No words can offer any help and i'm not in any position to offer financial aid either but regardless please know that the thoughts of all of my family and are with you, your family and those around you.
Saying that sucks is just fine right now. There really are no words at this point. Maybe one day i'll find them.
Can't imagine how horrifying that must be to see all that damage to your neighbourhood, all those hurt people, and to even catch sight of people to have tragically lost their lives. I'll chip in what I can for the fundraiser so add me to the PM list too, mate. Hope everything works out for your family and friends. Quite frustrating to think there's little that can be done to prevent these disasters.
That really sucks man. I was working down in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham in the fall of 09 and basically watched videos of neighborhoods that I was in being ripped to shreds. If they ask us to come down and help with repairs, then I'll definitely catch up with you guys and take you guys out for a hearty meal or two. PM your Paypal over and I'll send you guys some dough to help eat at least for a couple of days.
Just got confirmation that some people I knew and worked with died in the storms. Many more I knew are now homeless. I'm still hunting for info about some family members as well. Odds are they're OK considering the paths of the storms, but you never know. Still stealing intermittent connections, so replies are probably slow and coming in batches, but we're trying to keep contact with the outside world. Not easy, but we're trying.
Cripes man, that terrifying. Hope you get yourself and your family sorted out soon, thoughts for the people that had to endure this.
Absolutely horrifying reading - also, the TV shows didn't help, either. I really hope that you, your family and friends and all the people impacted will get through this swiftly, although that's probably not going to happen.
Asher had a pretty good day today. We're working on getting his gastrostomy tube replaced since it's too long and doesn't seal right, but that is honestly good news, knowing that he's going to get that sorted. The wife is napping, and I'm playing through FFIV Complete cause I can't sleep any more. Really very little other to report, which in a way is a good thing. Prayers and well wishes are appreciated. I'm not up much outside of the hospital, since the weather affects me so badly. More storms may be moving in, but nothing like the tornadoes is expected. We hope, anyway...
Jesus F. Christ and a whole merry band of mermaids. This must be the first ever post I have seen that qualifies for the "What's ruining your life" thread. You must be one of the most positive, optimistic and helping persons I have met. I sorely wish I had the opportunity to help out with financial aid but the only thing I can offer is optimistic and encouraging words.
Just sent some funds via Paypal your way. Buy yourself a nice dinner for the family. Should be more then enough to get through at least a couple of days.
some websites that may be ( i hope) helpful: alabama association for justice (free legal help) http://www.alabamajustice.org/AL/index.cfm?event=showPage&pg=PressReleases fema portal for short term needs and application for assistance beyond the immediate: http://www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm
Just to let everyone know, we made it home for all of four days before we were back, now with a severe shunt infection. He's having surgery in a few hours to remove his shunt and put in an external drain, but we have other issues-there may be no site acceptable for a new shunt. He's had recurring hernias, so his abdomen is now out, which would normally then mean the heart, but we haven't gotten word back if he has Marfan's like me, which would make any heart placement pretty dicey. An hour and 20 minutes of sleep last night, and a liter of Mountain Dew. It's what we survive on here. We'll have more info later today.
Hoping any further news you receive is good news Kay. Poor little guy has no luck, not to mention yourself.
Surgery went well, then he fell to pieces in special care, and was summarily moved to PICU. His issue? Pain control. When we got to PICU, we got a doctor who knew Asher, wrote the necessary orders and late last night he finally stabilized. If he stays OK, we'll go to a room tomorrow, and wait through two to three weeks of external drain before getting a new shunt. Also, his heart appears just fine, but there's still a lot of risk here.
He's continuing a trend of downward slide. He's still dropping his sats, he's tossing violently trying to get the drain out and he's still having problems with bradycardia and tachycardia. If he's not better, he'll have to be sedated, which may mean going back on a ventilator with already damaged lungs. We're gonna try and sleep, and pray it's better in the morning.
Well, today has been pretty much the end of the line for some things. Asher is still holding on, though a change in his sedation medication has left him unable to even take comfort from Mom, Dad or Mr. Bumpy. If he can't get his sats straight after the antibiotics, he has to have a pacemaker. Our money will hold out for one last bill, and we can't go to our vascular appointments tomorrow. We can't even get in the Ronald McDonald house again because SSI decided that even though we make less than a grand a month now, we make too much to get one red cent. We are finally bereft of all resources. I'll try and sell my PCs, but nobody wants stuff that's not Sandybridge right now. I'll not be able to get my Celebrex for arthritis, and as of right now we live in the parking deck at Children's. We can keep getting Sarena's Coumadin, but we can't even afford to see if her levels are right any more. Thanks SSI, I'm so glad you think we make enough to do it all. The donations that were so kindly made made sure that our phone stayed on so we could keep in contact with the army of doctors, kept just enough gas in the tank to handle the driving we're doing, and made sure we didn't starve till now. We won't starve (we're both crafty and capable of dining on a shoestring budget) but it's gonna only get worse, as he has 3 weeks of vancomycin counting from Saturday, then shunt replacement and possibly that pacemaker. We are once again in indefinitely, and it's just wearing us out. The prayers and well wishes are felt-we know we dodged some very nasty bullets so far, and he is expected to recover. Some of the families we've been near will not be as lucky as us. But right now, it makes it no easier. I'm going to be completing the disability application process soon, and at that point our income will pick up some, but we have to get through that first. With my myriad health problems including aortic root dilation, disability should be in the bag, but of course, right now we're not counting on anything. All this, but we will not give up. I am not afraid to say I don't know how we will do it, but I do know we will.
Sometimes, you may just have to get mad enough to get something to work. So we figured out the lion's share of issues on housing and such, getting the pressure off us so we can dig our heels in and fight with SSI and disability. We called up friends, told them what happened and they've got us put up walking distance from the hospital. It's a lot of our issues handled out the gate. We're still poor, but we'll be housed and fed, which is always the start to getting anywhere on your own. From there, we can work on our own health and that of our son. This visitation saw a change in dosage in Snort's sedation to make him MUCH more comfortable, so much so that we actually thought he was out normally instead of zonked out of his soft little gourd. We never know how it will work out, but we have faith it will. Tonight, I got to see a bit of faith become sight. It's not over, but then again it isn't while we draw breath. For every one of you safe, at home and comfortable, I want you to know I'm thankful that you're each in that state, and pray you stay that way.
