A personal appeal

I know that I’ve asked folks for help who are coming to this link; as an update, Beth has been diagnosed with “chronic myelomonocytic leukemia” (CMML) and is scheduled for a bone marrow transplant. Those things are described more fully in the links.

Several weeks ago, I mentioned here that my wife has been diagnosed with one of the Myelodysplastic Syndromes (a pre-leukemia cancer of the blood), and I’ve been chronicling the progress of her treatment at johnbugay.wordpress.com. I’ve put up a “Donate” button there, and Steve has graciously permitted me to make a blog post here requesting some financial help.

We have very good medical insurance through my employer, which pays most, but not all of our medical expenses. But Bethany is not able to work, and her paycheck has been 30-40% of our family income. She will be “disabled” for more than a year through this process. I’ve only been with my employer for less than two years, and so I don’t have much paid time off; in fact, I’ve used it up during Beth’s two previous hospital stays. I’m permitted to take time off through the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), but it is unpaid time. Taking Beth for doctor’s visits or Vidaza sessions means I have to take unpaid time off. In the near future, as she spends more time in the hospital for the transplant, or possible infections, it will mean no family income at all.

Please help us to get through this time by making a small donation. I’ve placed a “Donate” button in the right hand column of my personal blog; if you’d like to help, you can pay through PayPal, or use a credit card.

It’s true, there are “public” sources, such as Social Security, VA, and other sources. But the process for filing claims for these can take months (five months, in the case of Social Security). And as you know, the mortgage and other bills don’t take a break. Right now, five of our six children are living at home with us, and we’ve got three young men starting various college programs in August.

Nobody asks to get this kind of disease; even though there is good hope, from a medical perspective, it is a truly frightening process. We’re simply asking for financial help with our living expenses as we get through the next several months.

Thank you for your help and prayers.