PLEASE HELP MY HUSBAND, JAMIE SAVE HIS LEG

I have to start by thanking everyone who's helped Jamie and me so far. All of you have been so incredibly supportive of Jamie through the entire ordeal. Without all of you, he couldn't have made the progress he has.

For those of you who aren't familiar with what's happening, let me get you up to speed.

Jamie is a diabetic. Jamie enjoyed walking every day to stay active and control his glucose levels. In late February of last year, I noticed a small blister on his right foot. We were able to get to see his regular podiatrist the following week. By that time the blister had gotten larger and appeared to be infected. Jamie's podiatrist referred him to a wound care specialist.

It took over a month for our insurance to authorize Jamie to see wound care. By that point, the wound had gotten much larger and we had to discuss amputation as a possible solution.

Finally, in April, Jamie was approved to see his wound care doctor. He was diagnosed with non-healing recurrent plantar ulcer with cellulitis and osteomyelitis. It's a deep tunneling wound that went to the bone and through his foot. These wounds typically will not heal on their own. Jamie's led to an abscess and infection in the metatarsal bones of his right foot.

Jamie went through a debridement surgery to remove the dead tissue on the outside of his foot. And three weeks of heavy antibiotic treatment.

When Jamie finished his antibiotics, we were told he would greatly benefit from hyperbaric treatment. Jamie had been through hyperbaric treatments before in 2017, but this time the insurance deemed the procedure as "elective". Knowing how well the treatment worked for Jamie in the past, we cobbled together what money we had to pay for it.

After two treatments Jamie's doctor told us that the tissue in his foot wasn't responding as well or as quickly as it should. Knowing our financial situation, he thought money would be better spent on internal skin grafts.

We waited another two weeks for an authorization from our insurance that would never come. They also claimed the skin grafts were an "elective" procedure as well.

We were determined to have it done. So we sold what we could quickly to pay for the first 2 gratfs which totaled just over $5000.

Unfortunately, Jamie needed 2 more grafts after the first set of treatments. The cost of that along with our regular day-to-day bills was a hill we couldn't climb.

So I swallowed my pride and started this gofundme in the hopes that we might raise enough to help cover the costs. I was in tears that it reached our goal in just under a day.

We were able to continue the treatments. Jamie's foot seemed to be responding. But the open wound still wouldn't close. At this point, the decision was made to place Jamie's right leg in a cast to give the foot time to heal. For the past 2 months, Jamie has been going into wound care every Friday to have the cast removed, dead tissue debrided, a "stick" test to measure the depth of the wound, and a new cast put on.

The wound is beginning to close, so now we're at a crossroads. Jamie has little to no tissue separating the bones in his foot from the skin on the bottom of his foot. Put simply, Jamie will get another ulcer. Just like the one he's been battling for nearly a year as soon as he starts walking again without a cast. Both Jamie's wound care doctor and podiatrist have agreed that he needs to have surgery done that would shave down the bottom of the bones in his right foot and remove the remaining areas of bone that were damaged by the deep infection.

We've been denied by our insurance for this procedure twice. They feel that the wound is closed enough that further treatment is no longer required. In their opinion, if the ulcer remains open, that amputation is the best course of action.

The specialist we consulted with who would perform the surgery, was Jamie's podiatrist and wound care doctor. All of them agreed that this procedure would prevent any problems from occurring in the future and save my husband's foot.

If not, why have we been fighting to save it since 2016? I cannot bear the thought of him losing a limb. No longer being whole. Just because someone in an office that we've never met, thinks it doesn't make financial sense for them to keep my husband whole.

Jamie is devastated. But in typical fashion, he's making light of it on the outside. Jamie's already begun selling things he thinks are of value that he can move. But I don't think it's going to be enough, That's why I'm reaching out to ask for your help. If you've ever met Jamie you know that he loves people. He's the first to donate art and comics to charities when asked. And while he doesn't like the idea of needing something like this for himself, it's a fact that right now, he does.

So if you could find it in your heart to donate anything or at the very least, share the gofundme, it would help us out greatly.

Thank you

Erin