Electric deposit & Medical supplies
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Cindy is a fun, kind-hearted person whose positive Facebook posts, Bible study web page articles, and one-on-one Christian counselling sessions help many. She has a very generous heart and has helped many in their times of need. She speaks regularly of all the ways God has blessed her and healed her. Her Bible Study page has over 3000 people who follow it regularly, many of whom who live in countries where life as a Christian can be really difficult.
She lives what she preaches and always puts an encouraging face forward. Most would never guess what a few close friends know. She battles numerous health afflictions that periodically flare up and cause her weeks, or even months, of extreme level 7-10 pain and housebound immobility. The afflictions include Stage 4 Kidney failure, pulmonary impairement, diabetic retinopathy, diabetes, hypertension, hypothyroidism, degenerative arthritis, and lymphedema. As serious as the first few can be, it is that last one that has caused her the most trouble and pain.
Lymphedema is essentially when the lympathic system that moves water out of tissues becomes clogged. For most, it will impact one area, such as an arm or a leg. For some, like Cindy, it is widespread, impacting the whole body. Most of the time she is able to manage it. But when something happens that limits her mobility, like happened when she fell this May, the devestation to her body is fast and severe. Swelling turns to leaking, and leaking turns to massive sores, as you can see in the photos.
Calf of right leg.
Front of right leg.
Front of left leg.
Back of left leg.
At the top of the right calf, this blister suddenly formed, it was about the size of a silver dollar. Within a day it ruptured, drained, and within another day formed the sore in the next photo:
Sore on the top of the right calf, caused by the blister shown above.
The following photo, from the stage 4 pressure ulcer she battled in 2013, shows how severe it can get when it gets out of control. It took a year to heal that one up. Ironically, it was caused by the abdominal compression bands she had to wear at the time due to the lymphedema.
These sores are as painful as they look, and often more so. Doctors are under a lot of pressure from the government not to prescribe strong pain medication for chronic pain sufferers. So she suffers intensely. There is nothing much you or I can do about that and she copes with it through prayer and faith.
The other impact of these sores is that they require frequent bandage changes due to the heavy drainage. I typically change her bandages twice per day, alhtough sometimes more often. Cindy and I live on very limited income and the cost of unreimbursed bandaging supplies is devestating. It has wiped out our meager savings and there will likely be 6-8 more weeks of this to go this round. This is where we need your help.
On top of this, our landlord announced that he is going to stop including electricity in the rent. We are required to establish our own electrical service with North Georgia Electric (NGEMC). Because we have lived exclusively in places where electric was included in the rent for over ten years, we have to pay a deposit in addition to the setup fees.
We have been informed that we will have to pay $375 up front. We don't have that now that bandaging supplies have wiped out our savings. Yet we have to have this done by October 28, or come November 1, we will be without power. Moving is not an option for health reasons and would cost even more than the electric deposit.
I can't tell you how humbling it is to have to ask people to help us financially. But we have exhausted all our resources. The financial aid programs out there to help with electric bills are based on helping people who have past due bills. They don't have funds in place to help people with electric deposits.
In the past we have helped people in need. Now we are the people in need. We need your help. Please do what you can. Whatever the amount you are able, we pray that you will be graciously blessed for your willingness to help us.
She lives what she preaches and always puts an encouraging face forward. Most would never guess what a few close friends know. She battles numerous health afflictions that periodically flare up and cause her weeks, or even months, of extreme level 7-10 pain and housebound immobility. The afflictions include Stage 4 Kidney failure, pulmonary impairement, diabetic retinopathy, diabetes, hypertension, hypothyroidism, degenerative arthritis, and lymphedema. As serious as the first few can be, it is that last one that has caused her the most trouble and pain.
Lymphedema is essentially when the lympathic system that moves water out of tissues becomes clogged. For most, it will impact one area, such as an arm or a leg. For some, like Cindy, it is widespread, impacting the whole body. Most of the time she is able to manage it. But when something happens that limits her mobility, like happened when she fell this May, the devestation to her body is fast and severe. Swelling turns to leaking, and leaking turns to massive sores, as you can see in the photos.
Calf of right leg.Front of right leg.Front of left leg.Back of left leg.At the top of the right calf, this blister suddenly formed, it was about the size of a silver dollar. Within a day it ruptured, drained, and within another day formed the sore in the next photo:Sore on the top of the right calf, caused by the blister shown above.The following photo, from the stage 4 pressure ulcer she battled in 2013, shows how severe it can get when it gets out of control. It took a year to heal that one up. Ironically, it was caused by the abdominal compression bands she had to wear at the time due to the lymphedema.
These sores are as painful as they look, and often more so. Doctors are under a lot of pressure from the government not to prescribe strong pain medication for chronic pain sufferers. So she suffers intensely. There is nothing much you or I can do about that and she copes with it through prayer and faith.
The other impact of these sores is that they require frequent bandage changes due to the heavy drainage. I typically change her bandages twice per day, alhtough sometimes more often. Cindy and I live on very limited income and the cost of unreimbursed bandaging supplies is devestating. It has wiped out our meager savings and there will likely be 6-8 more weeks of this to go this round. This is where we need your help.
On top of this, our landlord announced that he is going to stop including electricity in the rent. We are required to establish our own electrical service with North Georgia Electric (NGEMC). Because we have lived exclusively in places where electric was included in the rent for over ten years, we have to pay a deposit in addition to the setup fees.
We have been informed that we will have to pay $375 up front. We don't have that now that bandaging supplies have wiped out our savings. Yet we have to have this done by October 28, or come November 1, we will be without power. Moving is not an option for health reasons and would cost even more than the electric deposit.
I can't tell you how humbling it is to have to ask people to help us financially. But we have exhausted all our resources. The financial aid programs out there to help with electric bills are based on helping people who have past due bills. They don't have funds in place to help people with electric deposits.
In the past we have helped people in need. Now we are the people in need. We need your help. Please do what you can. Whatever the amount you are able, we pray that you will be graciously blessed for your willingness to help us.
Organizer
Mike Sullivan
Organizer
Dalton, GA