Give a little

People feel so helpless, but want to be supportive.  I think this is why people like to donate money.
Money is always helpful in these types of situations. We need it to make modifications to the house so Dee can come home. Recently people have started to ask for the give-a-little page again. It actually closed months ago.  However, due to a number of people asking for it again, here is a new one. Please don't feel obliged to donate... at all.

    

A HUGE thank you to our loving supportive family, friends, and church community who have been an incredible blessing to us throughout this journey! It has been challenging to navigate the legislation involved in the NZ health system (particularly without a diagnosis), the paperwork expectations while managing our workload, finances, children, and emotions.

His story overview (the long version!)

A medical mystery has affected Dee's ability to move, putting this active PE teacher, sport lover, and community coach into a wheelchair. He presents with all the signs of permanent spinal damage, including issues with bladder and bowel management. He has spent months in hospital undergoing a huge range of tests to explore various treatment options, with very limited success. It may always be a mystery. 

Since 14 November 2021, Dee has been in the PN Hospital, the Burwood Spinal Unit, the Christchurch Public Hospital, and back to PN Hospital. There are still no answers and that means he falls through the gap, with no diagnosis, to claim funding for his new needs. "If only it was ACC" we keep hearing. 

For the first time since being in hospital there is starting to be discussion about getting Dee home, since they can do little more for him now. He needs full-time permanent care for his movement and hygiene. He is full hoist lift, as he is unable to move both his legs, most of his torso and has limited movement in his right arm. He needs a huge range of specialised equipment and help to go about his daily routine. We need to make extensive modifications to our home to even get him into the house, let alone into the bathroom for a shower! A lot of this (all of the house modifications) will come at our own cost, unless we put him into a nursing home and go on the 2 year waiting list. After 5 months of not being able to visit him freely, due to Covid restrictions, it would probably break our children to do another 2 years like this in a palliative care facility. 

Dee is struggling with the transition to his new life, mourning the person he was, his identity through sport and career, and keeping his faith strong in the Lord, that there is a plan for him. He has not been paid for the entire hospital stay (since early November). His sick leave was used up when he lost his ability to walk comfortably back in October, before even coming to the hospital.  He is also struggling with the new reality that he can not provide for his wife and children. 

We are not the sort of people who like asking for help, especially money! This whole journey has been challenging for us in that way. However, we are in need. We already have been SOOOOOO blessed by our families, friends, church community, and wider SDA community.  When we went to Christchurch, financially we were completely dependent on the donations of people who love us, as we had no income at all. God has really seen us through this whole experience and it has had a huge impact on our children. 

It feels so unnatural to ask people to 'give-a-little', but people keep asking us for this. So here it is. Please don't feel obliged to donate. We totally get it! 

Thank you so much for your support.