Help for Colleen
Donation protected
Colleen is in immediate need for help! Her situation is dire. Due to medical issues afflicting herself and her son she is unable to work and is quickly facing homelessness. She is in need of immediate surgery and home health care and this can obviously not be done without a home. If she becomes homeless she does this with a 9 year old disabled son who has autism and is a amuputee. His 10th birthday is next week and with $6 she's unable to get a cake or gift!
She is completely on her own as her husband passed away in 2008 suddenly from cancer.
Please donate any amount you can, she's quickly running out of time.
Here is her personal story
My story, hmmmm..... not easy to sum up a lifetime but I'll try. I showed signs Of digestive illness As a child.By the age of 16, I had my first bleeding ulcer. I wasn't diagnosed Until my early twenties. By then much of the damage had been done. My official diagnosis Is idiopathic Gastroparesis. What that means Basically Is my stomach Has been slowly Shutting down for Years. December Of 2015 Testing showed It was only working At 7%. At that point I had already had Multiple surgeries Including A gastric stimulator, several feeding tubes and a couple bowel resections. In January of 2016, I finally had the total gastrectomy, a complete removalof my stomach. They placed a new j-tube, a feeding tube in the small intestine, for me to use at home. After almost 6wks in the hospital, I came home with a new outlook. I couldn't wait to strap on the back pack with the pump and go to work. I was home less than 2hrs and the tube fell out. It has been a year of surgeries, both new and corrective. They have finally given up and decided that my last resort is to place a port to receive iv nutrition at home. Probably because I am down to 98lbs, in pain and weak every day of my life. A couple weeks ago I passed out at Starbucks from malnutrition of course, so Chase and I got to ride in a squad. The ER doctors don't know what to do with me anymore. They agree that I need the port, tpn (what the iv nutrition is called) and home health. Anyway, I have spent weeks fighting to get this and finally it's around the corner. I have two surgeries scheduled on February 24th. After I heal from those, the final surgery will place the port so home health can be ordered. All great and wonderful, ......until I was being told to get out of my apartment by the 17th!
My life other than health......
I am gonna skip right to 2008. My husband passed away suddenly from Hodgkins Lymphoma. My youngest son was to turn a year old just ten days later. My life had always been a struggle but I was a fighter. That year is when I fell apart. I was alone with a disabled child, who needed either orthopaedic surgery or a complete amputation. I went with the amputation because I knew I couldn't carry around a 4yr old that couldn't walk by myself. It was the right decision. He now has a prosthetic leg and loves to run, no matter how crooked, lol. His other issue is he has moderate asd, or what they used to call Aspbergers, a form of autism. I knew by the time he was 18mos because he wasn't speaking and loved to sort toys by color. He could care less about other kids. He would sit on the couch and draw circles for hours. I have worked with him so he is very verbal now and enjoys other children very much. He struggles emotionally and socially though. He has meltdowns where I have to hold him down. He is very very intelligent but doesn't know how to talk to his peers. He does much better with teenagers and adults, even though he would rather understand his own age group.
The last year.....
I moved to this area for the city life and the medical opportunities for both of us. I thought I would be going back to work but God had another plan. I was in my new apartment 3days when I ended up in the hospital with internal bleeding. I had the gastrectomy, a bowel resection and spent an extra few weeks in for an infection. By February of last year, I knew that working outside of the home might be challenging. ....by summer, I had given up. I tried Avon....don't have enough contacts in the area. I tried to find a roommate but noone wants to sleep on a couch. Now I am nehind in rent and searching for a room to rent or a roommate to go in on a cheap apartment. The problem is, I have $2 in cash and $6 in my bank account. I get my Social security death benefits check on February 15th, but have to be out 2 days later. The homeless shelters are full. My family doesn't have it to give. I have two social workers trying to help us but we are running into dead ends and out of time fast. I believe God has a plan but I am still frightened and overwhelmed.
She is completely on her own as her husband passed away in 2008 suddenly from cancer.
Please donate any amount you can, she's quickly running out of time.
Here is her personal story
My story, hmmmm..... not easy to sum up a lifetime but I'll try. I showed signs Of digestive illness As a child.By the age of 16, I had my first bleeding ulcer. I wasn't diagnosed Until my early twenties. By then much of the damage had been done. My official diagnosis Is idiopathic Gastroparesis. What that means Basically Is my stomach Has been slowly Shutting down for Years. December Of 2015 Testing showed It was only working At 7%. At that point I had already had Multiple surgeries Including A gastric stimulator, several feeding tubes and a couple bowel resections. In January of 2016, I finally had the total gastrectomy, a complete removalof my stomach. They placed a new j-tube, a feeding tube in the small intestine, for me to use at home. After almost 6wks in the hospital, I came home with a new outlook. I couldn't wait to strap on the back pack with the pump and go to work. I was home less than 2hrs and the tube fell out. It has been a year of surgeries, both new and corrective. They have finally given up and decided that my last resort is to place a port to receive iv nutrition at home. Probably because I am down to 98lbs, in pain and weak every day of my life. A couple weeks ago I passed out at Starbucks from malnutrition of course, so Chase and I got to ride in a squad. The ER doctors don't know what to do with me anymore. They agree that I need the port, tpn (what the iv nutrition is called) and home health. Anyway, I have spent weeks fighting to get this and finally it's around the corner. I have two surgeries scheduled on February 24th. After I heal from those, the final surgery will place the port so home health can be ordered. All great and wonderful, ......until I was being told to get out of my apartment by the 17th!
My life other than health......
I am gonna skip right to 2008. My husband passed away suddenly from Hodgkins Lymphoma. My youngest son was to turn a year old just ten days later. My life had always been a struggle but I was a fighter. That year is when I fell apart. I was alone with a disabled child, who needed either orthopaedic surgery or a complete amputation. I went with the amputation because I knew I couldn't carry around a 4yr old that couldn't walk by myself. It was the right decision. He now has a prosthetic leg and loves to run, no matter how crooked, lol. His other issue is he has moderate asd, or what they used to call Aspbergers, a form of autism. I knew by the time he was 18mos because he wasn't speaking and loved to sort toys by color. He could care less about other kids. He would sit on the couch and draw circles for hours. I have worked with him so he is very verbal now and enjoys other children very much. He struggles emotionally and socially though. He has meltdowns where I have to hold him down. He is very very intelligent but doesn't know how to talk to his peers. He does much better with teenagers and adults, even though he would rather understand his own age group.
The last year.....
I moved to this area for the city life and the medical opportunities for both of us. I thought I would be going back to work but God had another plan. I was in my new apartment 3days when I ended up in the hospital with internal bleeding. I had the gastrectomy, a bowel resection and spent an extra few weeks in for an infection. By February of last year, I knew that working outside of the home might be challenging. ....by summer, I had given up. I tried Avon....don't have enough contacts in the area. I tried to find a roommate but noone wants to sleep on a couch. Now I am nehind in rent and searching for a room to rent or a roommate to go in on a cheap apartment. The problem is, I have $2 in cash and $6 in my bank account. I get my Social security death benefits check on February 15th, but have to be out 2 days later. The homeless shelters are full. My family doesn't have it to give. I have two social workers trying to help us but we are running into dead ends and out of time fast. I believe God has a plan but I am still frightened and overwhelmed.
Organizer and beneficiary
Leslie DeRolph
Organizer
Newark, OH
Colleen Kilpatrick
Beneficiary