Pay for Life-Sustaining Treatment for Becky Wurst

I will start with the SHORT version for those of you who wish to skip the rest: My mom will run out of life-sustaining insulin on Monday night and will inevitably slip into a diabetic coma without it. Due to miscommunication and human error on the part of hospice and Medicare, she no longer has prescription coverage for her insulin and insulin pods that administer the insulin. She will die soon without it. That is about as real as it gets.

Now for the LONG version. As most of you all know by now, my mom is on hospice for end-stage heart failure. Let me be up front, there is absolutely NO CURE for that. What we are doing right now is trying to buy time. Those who know my mom know that she is a fighter, and we're at least trying to make it through another Christmas.

That being said, my mom is a Type 1, insulin-resistant, brittle diabetic. She requires a VERY potent insulin which, for the past few years, has been administered through disposable OmniPods. She goes through 1 vial of insulin every 3 days, and 1 pod every day. The monthly cost of the insulin is about $3,000 ($300 dollars for a 3-day supply x 10). The monthly cost of the pods is about $900.

My mom was erroneously assured that, between hospice and Medicare, her diabetes medication and supplies would be covered. As of yesterday, this coverage was taken away from her due to the aforementioned errors. Medicare Part B will only cover insulin moving forward if she uses a pump instead of pods. It will take WEEKS for them to authorize the pump, and there is no guarantee even then that it will be approved. She will not make it that long, and the pump and tubing alone will cost around $7,500.

My mom has been looking into Medicare Part D and prescription insurance plans, but they won't begin coverage until January of next year. My (unrealistic) goal here is to raise $10,000 to cover 2 months of diabetes medication and supplies. The funds will be put towards either paying out of pocket for insulin and OmniPods, or towards paying out of pocket for a new insulin pump if and when it is approved. I can assure you all that IF there is ANYTHING left over (which there shouldn't be according to the math), it will be used towards keeping my mom as comfortable and relatively healthy for as long as possible.

This is a desperate and embarrassing time to have to ask for this. And it is an absolute last resort. When my dad went through his own injury and amputation this year, my parents went through their entire savings due to loss of income. My dad's company did not have short-term disability coverage, and he was out for 6 months.

Words can't describe the gratitude I have towards any family and friends who donate, or even share, this fundraiser.