BROKEN PENGUIN
Donation protected
This is my Penguin. Some of you know him as Kramar.
If you've been a Detroiter for at least the last 13 years, he's probably poured you a fine beverage or two. He has served as one of Detroit's favorite bartenders & restaurant managers, in some of our city's most happening places. Most recently, he is your favorite bartender at Iron Chef Michael Symon's B Spot in Royal Oak. He's a fire-breathing, bottle-juggling, good-time & good friend to many. He can pick a good wine, craft a lovely cocktail & talk a good game, with the best. He has also served, by my side, as Stage Manager for Torch With A Twist, an LNT Leader & as a fine DPW Soldier at Lakes of Fire, for almost as many years as it has been happening. Now, something terrible is happening to him.
It started with a strained feeling in his lower back & groin area about 2 months ago. Then the pain began to spread & worsen in severity. At the time he was still uninsured...but it quickly became so painful to drive for more than 5 minutes & though he did try, standing, walking & working, also yeilded more unbearable pain...so doctors became impossible to avoid. Out of pocket costs for office visits & prescriptions (which did nothing to relieve him) immediately started accumulating...still no real diagnosis, or effective treatment, was avialable.
He did receive some comfort & relief from the gift of massage tecniques, performed by a dear friend, who is a practicing professional...but alas, this was also not enough to fix him.
After months of being stuck in the system & the process of getting insured, he finally got it. But by this time, after many weeks of being unable to work, he was already unable to pay for it & the co-pays have pretty much drained what little he had in the bank.
All of this happened, most inopportunely, at the same time that our lease in Plymouth was about to end & we had put a deposit on a place in Ferndale, so we could both be closer to work & simplify our lives a little. Instead, we had to enlist the aid of our gallant DPW Brothers to move our household into a storage unit & separate, temporarily....Penguin staying with his parents (who are both also in very, very poor health) in Northville & me, with dear friends in Downtown, so that I can continue to get to work. We had to give our LoF Volunteer tickets back & cancel all our plans indefinitely.
Fortunately, the company we both work for offers me paid vacation time, as a long-time employee, so the challenges we have faced with transportation are at least reduced for now & so far, we have been fortunate enough to find dear friends & relatives willing to transport me back & forth from Northville to Downtown as needed. But it has been terribly difficult, just the same.
He was finally able to have an MRI last week & Xrays a few days ago. The primary care doctor refered him to a neurosurgeon at Providence, where it was determined that he must in deed have another surgery on his spine. (*In 2006 he was injured while working at Small Plates during Super Bowl & had to have spinal surgery to repair similar damages to the same region.) `
As of June 1st, he is insured, but with no income for more than a month now, he really can not afford to pay for it. In addition to the monthly premium, he will also end up owing multiple thousands of dollars in co-pays & deductibles, in addition to surgeon's fees, hospital fees & medications.
They have scheduled the microdiscectomy (*or microdecompression: a "minimally invasive" surgical proceedure to treat herniated spinal discs; a small portion of the bone over the nerve root and/or disc material from under the nerve root is removed to relieve neural impingement) for Thursday, July 2nd. The "estimated" recovery time, best case scenario, is approximately 4 to 6 weeks.
On the bad side; he's lost 15 pounds...in muscle mass & his leg is showing signs of atrophy. On the good side; he quit smoking!
It may be many weeks, or months, before we are able to move forward. We need your help to get through this. I have been the grateful recipient of many miracles & unearned gifts from my community, which have prevented me from despair. I believe that we are not alone in this, Penguin & I, but that we can get by with a little help from our friends. Every dollar counts & we appreciate every contribution.
If you've been a Detroiter for at least the last 13 years, he's probably poured you a fine beverage or two. He has served as one of Detroit's favorite bartenders & restaurant managers, in some of our city's most happening places. Most recently, he is your favorite bartender at Iron Chef Michael Symon's B Spot in Royal Oak. He's a fire-breathing, bottle-juggling, good-time & good friend to many. He can pick a good wine, craft a lovely cocktail & talk a good game, with the best. He has also served, by my side, as Stage Manager for Torch With A Twist, an LNT Leader & as a fine DPW Soldier at Lakes of Fire, for almost as many years as it has been happening. Now, something terrible is happening to him.
It started with a strained feeling in his lower back & groin area about 2 months ago. Then the pain began to spread & worsen in severity. At the time he was still uninsured...but it quickly became so painful to drive for more than 5 minutes & though he did try, standing, walking & working, also yeilded more unbearable pain...so doctors became impossible to avoid. Out of pocket costs for office visits & prescriptions (which did nothing to relieve him) immediately started accumulating...still no real diagnosis, or effective treatment, was avialable.
He did receive some comfort & relief from the gift of massage tecniques, performed by a dear friend, who is a practicing professional...but alas, this was also not enough to fix him.
After months of being stuck in the system & the process of getting insured, he finally got it. But by this time, after many weeks of being unable to work, he was already unable to pay for it & the co-pays have pretty much drained what little he had in the bank.
All of this happened, most inopportunely, at the same time that our lease in Plymouth was about to end & we had put a deposit on a place in Ferndale, so we could both be closer to work & simplify our lives a little. Instead, we had to enlist the aid of our gallant DPW Brothers to move our household into a storage unit & separate, temporarily....Penguin staying with his parents (who are both also in very, very poor health) in Northville & me, with dear friends in Downtown, so that I can continue to get to work. We had to give our LoF Volunteer tickets back & cancel all our plans indefinitely.
Fortunately, the company we both work for offers me paid vacation time, as a long-time employee, so the challenges we have faced with transportation are at least reduced for now & so far, we have been fortunate enough to find dear friends & relatives willing to transport me back & forth from Northville to Downtown as needed. But it has been terribly difficult, just the same.
He was finally able to have an MRI last week & Xrays a few days ago. The primary care doctor refered him to a neurosurgeon at Providence, where it was determined that he must in deed have another surgery on his spine. (*In 2006 he was injured while working at Small Plates during Super Bowl & had to have spinal surgery to repair similar damages to the same region.) `
As of June 1st, he is insured, but with no income for more than a month now, he really can not afford to pay for it. In addition to the monthly premium, he will also end up owing multiple thousands of dollars in co-pays & deductibles, in addition to surgeon's fees, hospital fees & medications.
They have scheduled the microdiscectomy (*or microdecompression: a "minimally invasive" surgical proceedure to treat herniated spinal discs; a small portion of the bone over the nerve root and/or disc material from under the nerve root is removed to relieve neural impingement) for Thursday, July 2nd. The "estimated" recovery time, best case scenario, is approximately 4 to 6 weeks.
On the bad side; he's lost 15 pounds...in muscle mass & his leg is showing signs of atrophy. On the good side; he quit smoking!
It may be many weeks, or months, before we are able to move forward. We need your help to get through this. I have been the grateful recipient of many miracles & unearned gifts from my community, which have prevented me from despair. I believe that we are not alone in this, Penguin & I, but that we can get by with a little help from our friends. Every dollar counts & we appreciate every contribution.
Organizer
Grace Detroit
Organizer
Detroit, MI