Help Roger Paynter Walk Again

My dad, Roger Paynter, suffered an ischemic stroke this fall, leaving him paralyzed on his left side. He’s currently in a wheelchair and having to learn how to do the most basic functions again, including walking, getting in and out of bed, and caring for himself. So far, he has made great progress in physical and occupational therapy every week–this past week he was able to walk 100 ft with a walker–but we have hit a frustrating wall with insurance and are asking for your support so he can get the care he needs to once again live independently.

The therapy teams at all of his facilities have been impressed with his continuous recovery and have deemed him a very good candidate to walk again. However, Medicare is pushing to put him in a nursing home and keep him wheelchair bound for the rest of his life. They have communicated to us that they will not cover therapy beyond what he will need to adjust to life in a wheelchair. This means that effective, ongoing rehab designed to help him walk again will have to be paid for privately. These next six months of his care will be crucial to make sure he can continue to progress, fully recover the ability to walk (with a walker or cane), and ultimately be able to once again live independently.

While I’ve been able to get my dad transferred back into an intensive rehab facility from skilled nursing (a true Christmas miracle), Medicare will likely start trying to discharge him from this facility every 48 hours beginning in early January. We’ve lined up an assisted living facility for him to live when this inevitably happens, but we will be on the hook for those costs, as well as the costs for therapy to help him regain his ability to walk.

This means that, for the next six months, we are facing housing costs around $30,000 and out-of-pocket physical & occupational therapy costs on top of that. We’ve evaluated our best therapy options in Austin and the maximum amount of rehab we could provide would be about $1800/week for 9 hours of rehab. That adds up to an additional $45,000 worth of therapy care over six months, which is how we’ve landed on our $75,000 goal.

My brother and I aren't in a position to pay for his rehab and recovery on our own and we are asking for help to make sure my dad can get a fighting chance at walking again. The will is there, he is determined and working very hard, and his background as an athlete means he does really well when he has a coach and a supportive team. We believe he deserves every chance to make as much of a recovery as possible and your support would not only help him achieve this, but also be a vote of confidence in his future.

We all want to see my dad walk again this summer and for him to be able to live on his own. The outpouring of love and support for my dad since his stroke has been wonderful, and we are hoping that there are enough people out there who have been “resurrected” in some way by my dad over the years who are willing to help him now. In this season of radical hope, we are praying for a community of support to make these dreams a reality.