Keith Hoffman - road to Recovery

Hello there! My name is Tennessee (real name, hippy parents) and I'm raising money for my husband, Keith Hoffman. Keith is one of those amazing people you know as soon as you meet - the sort of person that puppies and toddlers flock to. A third-generation plumber, Keith's owned his small plumbing business for well over 15 years now.

Keith is a fixer, a doer - the guy everyone asks Hey, how would you do such and such ... then, there goes Keith off and running to get it done.

Now, he needs your help so he can work on fixing himself.

This January 3rd, Keith was feeling poorly with just general fatigue and tiredness - nothing much in the way of symptoms, just a sense of unease and blah, you know? I was keeping him hydrated and we both assumed he'd feel right as rain after a good night's sleep.

The next morning he felt the same, so we both stayed home again and kept sipping on orange juice. The afternoon hours saw me getting a bit worried since Keith normally shakes even a persistent bug in no time.

About 7 or 8pm and suddenly Keith's behavior changed - I knew we were in trouble when he babbled gibberish and couldn't walk. I called 911 with my prayers hitting hyper drive and staying there.

As the ER doctor spoke the two words "brain bleed" and I saw the growing black splotch on my husband's brain scan image, the world became very crisp and sharp to me. Deep in my soul, a still small voice of absolute truth sounded. I knew with instant conviction two very clear facts - felt it in my bone marrow, you might say.

Number One, that voice comforted ... your husband will be healed 100% on this side of the Jordan River.

Number Two, the voice whispered ... this will be the fight of your life to help save his.

As those first few days unfolded, Keith had another stroke and then seizure activity. A fist-sized ulcer busted loose exactly when an ileus of the colon squeezed shut, preventing staff from seeing the old dead blood filling his entire intestinal tract. It seemed like everything possible hit him with wave after wave of damnably bad luck. The hospital kept running out of the medicines he needed, the blood he had to have even the trach collars ran in short supply.

But, Keith fought on.

So, did I. Indeed, the fight just kept coming to me.

The medical staff insisted on painting the worst possible scenario and began pushing me to consider ending his life before Keith had any chance to regain lost ground. Family seemed to lose faith early on and panicked me with murmurings of How long would he want to be like this and How long do you intend to hold onto him?

In this storm, however, the love that Keith and I have shared since we first met grew and grew. Every line of his six-and-a-half-foot body hummed and vibrated with determination and purpose - I could literally SEE him fighting. Every second of my life was spent in desperate prayer and deliberate caregiving. From the ICU to the present day, I've done my best to move Keith's limbs several times a day and talk - sing - pray over him that he might know he's never alone.

Have you ever seen a mile-long string of supposed coincidences and thought, No, that's Providence? Well, this tale is THAT story.

Time after time, seemingly negative or at least strange events have been proven to line up exactly as it turned out we needed them to.

After 5 weeks in the ICU at one hospital and 5 weeks of acute step-down care in another, Keith and I traveled to a long-term care facility - a nursing home. Everyone from staff to family seemed to believe that Keith would live and die there, but he and I both knew this was a stepping stone to home.

Less than 90 days later, we made that triumphant drive!

Keith soon outgrew home health therapy, and we began going to self-pay out patient therapy a few times a week. We're now going to two therapy clinics 5 days a week, with our average number of therapy hours being around 15 to 18. That's 15 to 18 hour-long sessions with insurance not covering a dime, so $135 each.

While his progress is impressive, he can stand unsupported a few seconds longer every week; Keith will need this level of therapy for probably a full year.

A wonderful side-note here, Keith is constantly approached by other folks getting therapy and thanked for being such an inspiration to them. It's so beautiful to watch him push himself that others can't help but be touched by his passion to thrive.

A sweet family sold us their wheelchair-accessible van to get started in, but Keith's now getting a larger powerchair that just won't fit, so we need a big box van with a high top to transport him in - that six-and-a-half-foot frame fills up a cabin quickly!

With neither of us working a single day this year, I have no hope of getting any loan so this vehicle must be a cash-pay purchase.

Between the large ticket items that insurance won't touch and the cost of daily needs, our funds are exhausted. Keith needs constant care and cannot yet do anything to feed himself, tend to his needs, etc. I'm afraid I don't make enough money in my sales career to cover the cost of paying for care, let alone anything else, so I must remain his full-time caregiver.

With my family being a bit disconnected or already in a home health situation and Keith's family living far away or being elderly, we have just the two of us to walk this out together.

Keith personally hopes for enough help from you - our community - to get into a large box van soon. He wants us to begin transporting animals on the weekends to supplement our finances and give him the chance to feel productive again. While this was my initial idea, I must say Keith himself came up with the perfect name ... which we'll reveal once the van is purchased and we're ready to start our side gig.

He thinks that it'll be me doing all the work, but I rely on him all the time to keep us both entertained with his perfectly timed movie quotes and his fantastic singing voice. I figure with me driving and him riding shotgun, we can do absolutely anything!

Please consider helping with any amount to Keith's recovery journey if you can. And please, no matter what, share his story - I know his fighting spirit will inspire people everywhere!

UPDATE!!!

Keith's getting closer to taking his first steps but insurance simply doesn't cover longterm physical therapy.

We desperately need financial help continuing his sessions with trained therapists. I definitely work Keith's limbs as much and often as possible, but we need professional help and it's just too much money for us to cover.

The amazing news, though, is that it truly looks like Keith WILL walk again. Praise God!!