Please help Michael Kouri in his time of need

My good friend Michael Kouri has been dealing with kidney failure for the past few years and needs help. He has been on dialysis four days a week, with sessions lasting four and a half hours each day. He often suffers excruciating migraine headaches brought on from the treatment.

Being a diabetic, Michael has had many medical problems over the years. He was recently thrown a big scare when he was told one of his legs needed to be amputated. Until a few weeks ago he was able to drive himself to dialysis, his doctor appointments and the market, etc. However, he has been living in the hospital for the past five weeks to heal two large wounds on the bottom of both of his feet. In order to do that, antibiotics need to be constantly pumped into his system.

He has been waiting for a kidney transplant surgery and is fortunate to have a living donor; on the other hand, he has had many setbacks. Last year he was having trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital where he learned he also suffers from congestive heart failure. CHF and the pandemic kept him from having the required transplant surgery.

Michael needs custom-made shoes to accommodate his amputated toes. His insurance allows him a new pair every year, but last year the shoe company made an error and his order had to be redone. His new shoes arrived in August. (Diabetics need proper footwear and inserts to avoid growing blisters. When blisters develop and become infected, the patients are put on antibiotics. If not successfully treated, the infection can spread to their bones and more amputation occurs.) Michael has suffered with this affliction for many years and only has half of his right foot left; it has been extremely difficult for him to walk. Because of the delay last year, the shoe company said he is ineligible for another new pair before August. As a result, Michael was forced to continue wearing his older pair of shoes with flattened, worn-out inserts. One day—during a dialysis treatment—he felt a great pain in his right foot, so his nurse removed his shoe and found he had a large 5×4” blood blister on the bottom of his right foot.

He went to the ER, where he had an x-ray and MRI. He was put on oral antibiotics and told to visit his podiatrist for follow-up treatment. After four weeks, the wounds worsened. The podiatrist ordered Michael to go to the nearest hospital for another MRI and IV antibiotics. He hasn’t left since.

His surgical team has debrided the wounds in three surgeries and told Michael that two of his bones in his left foot were broken from the infection and they recommended amputation of his whole left leg.

Michael was devastated.

He told me he prayed to God and his patron saints Mother Cabrini and others, asking for a miracle that he be able to keep his leg. Michael is very spiritual and is a devout Roman Catholic; he believes in the power of prayer.

After receiving the devastating news of losing his leg, he consulted his family members who all agreed with the doctors’ recommendations that if they didn’t remove the leg, the infection could spread through his bloodstream and kill him. Michael made peace with their advice and even signed the hospital release giving permission to the surgical team to amputate the following week. The next day, his surgeon entered his hospital room and sat down and discussed the possibility that Michael could undergo a test where a specialist would check and test the main arteries in his legs to see if they were blocked. If they were clear, amputation would be unnecessary and the wounds can heal on their own. Michael agreed to the test and during the procedure the doctor put a camera into Michael’s arteries and gave him the good news saying: “You are young and healthy and your arteries are as clean as a whistle.” It will take a while and he will be wheelchair-bound during recuperation, but he will keep his leg. Michael told me he broke down and cried on the operating table and when the doctors and nurses asked him why, he told them it was part of the miracle he prayed for. The wounds are showing great progress, but it will take about another twelve months before he will be able to put weight on his left foot and try to walk again.

Even if Michael’s driveway had the space for a standard wheelchair ramp, he no longer has upper body strength to move up and down a slope. The doorways inside his home are also too narrow for a standard wheelchair. His doctors suggested a mobility chair. Michael’s insurance will neither pay for one nor an outdoor wheelchair lift. He has no other way of independently entering or exiting his home.

He is a small businessman and because of the pandemic and his ill health, his income has dwindled. Throughout his careers, Michael has always given to others, donated his time and energy to non-profit and charitable organizations and supported friends in their growth. When they needed someone to listen, he has been their rock. He has also assisted friends move and set up their new homes, but now he needs help.

Let’s make another miracle happen for Michael. I hope others will answer my call for help. I am asking for contributions to help him buy the mobility chair, wheelchair lift and its installation, as well as other medical items he needs to live a semi-normal life as he convalesces.

For anyone who can donate either $5 or $2,000, it will surely help Michael in his time of need. Any generosity would be greatly appreciated.

Adrienne Foster