Our 125th grant has been sent out to a Mott Hospital family just this morning, to help with their medically fragile beautiful baby boy. This would not happen without our amazing community supporting Larry's non-profit.
It's ironic that while I was processing this grant, my own son, our Brave Bear, who is the inspiration for our non-profit, lay 1 foot from me on his gurney in Mott Hospital's ER, in so much pain he had beads of sweat on his forehead. Larry has courage. He is brave. Our Brave Bear.
His guts have been acting up again, and this weekend the pain was unbearable. Several tests were run and after some Toradol and the contrast from a CT scan (which weirdly enough, helps push any bowel obstructions through,) he felt well enough to head back home, even though we still have many unanswered questions. The minute, I mean the minute we got in the door, it all started again. Our amazing surgeons/doctors are studying his tests and trying to come up with a plan of action.
While at the ER, I was again reminded why Larry's non-profit is so very needed. He was NPO until we knew what was happening, but I needed to eat. I headed to Mott Hospital Sunday morning with Larry as soon as he woke up. The car was of course on E, so I had to fill it on the way. I quickly grabbed a sandwich in the cafeteria at Mott, as I hadn't eaten. Around 3, I ran to the gift shop and got Larry a couple magazines in hopes of distracting him (didn't work,) and a snickers bar for me. Around 4, I got another sandwich and a pile of caffeine. When Larry' was discharged, the gate was up, so we got out of the parking structure without having to pay. I spent about $80 yesterday. I know I didn't have to get Larry the magazines, but I was trying so hard to help him.
We aren't rich, not even close, and having Larry be a frequent patient hits our budget very hard. We struggle just like any family with medical expenses. But it is not nearly as bad for us, as it was even just a few years ago, when we had 6 children at home.
I clearly remember, the panic I would feel when Larry's health would rapidly go down and we had to rush him to Mott. We were broke. Living paycheck to paycheck, with no room for any kind of emergency. And we had lots of emergencies in those days. Larry has been extremely fragile, trached and on oxygen, ports, picc or central lines with IVs running and wound vacs and feeding machines running in our Livingroom to sustain him. I would have to go to our local grocery store and overwrite a check for $20 so I could put gas in our car and get him to the hospital. It was frightening.
We are forever and ever grateful for the help we received with Larry Jr and our family.
And that is why we have this non-profit. Families need help. Having a loved one at any age with a continuous, complex, life threating medical condition is hard. It is exhausting, stressful, and expensive. Even if you have the best insurance, there is cost for gasoline, parking, food, hotel and many, many other expenses.
Thank you everyone for helping get the word out and for supporting Bear's nonprofit and helping 125 families and counting at The University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital. Thank you to all of our amazing donors. We are forever grateful. Larry Jr-Bear and our family and non-profit board will continue to do all we can to help support these families with their emergency financial needs.
Comments