EDIT: This has happened so quickly! Less than 24 hours you all raised over $35,000!! I can't begin to express how grateful I am for all of you. I still have not heard from the bank for a total amount due. I am going to increase the line to $45,000. We have thousands of dollars in unpaid medical bills and past due balances. We were also notified that it will take at least five months to be approved for disability and Kerry isn’t well enough to return to work. Any additional money will go toward getting us closer to a better quality of life while we continue to navigate this terrible journey. Again, I love you all. Original Post: I come to you with hat in hand and an exceptionally heavy heart... Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has taken so much from us, now it's trying to take our house. I am a High School Marching Band Director & Middle School Band Director (over 10 years of experience) and my wife has been working at the local Children's Hospital for 13 years. We are about to lose our house due to a disease we did not choose. Almost 8 years ago, my wife (then 30 years old) was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (https://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS). Before MS, she enjoyed Ferris wheels, long car trips, learning, hiking, floating in a pool, and dedicating herself to work and family. Over the past few years, her ability to read and comprehend has greatly reduced. Her vision has decreased, and she now needs to walk with a cane to avoid falling due to neuropathy or vertigo. Many “normal” daily functions I need to & willingly assist her with. Regardless of all the pain, balance issues, and cognitive delay, she has to work to help pay our bills. We considered (and would be approved for) permanent disability, however it requires a 12-18 month wait time where her employment would need to be reduced to under $1000 a month. She worked until she could no longer work full time, January 2024. Back story… My wife was diagnosed after a major episode or “flare” in August 2015. The Sunday before Marching Band Camp, she was admitted into Christiana Hospital. She couldn’t see out of her right eye, couldn’t move her left side without extreme pain, and was essentially paralyzed. I spent 8am to 8pm with the band during the day teaching drill and then drove to the hospital until they kicked me out every night at 11pm. After a few days, they determined that she had MS and began IV steroids. This was the scariest experience of my life. To see the love of my life so helpless and I could do nothing to help. After a few weeks, my wife was released home, but then needed to return another week later after losing the ability to walk. After almost a month in & out of the hospital, she was released. She needed home physical therapy and through the grace of God regained her ability to walk. Her vision improved, however the flare caused lesions on her optic nerve & further impaired her vision. My wife was out of work for the next six months and the bills continued to pile up. A few months at a time we fell behind and managed to catch up. We made good money, however, were essentially living paycheck to paycheck. A year later she again had another major flare and again spent a week in the hospital and could not work for two months. Every time she went out, she received short-term leave, unfortunately it was only enough to cover the increasing medical bills, medications, and late fees associated with everything else we couldn’t pay on time. After exhausting all of our credit options and the bank NOT BEING WILLING TO WORK WITH US; we were forced to file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to avoid a sheriff sale scheduled for April 2024. With the help of a local attorney, we were able to get out of one of the scariest feelings one can ever experience. This experience greatly changed me, and we made major adjustments to avoid it from ever happening again... 2024 through most of 2024 we made every payment. From 2024-2024 her medications were working, and we did not have any major medical issues outside of the occasional mild flare. For two and a half years we were okay. Outside of the HVAC system dying and requiring a large loan from my parents in January 2024, we were doing fine. In January 2024, she contracted a virus (not COVID) when we traveled to visit family in North Carolina. Less than a month after this virus, her MS symptoms begin to skyrocket. Cognitive function & vision deceased, she had trouble walking, and her neuropathy became unbearable. It was possibly time to look into permanent disability. She has been out of work since February 2024. My wife insisted on being responsible for the bills, something she can totally do considering 90% of our bills are auto paid & she has been taking care of the bills and taxes for years. The largest amounts are to the trustee that handles our bankruptcy from 2024 and the mortgage. Considering we have an attorney to handle any issues that arise, I do not interfere with the finances unless something comes up. We were having trouble paying our mortgage and earlier this year, so she contacted our attorney to restructure our agreement. My wife was told to provide proof of income to their office and that was that. Unbeknownst to us, our attorney represented us in court for both the bank & trustee and was given sums/deadlines for us to pay. In June we received a bill for $22,000 from our bank. We saved the packet and contacted our attorney. We thought we were protected by bankruptcy so therefore we thought this was just more random paperwork. On July 8th we spoke to the attorney, and he informed us that we were behind on a lot and have been for months; my wife accidentally missed 2 payments in 2024. He also explained that we needed to pay our trustee, or the bankruptcy will be dismissed. Thankfully, we were able to take care of the trustee. However, the reality is that we only owe the bank $7,200. Due to late fees, legal fees, our $25,000 in arrears from the bankruptcy, and all of the other FEES FEES FEES, when I called the bank on July 10th, they said we now somehow owe over $30,000. If we don’t come up with this money, we will lose our house on August 8th, 2024, four days before the kids report for camp. Reaching out like this is entirely against every fiber in my body. I am only doing so because the situation has become so dire. Please consider helping in any way you can. Thank you for your time, Andrew
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