Derek Ballentine's Wrist Fusion Surgery Fund

Hello Friends,

I need your help guys, really hoping my Wolfpack family and friends can make this happen for

me! I hate asking people for help but I have no choice, so here goes....I broke my wrist pretty

bad back in 2000 when a coworker tripped me with a mini-blind cord as I walked by (I know,

wish it was a cooler story). I had to have surgery which invloved grafting a cadaver bone,

pins, and I had to wear an external fixator (a giant metal contraption on the outside of my arm, literally screwed into the bones in my forearm and hand in multiple places. So that was fun.)

for several months, but it never really healed correctly and I've

always had some issues with it. I made do for many years, often in considerable pain. Then

something happened to it about 3-4 years ago and my wrist began to deteriorate rapidly. The

pain increased considerably, and my entire hand began to twist or migrate inwards at a very

awkward angle. This, in turn, caused a small bone in my wrist to slip off the bone it rested

against and slide down behind the other bone, making it press against the artery and nerve

bundle at the base of my thumb. Over time, this caused the entire section to jut out and swell

immensely, causing intense, constant burning/stabbing pain in addition to the deep ache of injury induced arthritis I have become used to.

Finally my regular doctor decided to listen to me when I implored him to see if I had torn

something loose, and he refered me to an orthopedic surgeon. This was two years ago. The

orthopedic surgeon was pretty stunned that I was functioning at all, and recommended a

total wrist fusion surgery immediately. I was not in a position to financially at the time, so I

carried on as I have, dealing with exponentially increasing pain and discomfort as best I

could. The twisting of my hand accelerated, and the pain finally got so bad I asked another

doctor to refer me to another orthopedic surgeon to see if there wasn't something cheaper,

less invasive that could be done. This orthopedic surgeon was even more emphatic and

shocked than the first one had been, and also wanted to schedule me for a total wrist fusion

ASAP. He attempted to alleviate some of the pain with multiple cortisone and other injections

directly into the wrist joint, to no avail. Three months later, he did more injections, and a third round since October was given in February. Then everything amplified even more and I

noticed a large mass was forming in my wrist and growing at an alarming rate, so I went back in a couple of weeks ago. He was alarmed as well, and begged me to have the fusion surgery now. But because of the mass, it has now become even more serious and he will first have to

remove several bones from the base of my hand and an entire row in my wrist (a carpectomy)

before repositioning my hand in alignment, repairing any damaged connective tissue,

scouring the surface of the bones from forearm to knuckles, implanting a metal plate from

forearm to back of my hand, screwing it in all those little bones, and then placing my arm,

wrist and hand in a hard cast for several months of intense, painful recovery.

Sounds like fun, huh? Yay! I have insurance through my employment and although I pay out

the wazoo for it, it is useless until I have paid my ridiculously high deductible which is close to

$5,000. Unfortunately, since it is not "life threatening," the surgery facilility and

orthopedic surgeon are demanding that I pay both of their fees up front, at the time of

surgery, or they will not do the surgery.....no financing or making monthly payments. The

anesthesiologist fee won't come until after the surgery, so I can handle that over time.

Soooooo, essentially I have until Friday, July 22 to come up with the balance in order to

proceed. As you may know, Meredith my beautiful wife is back in grad school getting her

Masters, so we are getting by on my income alone and we simply don't have the money.

So please, if you are in a position to help your dear friend D-Rock, I would appreciate it

more than you could possibly imagine! I can't remember what it's like to not wake up every

day in overwhelming pain and deal with it constantly, and I've gotten to the point where I

can't go on like this much longer. I love you guys, whether you can contribute or not I know

I have the best group of friends ever. Thanks in advance.