Debbie Styles "Prayer Warrior"

If you know Debbie you know she would NEVER to this for herself! So I solicited her children's help to write her story while I share it with friends family and the body of Christ.

When I was first introduced to Debbie she was described as a fierce prayer warrior.  Her heart is GOLD and for others needs wants and desires. She will stand next to you for the entire Journey! 

I want to encourage everyone who reads this to contribute at least $10. 

We all waste this much on Starbucks & junk or fast food every week!

This was written by  Debbie's children.  

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' - Maya Angelou

There is a lot that can be said for how our mom has made people feel. Debbie Styles has given her life to serving her family, her church, her charitable pursuits, and her community. She has worked in summer youth camps, church youth groups, led countless bible studies, served as an FCA campus facilitator, trained in disaster relief ministries, led missions trips, served as a chaplain for the jail system and local communities, volunteered in community focused organizations, currently runs a food pantry, and has been involved in the ministerial association of 2 different cities for most of the past 35 years…..the list goes on and on. Just trying to just summarize the things she's given her time to doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of all that she's accomplished in so many people's lives. She's a “chronic giver” and doesn't know how to be anything else, pouring out her life to serve and minister to the lives of others.

Last winter her doctor began to strongly recommend that she seek medical care as he discovered that an existing heart murmur had become significantly worse. In a very short period of time she experienced a rapid increase in shortness of breath and lack of stamina among other things, experiencing terrifying moments where her oxygen and strength would simply be gone for minutes at a time. At the end of March we learned that her right valve has narrowed, the right and left valves of her heart are leaking with each heartbeat causing a backflow into her lungs. This has been going on for some time with the left side of her heart overworking to compensate for the narrowing aorta, causing that side of her heart to also become enlarged. These things together make it increasingly harder for her to breathe and are obviously limiting the oxygen flow throughout her body. They stated that she was in danger of imminent heart failure, needing to have her heart valve replaced as soon as possible and ordering her to do nothing that would cause stress on her heart and to rest as much as possible. Anyone who knows Debbie can imagine how difficult it has been for her to try to move slowly, not bend, sit, lift almost nothing and try to rest! The doctors were clear that she must take these instructions seriously as unlike a heart attack, heart failure causes everything to simply come to a stop. This has been scary information to accept while being told to stay calm and not be stressed. In the 6 weeks that have passed since the diagnosis her symptoms have been rapidly increasing and they feel now that her surgery date should be pushed up if possible.

Heart surgery demands a lot of preparatory procedures and tests -  none of them are inexpensive and all are to be paid for out of pocket as Debbie isn’t a candidate for medicaid and hasn’t been able to afford private insurance. She has been unable to work for the last several years and the income that Rick makes is not enough to help qualify for supplemental insurance.  Deb chose to schedule the open heart surgery for a hospital that the specialist heart surgeon didn’t prefer but that has a reputation for not turning people over to collections while they are paying off their medical debt. This has allowed them to move forward with getting the care she desperately needs even as she, as her surgeon put it “continues to rack up unpaid bills”.  So far the list includes:

Echocardiogram
EKG
CT Scan
Upper and Lower Endoscopy
Multiple doctors visits as well as visits with Cardiologists, Medical Specialists, and her Primary Care Physician are also included and their bills are coming in daily. With your help we hope to raise funds to cover some, if not most of these costs for Rick and Debbie, allowing them to focus on her healing and not on how to pay for it! Any gift you can give is greatly appreciated and received as love toward this family who have given from their hearts to so many. Thank you for your prayers and support during this difficult time.