Alger Family Medical Fund
Donation protected
CHERYL AND DAVID ALGER MEDICAL EXPENSES FUND
WHY WE NEED THE MONEY?
This request is extremely difficult to write as my husband David and I have never asked for help before. Both of us have medical problems but they didn’t impact us significantly until about ten years ago when everyone saw their medical insurance and copays go through the roof. We had always saved more than most because my problems started over fifty years ago. After numerous calls to different organizations and agencies, there is no one out there who can deal with our unique situation.
On Friday, August 15th, I hit the “infamous” Medicare donut hole for the fourth year in a row. What this means is that until the end of the year, my out of pocket prescription costs will be $1,700.00. Three weeks ago, my doctor added a miracle drug called Abilify to my other nine prescriptions. This drug alone will cost $370.00 a month in addition to another drug that I have to take called Celebrex which will cost about $150.00 a month.
For the last four years I have suffered from a major depression disorder which has not responded to any other drug. This year I had left the house only three or four times since January. Since starting this new drug, I have been out four times in the last ten days, have become my old self and have been able to move around better. You see, I suffer from osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, pseudo gout and sever rheumatoid arthritis, possibility two other forms of arthritis that have not been confirmed, osteoporosis, and scoliosis. I have bilateral total hip replacements and an artificial vertebrae. All the other vertebrae in my spine also have stress fractures. My feet bones are just about gone and I require deep injections every twelve to eighteen months to be able to stand. I have spent hours on the phone the last week trying to get help in paying for my medications since I also have existing medical bills already. No help is available at the local, state or federal level.
While I have been physically challenged for over fifty years, the last fifteen years have been horrible. I had to stop working and it took almost four years to start collecting Social Security Disability because the bureaucrats could not understand the complexities and interactions of my various diseases. Without my wonderful, loving husband I would never had made it through this battle. We have known each other for forty seven years and will celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary next April. He is my best friend and the love of my life.
Then disaster struck on October 20, 2013 when I received a call from a friend that no spouse EVER wants to receive. David, had been in a serious bicycle accident while on a training ride and was in a Trauma 1 hospital ICU. No one could tell me anything other than that he was alive because of HIPPA. Thanks to God for our wonderful friends who were with David on his ride which saved his life. Jane and Kent got him to the hospital while Luanne and Steve got me to the hospital since I no longer drive. If he had been alone, he would have died on the side of the road from internal bleeding.
It was seventy one days before the Affordable Care Act became effective and he had no medical insurance. Since we moved from Massachusetts to South Carolina, all he has been able to find are part time jobs without benefits. So in addition to his critical injuries, he also did not have sick time. When I got to the hospital, he was in such bad shape I decided I was not going to leave his side. He had a severe concussion, bleeding on the brain, five snapped ribs, an injured shoulder and had already had a procedure to repair a lacerated spleen although more internal bleeding was possible. He was semi-conscious and as any cyclist knows he had lost a lot of skin to road rash. He had a cracked tooth which broke several weeks later. He has Type II diabetes which caused his sugars to spike.
Sunday and Monday morning were a nightmare – every time an alarm would sound, I was wide awake. David did not have any idea where he was and didn’t remember what had happened. Basically, I grew up in hospitals so I can read staff faces as well as know what all the alarms are. I slept in a chair and only left for the vending machines and the ladies rooms.
Friends who are now family became our lifeline – visiting, getting food, just being there for us. On Monday afternoon, he was moved to a step down trauma ward. The wonderful nurses moved us both since by then I could barely walk. To this day he has no memory of 90 % of what went on other than what he has been told. Doctors who never really interacted with David would show up for less than five minutes at a time. Since David had no real hospital experience except for being with me, I would literally be shouting for them to stop and answer questions. For this they charged $400.00 every time they entered the room.
Wednesday, they wanted to send him home because of concerns about MERSA. Neither of us could move since He hurt so much and I had still been sleeping in a chair. No way could we leave with friends. Finally a wonderful Nurse Manger arranged for us to go home in a wheelchair van and covered the cost out of her own budget.
Soon the bills started coming in and what we didn’t realize was that after ninety days, all bills go to collection. David was still not working and we were dependent on credit cards to pay for essentials since we had just used our savings to pay them off. So far, we are now $100,000 in debt between his and my medical bills, prescriptions, and insurance. We are not making any headway even though we live very frugally. We celebrated my 60th birthday with a delivery pizza. This picture is from our last vacation in 2006 to celebrate our eleventh anniversary. We do not envision enjoying another vacation like this again. Bankruptcy is not an option since we had to file for my medical bills in 2010. We had even spent our 401Ks in an effort to avoid this action.
This is the worst accident David has ever had in thirty five years of competitive cycling. He is a member of the Mass Bay Road club in Plymouth, MA and the Rock Hill Bicycle club in Rock Hill, SC. He has been licensed by USA Cycling but we could not afford to renew that this year. He didn’t just race – he served as President of MBRC, promoted races, and worked on many cleanups and “grunt” jobs for the club. He misses the competition greatly.
Since we moved to South Carolina, he has remained involved with cycling by leading weekly rides, mentoring other riders, and sharing the knowledge of the skills and bike equipment he has learned over the last four decades.
WAY THE MONEY WILL BE USED: We will pay off the debt collectors, credit cards used for living expenses during David’s three months out of work and finally to establish a future medical expense fund for deductibles, procedures and prescriptions not covered by insurance.
If you can, please help us. If not please pray for us that we can get through this disaster. We will do our best to pay it forward to others. Thank you.
WHY WE NEED THE MONEY?
This request is extremely difficult to write as my husband David and I have never asked for help before. Both of us have medical problems but they didn’t impact us significantly until about ten years ago when everyone saw their medical insurance and copays go through the roof. We had always saved more than most because my problems started over fifty years ago. After numerous calls to different organizations and agencies, there is no one out there who can deal with our unique situation.
On Friday, August 15th, I hit the “infamous” Medicare donut hole for the fourth year in a row. What this means is that until the end of the year, my out of pocket prescription costs will be $1,700.00. Three weeks ago, my doctor added a miracle drug called Abilify to my other nine prescriptions. This drug alone will cost $370.00 a month in addition to another drug that I have to take called Celebrex which will cost about $150.00 a month.
For the last four years I have suffered from a major depression disorder which has not responded to any other drug. This year I had left the house only three or four times since January. Since starting this new drug, I have been out four times in the last ten days, have become my old self and have been able to move around better. You see, I suffer from osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, pseudo gout and sever rheumatoid arthritis, possibility two other forms of arthritis that have not been confirmed, osteoporosis, and scoliosis. I have bilateral total hip replacements and an artificial vertebrae. All the other vertebrae in my spine also have stress fractures. My feet bones are just about gone and I require deep injections every twelve to eighteen months to be able to stand. I have spent hours on the phone the last week trying to get help in paying for my medications since I also have existing medical bills already. No help is available at the local, state or federal level.
While I have been physically challenged for over fifty years, the last fifteen years have been horrible. I had to stop working and it took almost four years to start collecting Social Security Disability because the bureaucrats could not understand the complexities and interactions of my various diseases. Without my wonderful, loving husband I would never had made it through this battle. We have known each other for forty seven years and will celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary next April. He is my best friend and the love of my life.
Then disaster struck on October 20, 2013 when I received a call from a friend that no spouse EVER wants to receive. David, had been in a serious bicycle accident while on a training ride and was in a Trauma 1 hospital ICU. No one could tell me anything other than that he was alive because of HIPPA. Thanks to God for our wonderful friends who were with David on his ride which saved his life. Jane and Kent got him to the hospital while Luanne and Steve got me to the hospital since I no longer drive. If he had been alone, he would have died on the side of the road from internal bleeding.
It was seventy one days before the Affordable Care Act became effective and he had no medical insurance. Since we moved from Massachusetts to South Carolina, all he has been able to find are part time jobs without benefits. So in addition to his critical injuries, he also did not have sick time. When I got to the hospital, he was in such bad shape I decided I was not going to leave his side. He had a severe concussion, bleeding on the brain, five snapped ribs, an injured shoulder and had already had a procedure to repair a lacerated spleen although more internal bleeding was possible. He was semi-conscious and as any cyclist knows he had lost a lot of skin to road rash. He had a cracked tooth which broke several weeks later. He has Type II diabetes which caused his sugars to spike.
Sunday and Monday morning were a nightmare – every time an alarm would sound, I was wide awake. David did not have any idea where he was and didn’t remember what had happened. Basically, I grew up in hospitals so I can read staff faces as well as know what all the alarms are. I slept in a chair and only left for the vending machines and the ladies rooms.
Friends who are now family became our lifeline – visiting, getting food, just being there for us. On Monday afternoon, he was moved to a step down trauma ward. The wonderful nurses moved us both since by then I could barely walk. To this day he has no memory of 90 % of what went on other than what he has been told. Doctors who never really interacted with David would show up for less than five minutes at a time. Since David had no real hospital experience except for being with me, I would literally be shouting for them to stop and answer questions. For this they charged $400.00 every time they entered the room.
Wednesday, they wanted to send him home because of concerns about MERSA. Neither of us could move since He hurt so much and I had still been sleeping in a chair. No way could we leave with friends. Finally a wonderful Nurse Manger arranged for us to go home in a wheelchair van and covered the cost out of her own budget.
Soon the bills started coming in and what we didn’t realize was that after ninety days, all bills go to collection. David was still not working and we were dependent on credit cards to pay for essentials since we had just used our savings to pay them off. So far, we are now $100,000 in debt between his and my medical bills, prescriptions, and insurance. We are not making any headway even though we live very frugally. We celebrated my 60th birthday with a delivery pizza. This picture is from our last vacation in 2006 to celebrate our eleventh anniversary. We do not envision enjoying another vacation like this again. Bankruptcy is not an option since we had to file for my medical bills in 2010. We had even spent our 401Ks in an effort to avoid this action.
This is the worst accident David has ever had in thirty five years of competitive cycling. He is a member of the Mass Bay Road club in Plymouth, MA and the Rock Hill Bicycle club in Rock Hill, SC. He has been licensed by USA Cycling but we could not afford to renew that this year. He didn’t just race – he served as President of MBRC, promoted races, and worked on many cleanups and “grunt” jobs for the club. He misses the competition greatly.
Since we moved to South Carolina, he has remained involved with cycling by leading weekly rides, mentoring other riders, and sharing the knowledge of the skills and bike equipment he has learned over the last four decades.
WAY THE MONEY WILL BE USED: We will pay off the debt collectors, credit cards used for living expenses during David’s three months out of work and finally to establish a future medical expense fund for deductibles, procedures and prescriptions not covered by insurance.
If you can, please help us. If not please pray for us that we can get through this disaster. We will do our best to pay it forward to others. Thank you.
Organizer
Cheryl Thrasher Alger
Organizer
Fort Mill, SC