More Than We Can Handle

It’s been a very rough nine months for my family. On July 4th, 2018 my twenty year old sister Emily passed away in her sleep from a dissection of her aorta. It devastated our family, Emily was one of the sweetest and kindest young ladies you could have ever met. She was a full time student who worked thirty hours a week and was very responsible. She was friendly, funny, smart and she had compassion for others especially neglected animals. She is greatly missed every day by her family and friends. Unfortunately we did not have long to mourn Emily because five weeks later on August 10th my mother, Becky was diagnosed with cancer. For months she was told it was a pinched nerve but it turned out to be an aggressive form of cancer called acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Mom started chemo treatments on August 23, 2018. In September she had a very bad reaction to chemotherapy that left her with stroke like symptoms. It affected her speech, fine motor skills involving her hands, her walking, balance and her muscles. Through very hard work she has made some improvements but she still has all those issues but to a lesser degree, it is hard for her to make advances because chemo treatments knock her back. She now walks with a walker but that is not easy for her due to the muscle strength and stamina she has lost. She continues with speech and physical therapy. After receiving chemo for several months she is currently at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Tennessee where she has received a bone marrow transplant. We live in Simpsonville, Kentucky but my parents had to move to Nashville Tennessee for the transplant, my mom has to live there 100 days and be close to Vanderbilt so she can be assessed everyday. The transplant has been very hard on her. She is very weak, nauseous and just does not feel well. It has been a very long road for her but she has tried her best and we are very proud of her. Her numbers are going up so that is good news as far as the transplant goes, so far her doctors are very pleased. My father, Todd has been her primary care giver and has been by her side throughout Emily’s passing and this cancer nightmare she is living. He comforts her when he can and pushes her to do her best. My fathers employer has been very good to him, especially when it comes to allowing him to be away from work. He is committed to her 150% and he will not leave her side until he knows she’s on steady ground, my mom does not want him to leave until she is on steady ground. As a result of this my father may lose his job, my mother who is on disability has lost 50% of her income. As you can imagine they have bills coming in and insurance covers some but not all. The insurance only allows for so many physical therapy/speech therapy sessions then they have to be paid out of pocket. After all my parents have been through the last several months I don’t want them to have to worry about the bills that are mounting up, especially since my dad may lose his job. Any help you can give is very much appreciated. Thank you so much.