Support the Comiskey Family

**we have told the girls now and they seem to be handling it well. Keep them and their precious, open hearts, in your prayers :).
—Krystal **

The “short of it”:

This fundraiser will serve to assist the Comiskey family with anticipated medical bills, child care support, and general funds incurred from weeks off of work while waiting for a diagnosis for Alex and concurrent physical therapy treatment as he recovers from spinal surgery.

Longer summary follows below:

On February 21, 2020, Alex was rushed to the emergency room with crippling back pain. Many scans and test later and a fracture of the L3 vertebrae was revealed. The news took a turn for the worst when the cause of the fracture was shown to be a growth that the attending PA deemed “cancer”, with other lytic lesions notes in the spine, one in the hip, and one in the clavicle.

Eleven days, two hospitals, and multiple tests later, and Alex is slowly recovering from a L3 Kyphoplasty but remains hospitalized. While the surgery fixed the fracture in his back, the doctors here at Henrico Doctors Hospital have been unable to diagnose the growths, even after multiple blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, and a bone biopsy have all been returned with “normal” results. In their attempt to point us in the next best direction, both UVA andVCU are being looked at as hospitals with both the staff and technology to best help us figure out what these lesions are and a decision should be made regarding this in the coming days.

While we wait for these next steps (and finally, hopefully, a concrete diagnosis and follow up treatment plan) both Alex and I have stepped away from our jobs, and extended family has traveled in from out of state to support with 24/7 childcare for our two daughters, leaving jobs of their own to do so. While Alex is unable to rerun to work full time, he does have the benefit of insurance as well as some days of Paid Time Off to use in the meantime.

Please know that we post this as a way to help for all the members of our community who have inquired with offers of help. Our fridge and freezer are full and since we have no idea of what the future days and weeks might holdas far as which, if either of us, will be home for more than a few hours at a time, it seemed like a good idea to use this for money for gas for those trips to the hospital and back, for the hospital bills we know are coming, and to assist those family members who are helping to care for our girls and home.

Please pray for us, for patience, for our doctors, for our families, and for Alex most of all as he continues to recover from his surgery and faces the prospect of continued medical intervention in the future. We are blessed with the family and friends we have! 

Krystal, Alex, and the girls