Joe Mikos Recovery Fund

To meet Joe Mikos is to love him, but to know Joe Mikos is to respect him. There are few people who could “laugh in the face of (extremely rare) cancer and (extremely debilitating) gout among many other health complications” for over half of their life just so that they could make the world a better place for everyone they meet. Joe is the literal embodiment of the phrase “he’d give you the shirt off his back” (which he has done on many occasions); despite being sick, he has raised over 80 foster kids during which time he served as a court appointed special advocate. Despite being in constant and excruciating pain, he always made himself physically available, whether it was coaching our teams or shooting hoops in the driveway, and emotionally available to his four children, Josh, Katie, Meco, and Crystal and now, his grandson, Anthony. Despite being given 6 months to live (15 years ago), he refused to widow the love of his life, Susan. And despite living in persistent pain and poverty to the point of homelessness, Joe has spent the past few years volunteering at McEachern Memorial UMC Car Care by fixing cars for free when they otherwise couldn’t have afforded it. Joe has literally given every ounce of his being and everything he has at his own expense to help others.

On December 19th, Joe and his family were once again faced with unimaginable circumstances- his children, wife, and grandson stood around his hospital bed as he faded in and out of consciousness, and nearly out of life, preparing to say goodbye to the best and most important man in their lives. Joe had been admitted to the hospital 9 days earlier with severe abdominal pain and inflammation resulting from diverticulitis, an infection in the colon. Over the course of his hospital stay, the infection spread until Joe was in septic shock with the infection taking over his mind and body, and he was forced to choose between a risky, complicated surgery or living out his last few days in hospice, where he was expected to die by Christmas. As surgeons and hospice nurses poured in and out of his room, as his family was looking for any sliver of hope to hold on to, as Joe was within death’s grip, he managed to murmur the words “I’m not ready to give up.” Then immediately, he was swept off to the uncertainty of surgery, accompanied by scared, yet hopeful, tears of his family and the chorus of his favorite song, “Eye of the Tiger.”

After a seemingly forever four hours of waiting, the surgeon emerged with the news that Joe’s blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, he had received two units of blood, was still in septic shock, relying on a ventilator, would be in the ICU for some time, would have to live with a colostomy bag, and that best case scenario, if he even lived, Joe might be able to stand up on his own in one years’ time. After 45 days in the hospital, 4 surgeries, 2 extended stays in the ICU, 3 in the IMCU (intermediate care unit), and the worst pain one could ever endure (in fact, so much pain would have probably killed anyone other than Joe), Joe has been released from the hospital and admitted to a full time, long term rehab center. In the face of all this, Joe smiled when his daughter arrived from Michigan, looked after his wife, who never once left his side, joked with one son and offered life advice to the other, laughed with his other daughter, and played cars with his grandson. When he was in tears from his pain being at a 20 (on a scale of 1-10), he apologized to his family for putting them through this. When he faced constant, unexpected complications, he never lost his resolve to fight. If you asked him how he was able to endure all of this so bravely, he would answer that he wanted to keep living for everyone around him.

This is Joe Mikos: strong, resilient, a fighter, and most importantly, someone who would give and has given everything to help others. Now, Joe needs help; his medical bills are over 1 million dollars (of which his family is responsible for 20%), his insurance only covers up to 20 days of rehab, after which he will either have to pay $175 a day or be forced to leave, he will need long term care equipment (wheelchair, at home hospital bed, to pay for nurse visits, and to convert his daughter’s garage into a handicap accessible living space), possibly future surgeries, outpatient therapy, transportation to his medical appointments, etc. All donations will go towards funding these expenses. Thank you so much for reading Joe’s story and helping the man who would never ask for it and would be helping others right now if he could.





All the best,

Joe Mikos and Family



https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/story/100365208/ 

http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/car-care-ministry-helps-many-find-place-to-use-talents