Ryan Soon After Surgery
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I am a single mother who works full time. I have two sons, Robert (17), and Ryan, (11).
My youngest son, Ryan, underwent brain surgery on Sunday, June 20th, 2004. He started having headaches
around the 22nd of May, and had 4 very bad ones. The day before, we found him on the floor of our bathroom passed out.
His color was pale and he had the 'worst headache ever' and could not stop vomiting. I took him to the local ER in Alexander
City, Alabama.
After waiting in the hall on a stretcher.... because there were no rooms... for what seemed like forever.... the doctor
ordered a CT scan after the exam to confirm her suspicion, and found a large mass in the front right lobe of his brain.
Then we were transported to Childrens Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama by ambulance in critical condition. At Childrens
Hospital, an MRI showed a
very scary mass that needed to come out right away, so he had surgery Sunday morning. Now let me tell you that there is
nothing more terrifying than having a doctor come and tell you your child has a tumor in his brain. NOTHING can ever prepare
you for something like this. Ryan has been a real trooper though the whole thing. The nurses, and everyone who came
in contact with him during this ordeal, were touched and amazed as this child's faith and humor shone through the whole thing.
He never once stopped saying "yes ma'am" and "no thank you", and even as he vomited and heaved in the ER he apologized for
making a mess. He is truly a special child. Note:As of this writing, Ryan is CANCER-FREE! He just had an MRI today,
(December 8, 2004) and it is CLEAR! However, as a result of the time I have missed from work, our financial situation
couldn't be much worse without us being homeless.
During this ordeal, I was forced to take a leave of absence from my job for six weeks so that Ryan and I could stay at the Hope Lodge in Birmingham to be closer to his radiation treatments. (The Hope Lodge is sort of a "boarding house" for families who cannot afford, or who live too far away, to travel for their cancer treatments). Working every day would have been impossible, since his radiation treatments took place mid-morning, every day, Monday through Friday. This six-week leave of absence put me so far behind on my bills, that I am still behind... and that's why I am asking for financial help from anyone who sees fit to help. My church has helped us as much as possible, but we have a very small congregation, and the money just isn't there to help us as much as we need. I went to the local Red Cross office ONLY after receiving an email from the county director offering help with my phone bill or electric bill... only to be embarassed and turned away, because I "make too much money". (I make $8 per hour as a receptionist at a pet clinic). I went to my credit union and was refused a loan because I am already in too much debt to make another monthly payment. I have worked at the same job for six years, but remember, I had to miss six weeks for my son's radiation treatments. I did not have any savings to fall back on, and my mother and father are both in bad health and on a fixed income, so they can't help at all either. The children's father lives in Oklahoma, hasn't paid child support in a year, and always has a reason that he can't help. I have exhausted all means that I know of to raise the money we need to get caught up on our house payment and electric bill. As of this writing, (December 8, 2004), our house payment is over $1800 in arrears and our electric bill is two months behind, (about $450). This amount of money (about $2250), is all that we need to get completely caught up on our bills. If we can only reach that goal, this webpage will be taken down immediately. I will post every amount that I receive on this page. This is an honest plea for help, nothing more or less, and I've been careful to state only the facts and not to exaggerate anything. I have a 1995 Dodge Neon that uses a quart of oil even for a twenty mile drive, and has front end problems. This is our only transportation at present, and I'm afraid it won't be long before it falls completely apart. We also have a 1995 Ford Escort that isn't running at all. I found the DebtFreeMe Network page by doing a search on Google for financial help for families of children with cancer. I am not begging for anyone's money, but at this point will gratefully accept anything you can spare to help us get back on track. We will also glady accept any monetary help toward a reliable used vehicle. I will be more than happy to supply any type of proof necessary to anyone who truly wants to help. We genuinely need the money, or I would never have set up this webpage. I noticed that several other people have set up webpages simply because they "want money", and I don't want to be associated with those people in ANY way.
Michelle Otto
...and I can supply any proof that you want. If you can't afford to help us financially, please just pray for my family. |
