Mike and then the ambulance came. It took many people to get my 6’6” boyfriend up off the ground onto a stretcher and into the ambulance. Mike knew he had broken something and the front of his shin was totally gouged out. It was gross and scary all at once. I recall placing my hand in his and telling him to squeeze as hard as he needed to help him focus beyond the pain but he was shaking in pain and couldn’t really speak well due to the pain that consumed him.
The ambulance delivered him to New London Hospital where had had X-rays and they did finally give him something for the pain. The whole time Mike was more concerned with getting back home because in his mind he needed to get that house cleared because his family mattered to him, meanwhile I am here telling him his health is more important. Mike still had the level head during this process of knowing if we didn’t get that relocation check we would be screwed financially. All I could think about is that my man is in pain and he needs to be fixed! After discussions with the ER doc, Mike was told that his injury was bad enough that Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Centers doc wanted to see him that night and sounded like he would be worked on immediately yet there was no guarantee of that. Mike still was convinced he had to do whatever he could to ensure his family received this relocation check the next day. He had to be there, because we are a team and the fear was if I did this alone with the broker that I wouldn’t fight for the check had the broker given me a hard time. I am that person; I am very non-confrontational and would not have fought for the right to get that check if the broker deemed the property not clear enough. I get it, but at this time all I could think is Mike needs to get fixed, he is broken. :(
After discussions with the doctor at New London Hospital Mike was able to convince the doctors that this was a priority and an urgent matter; that he had to go home this night and he promised to return to DHMC the next night after we got the relocation assistance check. Saturday came and we found the broker was on vacation so the length of time got extended to the following Tuesday. This was fine, but reality is the home had to be clear still. My friend, my Dad, and my ex-husband joined me at the old house and we got that piano torn apart, removed and all other items out of that home that Saturday while Mike was home resting his wounds.
Fast forward to the next day – the van broke down as I was headed to get the kids to the fair. The kids had been left home alone two nights for a few hours because of the move and Mike’s injuries; they deserved a day of fun. Headed on I89 my engine blew. The van is down and I nearly cried so hard. This sucked. Thankfully my friend Heidi and her husband came to pick us up and a tow guy gave me a super deal on a tow back home. My Dad was able to let me use his smaller car that is an extra and I got those kids to the fair!
Today we are still waiting to make enough cash to fix the van engine; it will run us about $800. This van needs to get on the road because it’s easier to bring Mike back and forth to the hospital in. A wheelchair doesn’t fit in my Dad’s car and there just isn’t enough room if the whole family has to ride along for Mike’s appointments. So that is partially what this GoFundMe will be for, getting our family rig up and running.
The majority of funds we can raise using this will be used to help offset medical costs. Mike has already had 2 ER visits, at least 4 sets of x-rays that I can recall, 1 ultra sound, blood work and never mind the visits with the ortho doc, 12 staples and the 2 splints he has received. In addition he has medications that have had to be filled totally around $80 by now or so. This whole situation is going to put him medically in debt and we want to find a way to gather the online community to help raise funds to pay these medical bills as they come in. Nothing sucks worse than watching him be upset about the impending medical bills when he got hurt simply trying to keep the family from a financial struggle.
Today we ask of you to help us get moving forward, help us get that family van fixed and the medical bills covered. Mike continues to try to do his coding work but with the pain? There are days he can barely focus beyond the pain. To this day as we await surgery for Monday, September 19th where he will have plates and screws placed in his right ankle we still are trying our best to work our businesses so that we can keep the family afloat … currently I am the one working full time to keep our family surviving and continue to take on extra work from clients beyond my regular capacity because his work is slow coming due to the pain keeping him from working to full potential.
This whole scenario sucks and it’s difficult to remain positive through it all but I have Faith that the online community will see that we are a family that truly can use a leg up in helping with the family van and medical bills … if you can only share this as help please do. Even a $5 donation can help us to start getting an account setup to fix the family van and pay for those medical bills once they start arriving. We have no idea how much a surgery will cost without insurance and are super scared of this. Remember he got hurt trying to keep our family financially stable which is the worst part of it all.
We both thank you for reading this and for thinking about our family during this struggle. We most certainly will be updating this as the procedure goes along and as those bills pile in so that you can truly see the progress and how much this process is setting our family back financially. Have a great day everyone.
Recap of what occurred (shortened version):
· Rental property got foreclosed on and we needed to clear the home of all owners’ items and our stuff by September 3, 2016 in order to afford a deposit on new place with the bank’s relocation assistance.
· An upright piano that had been dismantled slightly weighing about 500lbs after all the pieces we took off were gone, fell on Mike’s legs.
· X-rays showed one broken ankle in two spots – this will require plates and screws on one part of ankle and screws in another spot. Surgery supposed to happen 9/19/2016 so as long as his swelling is down enough.
· A fractured left ankle that has been ruled as a possible old injury and is in stable condition.
· 12 staples placed on the front of the left shin for the gouge that happened when the piano fell on him.
· A broken down van that is going to cost $800 to replace engine and have my ex-husband put into the van so we can have our family vehicle running and be easier to transport Mike to his many doctors’ appointments that are going to happen after surgery.
· We are raising funds mostly for medical with the first $800 being placed to fix our family vehicle so that we have a more wheelchair friendly vehicle to transport Mike to the hospital and doctors.
· We plan to pay it forward after all of this is over, and also will update/document the hospital bills, van updates and so forth so that anyone who donates to this will see the progress.
· I’ve researched the costs of uninsured medical that Mike is undergoing and it goes well beyond $20,000. This is a debt that incurred all over a man trying to do what he felt right to get his family financially secure in a new place due to us having to move due to no fault of our own. That is why our GoFundMe is set at a goal of $20,000 which I don’t feel will fully cover everything but will help with offsetting the bills for sure.
· Looking at an estimated three month recovery time, which essentially could keep Mike from working at full potential during that time.
9/20/2016 Upates
Surgery happened on 9/19/2016. They couldn't place the plate and screws as planned due to ankle still being swollen. A rod was instead placed on his right ankle. He is under strict orders of no weight bearing on that right ankle. We were able to borrow a walker from an extended family member for him to try to get around.
New London Hospital bill came in which put us at $2k due to them. I called NH Medicaid and due to income guidelines - he is considered family of one. WE are not married and he doesn't have any of his own kids. He is above the guidelines for income under NH law for being eligible for Medicaid. As far as other financial aid options, we will continue to look into them - based on basic review, he may not get any help there due to them going off last years self-employment income versus a regular employee who they would go off current income (which isn't much with him being in so much pain).
We will keep updated and chugging along, next follow up is on 9/29/2016. Today he is headed to the health center to have them look at where his staples are, the ortho surgeon was majorly concerned with that left leg so we will update once we know more. Thank you for your continued prayers, support, donations and kind words!
Organizer
Brandy Eastman Tanner
Organizer
Newport, NH
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