My best friend, Deedee, is a very private person so I hope she forgives me for taking to the Internet and begging for help, but she really does need help in order to stay at home.
In the summer of 2024, she went for what was supposed to be a fairy routine hernia surgery, which somehow epically failed. after more than a dozen follow up surgeries to fix it and try to make her system digest food like it did before, she has been put on hospice because her intestines don’t work well enough to digest food and they constantly become obstructed, even when she’s just drinking blended up liquids, and cause her intense pain. They aren’t sure what the prognosis is, it could be days to maybe a year or two at best. This has been very difficult for her and her friends and family to process as she’s only 36.
Her medical issues and weakness has gotten to the point where she is almost completely bed-bound and needs help to get drinks, blend her food, get medications, use the bathroom, etc and her family is desperately struggling to work and keep the bills paid while caring for her.
They’ve tried Medicaid and other recommended caregiving options and only qualify for 3 hours a day of help, leaving her struggling to get by on her own for 5+ hours a day. They can’t afford the $25 + an hour to hire private caregivers or what a nice facility would cost per month and she’s scared of having to go to a nursing home and be separated from the people she loves and her beloved pets in her final days.
She did recently qualify for disability benefits, but it’s nowhere near enough to pay for the care she needs. The majority of it is currently helping pay to keep the lights on and make the minimum payments on mounting medical bills so she’s not harassed by debt collectors too much. She is able to use about $150 a month to hire someone for an evening and give her Mom and others around her a bit of a break, but that’s it.
Just to make sure she had someone with her while family is a work has been quoted at about $650 a week, with the rate being $25 an hour during the day with a 4 hour minimum and $29-32 per hour in the evening.
I am really hoping this campaign will reach the right people that can help us reach that goal and keep her comfortable at home with her family. She has always been such a vibrant, loving person and wonderful friend so it hurts my heart to see her have to go through all of this.
They say everything happens for a reason, but I can’t see why something so tragic happens to someone so young. One day, we are talking about the possibility of raising children together as best friends and in a matter of months, this is how her life turns out.
Any donations, even $5, are greatly appreciated and I’ve linked her account to this. Hopefully, she will see how many people love her and want her to be happy! Thanks, everyone.