Sheila Palmer Medical Recovery and Support
In the month of August 2021, Dean & Sheila Palmer were both hospitalized for separate medical emergencies. Sheila is recovering from her stroke well, but after a week in the ICU, Dean passed away. One week later, Sheila's car broke down, a total loss. We're humbly submitting a fundraiser to help with the costs of Sheila's uninsured hospital stay & insulin needs and Dean's week of hospital care & death expenses, as well as support for Sheila as she gets back on her feet, finds work, and adapts to this new normal.
On August 10th, Sheila spent the night in the ER after suffering a stroke, at which point she discovered she had severe undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. Fortunately she did not suffer any cognitive or motor loss from the stroke, just ongoing numbness on her right side, and an ongoing plan of care to limit her high risk factor predisposition to another stroke.
11 very productive days into her recovery, Dean was taken to the Forsyth Hospital ER in an ambulance due to a severe internal bleed in his GI tract. After an extremely close call night, the doctors were able to stabilize him enough to move him to the ICU, where he would stay for 6 more days. He was making tremendous progress toward recovery, but unfortunately began bleeding in his stomach again, and passed away the afternoon of August 26th.
One week later, Sheila's car suddenly broke down. The car's transmission has failed, and given the fact that's it's nearly 20 years old with well over 200,000 miles on it, it would cost more than double the car's value to replace. Another unexpected farewell.
Although Dean was insured, the stay will undoubtedly max out his annual out of pocket maximum of $10,000. While Sheila’s recovery & care are going very well, she did not have insurance at the time of the incident, and is unable to enroll until open enrollment in November, incurring over $10,000 in costs from the overnight ER stay and extensive battery of tests & scans, as well as the extremely high cost of her first doses of prescription insulin and ongoing care. Dean was the sole source of income at the time of his death, and any support Sheila can receive to focus on her immediate healing before having to deal with finding work would be a huge help.
In the interest of transparency, details & amounts of various costs will be updated as we receive them, but in the interest of helping cover immediate costs in the coming days, we’re starting the fundraiser now.
On a personal note (from Cory, Dean & Sheila's son): if you know my parents, you know they are the most humble, selfless, unassuming people you’ll ever meet. Mom & Dad dedicated their entire lives together to helping those in need in their community. Unfortunately, a truly stunning series of circumstances have led to Mom finding herself in need. Mom lost her husband, car, health, and livelihood in less than a month. As much as I wish we had the resources to get her through this with no difficulty, this is an incredibly tough time. It’s extremely difficult for Mom to agree to this fundraiser, but after a week of prayer and reflection, she has agreed to it. It's important to her to note that no one should feel any sense of obligation to give. A number of folks have asked us how to help, and we're trying to open our hearts to accepting that kindness. Please know that her, and my & my sister Beth's, gratitude for anything you deem to give is immeasurable.