Lee Ham's Medical Expenses
Could you imagine, being 31, with 3 kids, being the sole provider for your family and being told you need an immediate surgery to replace a heart valve? Not only would that be a scary procedure, with a lot of uncertainties, recovery, and time off work, but imagine you don't have sick time or paid time off and you and your family are not only having to worry about medical bills (even after what insurance is covering) but also about how you will make ends meet for 2 months while you're out of work.
This is Lee Ham...
Lee is an amazingly supportive husband, to his wife Crystal, and Dad, to their three kids, Trethan, Kaylin, and Stillman, one of the most hardworking men you'll ever meet, and a huge piece of his Church family, and, that story above, is exactly what he's going through.
After being born with a heart murmur and being told he'd grow out of
it, he started having symptoms and signs that his heart might not be in the best shape a few years ago. At the time he was told he would eventually have to have a valve in heart replaced and, after his symptoms got worse, his cardiologist decided that he needed to have it done now.
On March 9, 2020, Lee underwent open heart surgery to replace his bad heart valve with a mechanical valve (his only option due to his age) and, although scary, the surgery went really well and he was on his way to recovery until, Thursday, March 12, just 4 days post-op, he coded and was brought back 4 times total.
His heart isn't keeping rhythm the way it should so he had a procedure to put a temporary external pacemaker in on Thursday, while they wean him off of his current blood thinners to hopefully place a permanent pacemaker next week.
Not only was a permanent pacemaker as an active 31-year-old not in the plans, neither was the added medical expenses of a longer hospital stay and another surgery.
The cost of the planned surgery (which they had only about a month to plan for) was already a financial burden for Lee and his family, even without those extra circumstances.
Yesterday, after coding multiple times, the liaison between the doctors and the family, told the family, with tears in her eyes, that in all of her years working in the ICU, she had never had someone who, after being brought back to life after coding and having his heart stop, would open his eyes, look around and use his first words after knowing his heart had just stopped to say, "Thank you!" to the team who had just restarted his heart - each and every time.
The Ham Family is no stranger to medical expenses and uncertainties, after their oldest son, Trethan, was diagnosed (and beat) childhood cancer several years ago, and this family is grateful for every ounce of support, help, prayers they can get, but asking for help and support is hard for anyone who hopes to never have to be in that position.
After the exhausting day he had yesterday, a friend was visiting with Lee in the ICU and assured him that he was going to be on the road to recovery now that they got his pacemaker working and Lee's exhausted response was, "Yeah, the bills are really piling up."
Lee and Crystal's only worry right now should be on recovery, strength, and healing and he shouldn't have to worry about bills while he's laying in ICU, nor should his wife, Crystal, have to be worrying about the bills, groceries, car payments, etc while waiting in ICU for them to come tell her that he coded again for the 3rd time.
Please consider donating, whatever you can, even just $1, to help this family with their after-insurance out-of-pocket medical expenses and day-to-day life expenses until Lee gets back to work.
Thankfully, it looks like he's on the road to recovery and, prayerfully, there will not be any more bumps in the road. If you're reading this and can't donate, I know the prayers would be just as appreciated. 