Help Andrew Access Critical Medical Care

This is a picture of my son-in-law, Andrew. This is how he looks most days now, which is very different from the Andrew that I’m used to seeing - hard working, never home, driven to make a living. He’s been a “survivor” since he was 16 and was emancipated, working hard and taking care of himself when he should have just been a boy enjoying childhood. When he married my daughter, Alison, he was instantly part of our family. Because of Alison’s own debilitating health issues, the two came to live with my husband and me, and the four of us have coped since then to help and support her. Andrew married her knowing her situation, but was committed to supporting her and making the best of a difficult situation. Needless to say, I know the character of this man, and am heartbroken to see that his life has changed in a very short time, and that he is now in the place of needing help, instead of helping someone else.

Andrew changed subtly at first. Soon after having a bad bout of Covid, he started coming home and going right to bed, he lost interest in activities, started falling at work, having trouble with stairs, cutting hours at work… His diabetes, diagnosed at age 23 , was not being correctly managed, and that took a toll. And then just 6 months ago, his symptoms rapidly worsened, which started with severe swelling in his legs, and loss of motor control in his legs. He had to start sitting at work, then using a cane, and adapted his driving to compensate for weakened reflexes. This all came down with a crash in October of this year when he was fired from his job because of his physical condition. He is unable to work, can no longer drive, walk short distances without the aide of a rollator, and relies on a wheelchair to go outside of the house. He has lost most of the feeling in his legs, has developed loss of vision from diabetic retinopathy, and currently has stage 3b kidney disease.

How quickly life has turned from health and energized living to weakness and debilitating disease. I know this happens to people sometimes, but when you witness it happening in front of your eyes, it is frightening. I’m trying to help anyway I can in tangible ways… meals, transportation, physical support, etc., but there are needs that my family cannot meet. That being said, I come humbly to request your consideration to help Andrew in this life changing situation. He has specific financial needs that we can not meet; a car that needs to be sold and loan that needs to be paid off, basic living expenses, medical expenses, and the cost of going to Mayo Clinic for a week to have testing and develop a treatment plan. So far, his specialists have ruled out ALS and MS, but it is definitely some sort of complex neuro-muscular disease. He has to be evaluated for a rare form of proximal neuropathy called diabetic amyotrophy.