Family of 6 in Desperate Need
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Rachel. I am a stay at home mother to four amazing children ages 13, 11, 9, and 22 months. I am also a student hoping to pursue a degree in nursing. My husband and I have made many sacrifices so that I could stay home to care for our youngest and focus on school.
My husband is a wonderful man and an amazing father. My 2 oldest children are from my first marriage but he has loved them and cared for them as if they were his own. Our children are the light of our lives. They are smart, kind, polite and loving. My husband would do anything for them and has, at the expense of his own health.
After ten years of working construction, his back is ruined. He has spinal stenosis and disc dessication in a few places but the major problem is his L4-5 disc space. After trying physical therapy, injections, and pain medication, he ended up having surgery a year ago in the hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the nerves in his spinal column.
However, surgery did litle to help and he has spent the last year getting up and going to work everyday despite living in total agony. We've been fortunate to find him a new job that requires less heavy lifting but unfortunately his condition continues to deteriorate as you can see in his most recent MRI. A healthy disc shows up as a nice sized white space between the vertebrae like the 2 in the middle. The bottom one is the biggest problem obviously because there's not much there.
According to his doctors, the disc is basically gone and he has bone rubbing against bone. This is obviously incredibly painful and as a result, my husband has been unable to work for most of the last month. He can barely get out of bed most days. He has now used up all of his sick and vacation time and things are beginning to get scary for us financially. Medical bills are piling up and we are behind on most of our utilities, in fact our gas was shut off yesterday. We paid rent for May with help from our church but I have no idea how June's will get paid. We are looking into every avenue for assistance that we can but the future is terrifying and it seems as though life continues to kick us while we are down. For example, our van broke down a week ago and will cost more than it's worth to fix it. Thankfully, a friend has lent us a vehicle to use for the time being but our friends and families are not well off. There is only so much that they can help with.
On Tuesday, the 26th, my husband goes in to try another injection but at the same time, the doc is going to test the stability of his spine. If his spine is unstable he'll need to have a spinal fusion surgery which requires a 6-9 month recovery period.
My poor husband is completely stressed out over this and while I am trying to remain strong for him, I am terrified and feel like I am drowning. Obviously, I will be going back to work if he has surgery but then I worry about taking care of a toddler and a recovering husband along with my other three children while working full time and hopefully continuing to take classes.
I hate asking for help. We've always tried to live within our means. We don't take vacations or eat out. We drive an old car, have no credit cards, and try to buy only what is truly needed. I just don't know what else to do and I am desperate so here I am begging for help. Even if all you can do is share, I would be eternally grateful. Please help me take a little of the stress off of my husband's back.
Thank you for your time,
Rachel
My husband is a wonderful man and an amazing father. My 2 oldest children are from my first marriage but he has loved them and cared for them as if they were his own. Our children are the light of our lives. They are smart, kind, polite and loving. My husband would do anything for them and has, at the expense of his own health.
After ten years of working construction, his back is ruined. He has spinal stenosis and disc dessication in a few places but the major problem is his L4-5 disc space. After trying physical therapy, injections, and pain medication, he ended up having surgery a year ago in the hopes of relieving some of the pressure on the nerves in his spinal column.
However, surgery did litle to help and he has spent the last year getting up and going to work everyday despite living in total agony. We've been fortunate to find him a new job that requires less heavy lifting but unfortunately his condition continues to deteriorate as you can see in his most recent MRI. A healthy disc shows up as a nice sized white space between the vertebrae like the 2 in the middle. The bottom one is the biggest problem obviously because there's not much there.
According to his doctors, the disc is basically gone and he has bone rubbing against bone. This is obviously incredibly painful and as a result, my husband has been unable to work for most of the last month. He can barely get out of bed most days. He has now used up all of his sick and vacation time and things are beginning to get scary for us financially. Medical bills are piling up and we are behind on most of our utilities, in fact our gas was shut off yesterday. We paid rent for May with help from our church but I have no idea how June's will get paid. We are looking into every avenue for assistance that we can but the future is terrifying and it seems as though life continues to kick us while we are down. For example, our van broke down a week ago and will cost more than it's worth to fix it. Thankfully, a friend has lent us a vehicle to use for the time being but our friends and families are not well off. There is only so much that they can help with.
On Tuesday, the 26th, my husband goes in to try another injection but at the same time, the doc is going to test the stability of his spine. If his spine is unstable he'll need to have a spinal fusion surgery which requires a 6-9 month recovery period.
My poor husband is completely stressed out over this and while I am trying to remain strong for him, I am terrified and feel like I am drowning. Obviously, I will be going back to work if he has surgery but then I worry about taking care of a toddler and a recovering husband along with my other three children while working full time and hopefully continuing to take classes.
I hate asking for help. We've always tried to live within our means. We don't take vacations or eat out. We drive an old car, have no credit cards, and try to buy only what is truly needed. I just don't know what else to do and I am desperate so here I am begging for help. Even if all you can do is share, I would be eternally grateful. Please help me take a little of the stress off of my husband's back.
Thank you for your time,
Rachel
Organizer
Rachel Wilson Ostler
Organizer
Sandy City, UT