A few months back I talked about our friend, Nate, and some of the troubles he's been having since he has Marfan Syndrome. I know I wrote about this before but just can't find it right now. There is some information from the National Marfan Foundation, some information from the American Heart Association and Wikipedia.
Today, Monday, February 22, Nate is again having surgery. He is having his aorta replaced and it will be a 12-15 hour surgery. It was originally supposed to be a week ago but the doctors wanted to make sure all the blood thinners were out of his system before operating.
Because of all of this, Nate and his wife Melissa (one of the members of my book club) have a lot of medical bills to pay, not to mention their regular bills as well. Melissa has written a great letter explaining everything:
February 13, 2010
Hello,
I don’t know who to address this letter to, but I’m writing to ask for help. I am asking for help because of my husband Nate’s medical condition and the struggle it has brought us. Let me tell you our story.
Seven years ago, Nate’s brother and I were attending the same college, and Nate, being tired of Texas, decided to move up to Wisconsin to live with him. He didn’t know it at the time, but this was the first act of God in a series of events. We found each other, fell in love, and eventually moved to Minnesota so that I could attend chiropractic school. That’s where our lives changed forever.
In one of my classes, I learned about a rare, genetic disorder called Marfan Syndrome. It is a gene mutation that causes the body’s connective tissue to be very weak. As a result, people with Marfan syndrome have a variety of symptoms, including tall, thin stature, very long limbs, bad eyesight, unexplained stretch marks, skeletal deformities, and cardiovascular problems. You may not know it by name, but it is Marfan syndrome that so often causes high school athletes to collapse and die unexpectedly.
Immediately my gut told me that Nate had this condition. I went back and forth on whether to discuss it with him, but it was the high risk of undetected aortic aneurysms that just wouldn’t let me rest. I had to bring it up a few times, telling him that I was sure he was fine, but I really thought we should have his heart and aorta checked out, “just in case.” A few weeks later he finally agreed to the idea, and during the first week in April 2006, we drove an hour and a half to the Mayo Clinic to be checked out by the Marfan department. An hour of testing turned into a day, turned into an overnight trip. Words cannot describe what we felt when the doctor finally entered the exam room and told us that not only did Nate have Marfan syndrome, but he needed to have emergency open heart surgery to repair two aneurysms that were on the verge of dissection. The surgery was scheduled for a week later. We went home in disbelief to wait and prepare. On April
8th, a beautiful spring day, Nate surprised me with an engagement ring, and we celebrated one of the happiest days our of lives. Five days later, he underwent a 15-hour operation that involved cracking open his ribs and cutting out the affected aorta to replace it with synthetic material. He spent 10 days in the ICU and 3 grueling months at home recovering. I was 23-years-old, and he was only 29.
We know, and our friends and families know, that it was much more than just chance that brought us together. It was truly one of God’s miracles. To me, a young, first-year chiropractic student, the signs were so obvious. But dozens of experienced medical doctors had missed the diagnosis his whole life. Had it not been for our journey together that brought us to that exact place at that exact time, Nate’s aorta would have ruptured and by the time doctors would have been able to discover what was wrong, he likely would have died.
Life has not been easy for us since then. In November 2009, we discovered a new, third aneurysm, and he has since undergone another surgery, 18 days in the ICU due to a near-fatal complication, and a trip to the Mayo clinic where he learned that on February 22nd, he will have another very complicated open heart surgery where the entire rest of his aorta will be cut out and replaced. He has since lost his job because of this, and it has been a strain on my career and our finances as well. We are borrowing money from family just to cover rent, forget about all the medical bills pouring in.
But the happy part of this story is our growing love for each other. Many young couples fail at marriage with only the normal stressors of daily life. Our marriage has prevailed and strengthened beyond belief. We always tell ourselves that we can get through anything, because we have already seen the “for worse” part of our vows. We were married in October 2006, and on September 11, 2008, our son Sebastian Oliver was born. He is the joy of our lives, the happiest and funniest little boy you will ever meet. There is a 50/50 chance that Sebastian has Marfan syndrome as well. Our life together has not been easy, but neither of us would trade it for anything.
We have never asked for anything before. We have both worked very hard to always make ends meet, but we know when we are in over our heads, and this is one of those times. While my chiropractic practice is in its early stages and still growing, Nate is the main source of our income, yet he has not been able to work since November because of the instability of his aorta and all of the time he has spent in the hospital. We now have to pay our own health insurance, and if we fall behind for any reason, he can be dropped and not covered by anyone again for over a year because of his “pre-existing condition.” At this time we are lucky to have insurance at all, but the thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses we have are still far too much for us, since we don’t have enough for our living expenses as it is.
If it is at all possible for you to give from your heart and financially help us through this difficult time, we would be extremely appreciative. Rest assured that when we are on our feet again, we will pass the generosity on to others who are in need. We are already discussing getting involved with the National Marfan Foundation to see how we can help.
Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to our story. In the meantime, we are staying strong with the faith that God has a plan for us, and it will all work out in time.
Sincerely,
Melissa Shera
A donation fund has been set up at US Bank. To help out, please make out a check to “Nathan Shera” with the word “donation” written in the memo, and take it or mail it to any US Bank location.
Donations can also be made via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=nate_shera%40yahoo%2ecom&lc=US&item_name=Nathan%20Shera%20fund¤cy_code=USD&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF%3abtn_donateCC_LG%2egif%3aNonHostedGuest
Nate and Melissa
Melissa and Nate
Melissa, Sebastian, and Nate
Now that you know their story, I would like to ask for your help. I'm not asking you to donate to their bills (although that would be great!). What I am asking is for your ideas on fundraising events that we could do to help defer their medical bills. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
