Support for Mom's Medical and Living Expenses

On September 4th, 2021, my mom, who had just celebrated her 67th birthday the day before, suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm. She was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, and then by helicopter to the hospital downtown where she was rushed into brain surgery. Many hours later, she was still alive and out of surgery. She spent the next several weeks in the ICU, and then another month in the hospital rehabilitation unit before going home. She only had Medicare Part A insurance coverage at the time.

She was left permanently disabled and incredibly weak from this. My father took on the role of their sole provider and her caretaker. They had always lived paycheck to paycheck already, and now with Mom unable to work they were stretched thinner. Family members, myself included, helped how they could. I often worked remotely from my parents' house to be able to help take care of her while my dad was at work.

In 2023, I finally convinced Mom to see a doctor about suspicious scabs on her face that wouldn't heal. They both ended up being cancerous (basal and squamous) and had to be removed, adding to the growing list of expenses.

During this time, my dad also suffered from several periods of unemployment due to the unstable job market which led to me helping cover expenses when I didn't really have the funds to, causing me to go into credit debt that I've been unable to dig myself out of. Most recently, we had to purchase a hydraulic lift to transfer mom due to her complete loss of strength and mobility.

My parents do not live extravagantly. They have been selling the few belongings they have that are worth anything, live in very affordable for the area housing, never go out to eat, don't have car payments etc. They are at bare bones living and still struggling.

When I left my corporate job, I had paid off all of my outstanding debts. I left to follow my passion and am currently working in a nonprofit art studio for intellectually disabled adults where I run the ceramics studio. It is the most rewarding job I've ever had, but it doesn't pay much. I have accumulated debts taking care of expenses for my parents during this time and I am now facing having to consider leaving my dream job to pay it all off.

I have recently been rereading "The Art of Asking" by Amanda Palmer and working to overcome the unnecessary shame we often feel asking for help. So here I am. Donations made will be used to pay off accumulated debts, and then beyond that given directly to my dad to help ease the burden of their living expenses.