Adam & Katies Medical Needs

Adam is 32 years old, married to Katie who hasn't been able to work since April 2014, has two children Jeanne (6) who has Asperger's Syndrome and AJ (2) and works full-time.

What people do not realize when meeting Adam is that he too, has Asperger's Syndrome and no matter what the world throws at him, he always tries to do what is right for his family.

Adam was born in 1983 via C-Section and at the age of 11 days old, he quit breathing and began having seizures that lasted just over 24 hours and never had another seizure and the doctors could not determine a cause.

Adam wasn't an active baby, didn't make eye contact and seemed to be happy playing by himself. At age 2, he was diagnosed with a speech disorder known as Severe Apraxia and received speech therapy. While the therapists said he required speech, they also began teaching him sign language. At the age of 4, he began to talk and anyone who knows Adam, knows he has not stopped talking since that day.

All joking aside, Adam struggled in school, was given many diagnosis, but it wasn't until he was 16 that he was diagnosed with Autism and Dr. Raun Melmed of the Melmed Center in Arizona diagnosed him with Asperger's.

Having Asperger's has never stopped Adam from school, work, friends or family. Adam earned his high school diploma, has worked as many as 3 jobs at times to support his family and was the one who realized his daughter had Asperger's and he was right.

Adam's wife Katie worked at Banner Good Samaritan hospital cleaning operating rooms in the evenings. In April 2004 she under went emergency back surgery for which she has never fully recovered and now walks with a cane. Katie has been told she needs a second surgery to 'fix' the damage from the first surgery and those costs will be $5600 out of their pocket.

With Adam making under $12.00 an hour and Katie receiving a small monthly long term disability check, they are barely able to make ends meet and yet, Adam never complains, he just asks his employer for more overtime and continues to look for a second job.

To make matters worse, Adam has been struggling with shoulder pain for months now and his doctor sent him to a surgeon.  The news was NOT good. Adam has torn ligaments in his shoulder and now needs surgery himself. Adam has fought it with NSAID's and pain meds at night, but the surgeon told his employer he cannot any longer lift his arms, so, until he has surgery, Adam was placed on short-term disability by his employer.

Adam called me last evening and was very upset because he isn't sure how they will come up with the money for his surgery and even if they do, he will be out of work for at least four months.

'What am I going to do mom? We barely live off my check with overtime and now I will be reduced to 60% of my paycheck.' Adam is overwhelmed!

At this time, we do not know what the cost of his surgery will be and I will update this as soon as I know. But I do know  while they qualify for a small discount on their utilities due to their monthly income, they do not qualify for any other assistance such as food stamps, rent assistance, medical assistance, etc..

I have set this account up to assist Adam and Katie with surgical costs and to help them make ends meet while Adam is off work.

The most difficult struggle in life for Adam is not being able to support his family and not being able to see Katie have the surgery she needs as well!

Thank you so much and please pray for Adam and Katie and their needs to be met!