Hello all good friends,
please comment on this or other posts.
my name is Shane and I am Kathy's nephew. I am very hopeful about this project to cure my aunt.
I am the webmaster for the site and will be maintaining the blog and other items. However I am not doing the real work. That is being done by Tami, Kathy's daughter, and Kathy herself.
Tami is currently trying to achieve non-profit status for Fix It With Love.com by fighting with the IRS paper work while she takes care of her four children, her granddaughter, and, of course, her mom. She is also working as a partner in a labor intensive business...she is probably overburdened by excited about this project from the hope that it may save her mom's life.
Kathy is doing the work of keeping herself alive and her spirits up while we do our best to make this happen.
I hope that you will be generous with whatever you can give. Even if it is only a dollar and the time it takes to donate it that is wonderful and I thank you.
Please help, there is no other way.
I am sure that others will fill this in with details about all the reasons my Aunt, an American citizen, cannot get a transplant that she desperately needs and cannot afford, while illegal immigrants can. This doesn't seem right.
God speed to all,
Shane
11 comments:
Fix it With Love ~ a clear and perfect statement and idea that could save my Sister's life. Kathy has lived this philosophy out loud and the world is a better place because of it.
Her family and friends encourage you to send prayers, love, kind words and donations.
If anyone deserves a Miracle, it's Kathy.
My name is Tami and I am Kathy's only child. She has always been my angel and now I am trying to be her angel and save her life. First I want to say Thanks to Shane the web-master for doing such a fantastic job on her web site. I also want to thank everyone who has donated at FixItWithLove.com to help raise the money to save her life. And everyone pounding the pavement and spreading the word about what is happening to her. I know a new liver will mean a new life for her. A chance to watch my children grow and for them to know a very special lady. I just got her to lay down for a while and it's 2:00 am. She is in a lot of pain both physically and emotionally. I can't even imagine what thinking I may die soon would be like. I can't imagine closing my eyes at night and not knowing if I will see another sunrise, birthday, or another day of small miracles. I can't imagine my life without her. She has always been my bestfriend, my confidant. Always smiling. We are amazed at the strength she has and the will to survive. I only hope she can hold on long enough to enjoy the big miracle she so deserves. I better get some sleep for tomorrow holds more dealings with SSI, Medicaid, insurance companies, the IRS, etc. Not to mention finding a few precious moments with my little ones. I just pray that the time I am putting into saving her will make a difference and give her a new lease on life. Thanks everyone for listening. I'll keep you posted. ~Tami
Just wanted to let everyone know that our new non-profit organization to help my mom is up and running! Please tell everyone you know about the FixItWithLove Foundation. We have a lot of money to raise and a short time to do it. Hopefully this week we will be taking mom to MUSC in Charleston for the consult and evaluation which we have the money for. Once she is on the list they will be expecting the $200,000 down payment for the transplant. She is hanging in there...still waiting for a miracle. I have seen many small miracles over the last few weeks. Like getting the organization up and running (Phew). Hearing from Senator DeMint's office and Governor Sanford's office offering to help. All the donations her angels on earth have made. My mom being back to her old self. I thought we were going to lose her last week. Thank God for miracles. Well it's playtime around here so please get the word out and say some prayers for Kathy. Thanks ~Tami
Just wanted to let everyone following this adventure that Kathy has a clinic visit to see if she is approved for a transplant and how soon on this coming Monday!! Finally, we got her foot in the door. It's an all day visit and long trip for her so please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as a very difficult time for her gets even more difficult. Thanks for all the donations so far Angels. We only need $197,000 for the down payment now. Luckily With God All Things Are Possible.
FixItWithLove!!
~Tami
Yesterday we spent the day at MUSC in Charleston trying to get my mother closer to her miracle. We saw the transplant surgeon and he was concerned about a heart problem she appeared to have during her last hospital stay. He was very up front with us and explained that in some cases a transplant can't be done if you have increased pressure on your heart. It was probably the only moment all day that I felt she understood what was going on and a dark yellow tear fell from her eye as she choked back tears thinking they were going to let her die. I wiped it away, of course, while I swallowed the lump in my throat and ignored the hurt I was feeling inside. I had to focus, listen and understand what was happening. He did approve her to go on to the next phase which was a full day of testing and questions. She couldn't even take one step on her own. She couldn't finish a sentence. Mostly she just stared at things, people, walls. It broke my heart watching her in her own little world. But there is a part of me that knows she is better off not fully knowing what is happening to her right now. We met with the financial coordinater after all the tests and he was very nice but also explained a lot of disturbing financial details. He said without Medicaid, Disability or insurance the only way to get her on the list was with a $185,000 good faith deposit. Since my mother spent her life loving and caring for me physically, emotionally and financially I did the same for her. I signed all the necessary paperwork (a ton of it) as the person who would be responsible for the outrageous bills if she couldn't pay them or, God Forbid, if she doesn't make it. I am doing everything I can to save her but it is just such a slow process. I wish I could speed up time for the processes to be completed and slow down time for her liver to shut down completely. I have written to news stations, tv show hosts, newspapers, liver foundations, etc... and not one of them has even bothered to respond to me. That was at the end of September when I realized how bad things were getting for her and decided it was time to take control of the situation before there was nothing left of her to take control of. I have to do this for her, for my kids, for my grand daughter. If I can't they will miss out on one of the most beautiful people in the world. Life will never be the same. She is all I have. I definately feel like we weren't alone today. It was like every time we ran into a road block we had someone or something help us through it. There were so many road blocks but we were unstoppable. I think she may get Medicaid but I don't think we have time to wait. The only answer at this point that will save her is finding the money for the down payment to get her on the list ASAP. I can look at her and see she almost has no fight left in her. She doesn't even seem to realize she still has to fight. I'm fighting for her and I will fix this if I can. I don't understand how anyone could see her condition and let her just slip through the cracks and leave her so near death. Someone bigger than me, bigger than everyone, has to help me and guide me. Quickly. MUSC will be calling in the next week or two to set up the 3 day evaluation that costs $10,000. We have that but not $185,000 plus! I pray she can find the will to fight this uphill battle. Please, if you can't help financially, at least talk to the big guy for me. Every prayer, dollar, show of concern will help both of us so much. Thank you ~Tami
Good news!! We just went to MUSC for the clinic visit yesterday and they already called today. They want to try to get her in next week. They said the Echo Cardiogram she had came back normal. That means her heart is in it and ready for a transplant. They want her to see her primary care physician also because her blood glucose was 257. So I made her an appointment for Friday. I need some extra prayers tomorrow because I will be heading back to Medicaid to bring some more paperwork they need and hopefully they will accept her and it won't take too long. That is my worst fear. I wasn't concerned about MUSC not accepting her because we all know she is very sick. I am looking forward to getting back up there and moving forward as quickly as possible. They said depending on how severe her liver damage is it could be only a day or two before the transplant. Luckily she has type O positive blood which is very popular. And luckily being an organ donor is too. I just hope we can get some type of financial assistance in place when her new liver is found. I know she will go straight to the top of the list. They usually don't call the next day. And if it comes down to needing the down payment I would like to say I will just rob a bank. Since that is illegal and wouldn't be good for our karma... I guess I will just start praying even harder that we can make it happen. I have faith and I know how much my mom deserves to live. I know when the time comes she won't be let down. I'm wondering how they could turn her away if we don't have the money. It seems that would be against their hipocratic oath. I can't wait to have my mother back! I know the kids miss her terribly. My 2 year old Arik is always asking to go to Mama's house. I just tell him "we will go to Mama's soon Arik". I'm taking them over there tomorrow for a very short visit before I go to Medicaid. They can cheer mom up. I know she misses them too. Well don't forget to say some prayers for things to go well for us tomorrow. Thanks ~Tami
I guess since I am with my mom most of the time I have become the one that is able to tell you what she is going through. MUSC called again today and wants to see her ASAP. They have an all medical teams meeting every Wednesday. They have hundreds of patients and guess who was the main topic of conversation? My beautiful mother. The financial coordinator called to tell me and ask me how I want to work it out. He wanted to know if I needed him to wait to set up the appointment for the evaluation to give Medicaid some time to make a decision. I told him no way, we have the $10,000 for the 3 day evaluation (Thanks to my mom's wonderful Daddy!!). We can't wait and MUSC doesn't want too either. I told him we may have to wait for either Medicaid or the $185,000 to schedule the transplant. That means she won't be on the list until the first part of her two part miracle comes through. He knows how hard we are working on it. We should hear from him tomorrow with the dates for the evaluation. Mom keeps saying she's going tomorrow. I'll let her keep thinking that.
So this afternoon I went to turn MORE paperwork in to Medicaid. My supervisor Angel wasn't in but I met another one. The man handling my case talked to me for almost two hours. They are hassling us about a small amount of money compared to what she needs that she recieved from her mother who died two years ago Nov. 9th. Mom wasn't here when my son Knoa was born and I couldn't be with her and my grandmother in New Orleans because I was about to pop (which I did 3 days later). Both of our hearts were broken. She just got the money in August and they made me spend it all on medical bills if we wanted her to have a chance of qualifying, since that is what it was left to her specifically for.
My grandmother left instructions that she wanted my mom to be with me and my kids for as long as possible. She didn't know about my grand daughter then, but I guarantee you she does now! I feel her with us during this painful time very often. My mom looks just like her now... only so so much younger. Now that she is almost completely pennyless and in need of hundreds of thousand of dollars to save her life they are saying there is more red tape! We don't have time for any more red tape. The case worker said he would put mom's case priority and talk to the supervisor I've been dealing with (my other Medicaid Angel) when she gets back tomorrow. I asked if I could meet with them and said I would be back tomorrow at 3:00 to see what we can do. I can't really blame them. They do want to help. The problem is the system not the people who work (for nothing) for it. They need more bank statements which I have ready but I am also bringing the letter I recieved in the mail when I got home from Congressman Joe Wilson. He has offered to help with Medicaid if he can. I'll have to write him and tell him we are almost out of time. I hope the meeting tomorrow goes well. That wouldn't be fair if my mom dies because her mom tried to save her. Even in death.
It's 2:21 am here. My mom has been sleeping all day. She is getting worse every day at this point. It's a good thing I'm so busy caring for her, my kids when I can, doing mountians of paperwork, begging financial organizations not to let her die and trying to get the foundation going. Or I would be a basket case just from watching her fade away from me. I guess I'm going to have to go to the media again and hope they don't just ignore me...again. How rude. At least now I have more to tell them. Maybe the Big Guy will tell them to listen to me this time. Or the big guys: Jim DeMint, Mark Sanford and Joe Wilson.
Well my Mom is awake enough for me to get her something to drink and get her more comfortable now. I better go be with her. I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow.
~Tami
My mom turned orange today. She has been sleeping since Monday. Only getting up to go to the bathroom. My grandmother came over to give her IV fluids and saw the condition she was in. She called me and when I got home we called an ambulance and took her to the hospital. She is in really bad shape. I thought I was going to lose her. The doctors from Providence in Columbia and MUSC in Charleston are trying to decide what to do about her. They wanted her to go straight to Charleston but we had to take her to Providence and get her stabilized first. It's almost 2:00 am and I have to go to Medicaid tomorrow and beg and plead for help. Goodnight everyone. ~Tami
I am writing to you from the waiting room at MUSC. My mother was transported here from Sisters of Charity earlier this evening. She is in complete liver failure. The doctors have been running tests on her and informed us they will be putting her on the list in the morning. She is in critical condition. I'm sure the money will come up again but I am hopeful that they are planning to save her life. She barely knows who we are right now but hopefully soon she will be back to her old self. Praise the Lord. I truly believe this is the miracle we have been waiting for. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and keep spreading the word about the FixItWithLove Foundation. She is going to need all the help financially that she can get. Thanks everyone who has already donated and helped us get the web site information out. You are all Angels in my book and in my mother's. ~Tami
It's almost 1:30 Am. My mother is now in the ICU at MUSC. They kicked me out of her room about 15 minutes ago to put in two lines to start dialysis because her kidneys shut down yesterday. They are going to try to stabilize her and then get her healthy enough to do the transplant. They say her odds aren't very good but I say with all the praying and her amazing strength and love that she can survive anything. I won't give up on her unless her heart stops beating and I know it is too strong for that. I hate just sitting here in the waiting room.... waiting. I just pray all goes well and this gives her a chance to clear her mind and speak to me. I miss our talks. I even miss her telling me what to do. I would be so happy to have her tell me to quit smoking or ask to speak to the boyz. I miss them too but I am where I need to be. Please say more prayers for her safe recovery from this horrific ordeal. Thanks.
On November 1st my mother celebrated her 55th birthday on earth and then ascended to Heaven. She is no longer in pain but the rest of us are left shocked and devastated. I keep trying to write this blog but as I am in a state of denial putting it in writing is very difficult. I feel as if I am in a nightmare I can't wake up from. It's just too unreal, too overwhelming, too soon to put into words how I am feeling. So for now I live in my world of denial. Waiting for the full impact of what I have lost to hit me. I know my mother is in Heaven and I have recieved a lot of messages from her that I will share with you soon. I appreciate your loving support and all of the prayers for my mother to be OK. I just didn't expect that to mean she would have to leave us. RIP Mom. I love you and miss you more than words can say.
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