Support my disabled partner & struggling family

Hi, my name is Adam and I have a beautiful, loving life partner, Brandy who sadly suffers from brain damage and epilepsy. She also suffers from blood clots and other problems. She had a recent scary event and emergency surgery for the clots and is on medication for that for life in all likelihood. She is also on multiple medications for her serious epilepsy. They have side effects.

My Brandy is not well. She suffers from many grand mal, tonic clonic type (violent shaking) seizures per year. They are brutal and devastating on her physically, mentally and emotionally. I'd say the same is true of myself, that these multi-seizure events she goes through over a period of 24 hours plus/per, in addition to a lot of recovery time afterwards, definitely takes their toll on me physically, mentally and emotionally too. But I love Brandy very much, she is my love and best friend, and I will be there for her always.

Even when the seizures subside for the moment, it still effects her motor skills, awareness, comprehension, ability to take care of herself and more. Brandy cannot work like a normal person and does not work at all. Other families have 2 or more incomes. We do not.

Though she has periods where she recovers and regains some level of normalcy (until the next medical event) she struggles with memory loss and other side effects. She suffers from frequent pain in her neck, shoulder and legs as well, especially the leg that she got surgery on recently. She suffers from more frequent headaches than a healthy person would as well. It's heartbreaking to see her suffer.

These and more issues mean that I need to be home a lot to watch over her and be there for her not just during seizure events, but literally to cook, clean, help her with meals daily. When Brandy is coming out of a seizure she sometimes enters this unconscious but fully ambulatory state, which is very dangerous. She can fall down stairs, pull down mirrors, glass of dangerous hot things. Even worse, she's attempted playing with the gas on the range in her zombie-like temporary state. Imagine if i wasn't right there by her side ensuring her safety. God knows what she could've accidentally done to hurt herself and/or others. I think it would be a recipe for tragedy.

If my now elderly parents can watch over her when she is okay just temporarily then I can get away to do a couple necessary errands for us or even an appointment for myself. I take her to all her many appointments whether with neurologists, epileptologists, orthopedic surgeons or general doctors, etc. MRI's, CT Scans, ultrasound and other procedures are common for us. It is like an unpaid full time job, a labor of love i do without reservation or hesitation whatsoever. But getting by is another story unfortunately.

Though her family hasn't really helped her out, my parents have done everything they can. My mom is a now retired school teacher and my Vietnam Veteran step-dad is a music teacher and luthier, which is an expert on string instruments, but he is retired now too. They make a fraction of what they once did and given the great extra financial burdens we face here, we are all struggling greatly to just barely make ends meet, keep us all housed, pay the necessary bills and keep food on the table. With my help Brandy has filed for disability twice before and consulted a lawyer a subsequent time. We now have a new lawyer and we're fighting (jumping through government hoops) for the disability she absolutely needs and deserves.

The donation money you send would be used for things such as housing, food, necessary bills, necessary car upkeep/maintenance, those sort of things. We don't even have our own running vehicle but my parents do, and I get to use it. Brandy cannot drive herself. We struggle to keep up with everything. Never in our lives have we seen things as tough as they are right now financially.

This is not something that I've ever done before in my entire life, nor my parents. We have NEVER asked for donations or help before from anyone. We are proud people who worked hard our whole lives and yet things didn't work out the way we hoped and now managing everything seems almost impossible. We had to start using local food pantries, which we qualify for, because things got so tough and recent inflation and the long-term economic downturn have made us desperate for help. We have no one else.

I will come back and check in, download more pics and/or videos not only so you can see our struggles, but also see the hope and positivity we still believe in, which you provide. We believe that this great country is filled will many good, kind, generous and caring people. We'll update you with how Brandy and our family is doing real soon. We are grateful for whatever you can give. Bless you all and thank you so much from Brandy and all of us! Be well!

Sincerely, Adam Emerson.