Help Deborah

  Hello everyone. I'm Joshua Smith, the son of Deborah and Von Smith. I write this on behalf of my mother because she is in dire need of help. Many know she has been struggling with serious illnesses for some time. When you come to know her, you see how strong she is. My mom's willpower to stay positive, to comfort and help others in their struggles, despite the pain she lives in everyday, is well.. inspiring. She tells me all the time she gets this strength to persevere through her belief in God. She is in desperate need of a miracle. For most of my life, my mom has been sick.  She has acute spinal disease. She has degenerative disc disease in her entire spine. This however, does not define her . She has overcome so much, to have a strong family, to raise me and my siblings with integrity and compassion. Many of you have been impacted by her warm friendship, and her message of overcoming great obstacles. Unfortunately an undiagnosed malabsorption problem in her lower intestine has taken her weight to dangerously low levels. 68ibs. This was after Gastrointestinal surgeries that did not go well. She is on a feeding tube with an iliostomy. Still, she is starving to death. After almost a year in the hospital, nothing changed and she is on the decline. We need to get her to someone that can handle these complicated problems, a specialized hospital like the Mayo Clinic.  This is very important because my mom also has skin cancer that needs to be removed. In order to be treated she needs her health and weight to come back up. Its hard to believe someone so young has all these problems and more, but this is the reality. These times of intense care have drained my family financially and we have run out of options. We're strong, but this a difficult truth. My father has been her caretaker, always at her side, but can no longer work to support his wife. He too is drained and needs help. He reaches out to you humbly. Very soon, we will no longer be able to afford the insurance she needs to live. So, that is why i write this. We need your help. Keeping her insurance and getting her to the Mayo clinic is paramount. Whatever you can do is a miracle. I mean this, with all intention that this sentence can muster.  Reaching out to others for help is not always easy. But, I put my heart out there; my family and especially my mother, does the same. I hope it connects with yours.  God bless you.