James and Amy Staples

Clarksville Tenessee

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!!! DISABLED COUPLE STRUGGLING TO STAY IN THE FIGHT !!!

Husband and Wife Team married 34 years, struggling against the economic currents and physically wearing down while prices and demands monetarily climb over their ability to keep up.

Wife (59) has no Kidneys and is on Home Hemo Dialysis, 5 days per week 6-8 hours per treatment. Having survived 7 bouts with Sepsis, poor medical management destroyed her bones. Many other medical issues exist due to Dialysis situation.

Husband (56) Injured at work with L 4-5 Ruptured Disc, 3 failed back surgeries, left me unable to qualify for employment. Due to medical misadventure, was treated with Actos which left me with Atrial Fibrillation which has been observed to keep me homebound for days. After some years of non-diagnosed Psoriasis; I have now developed Psoriatic Arthritis in hands knees and feet which can keep me debilitated and needing feet elevated and iced most of the day until the pain subsides and I am able to walk with a better degree of mobility.

I am also Home Hemo Dialysis Care Partner to my wife, needing to be upright and able to assist my wife with her daily activities, or driving around town trying to run errands. The less I am able to operate the less my wife's care can be attended to.

We are both on SSD, but it is not enough to make ends meet no matter what sacrifices we make and often must resort to church charities for basic necessities. It is humiliating. We would much rather be helping others in need. We forgo eye checks, new glasses, cataract surgery, dental work. I often awake during night and morning with a mouth full of blood due to the poor health of gums and teeth. The most important thing is to keep me viable so I can attend to my wife's needs.

We have debts which we struggle to pay off, for example, a student loan which I was forced to take in 1988, of $1500, which was supposed to be forgiven, only to have it turn up years later with an extra $1500 in interest tacked on to it, and no amount of paperwork from Doctors will convince them to release this debt, which is still around $2900, but we have no extra funds after rent and bills to try to pay off the debt. Medical debt also mounts with the 20% not covered we have around $3000 in such debt that continues to accumulate interest and fees due to nonpayment.

We have a good car, but it really needs some regular maintenance, which is badly needed to drive us to our various medical appointments, some of them 120 miles round trip. Other than going to medical appts. and occasional shopping for supplies charities don't carry- we go nowhere in order to keep our fuel bill down to no more than 2 tank fills per month.

I am begging for money in this way. If we can get the money requested we can liquidate all our past due bills and debts, tend to the things we need and be able to work on Earning an income through E-commerce- and begin to keep ourselves honorably above water. Due to my lack of computer skills, I plan to take classes at the local college so I can begin to work on my own and not be found under financial water again, and perhaps be able to help our children and grandchildren when their needs arise.

My wife is also attempting to find work from home and may also need to take more college courses to meet the ever changing technology. We hope this will help stabilize our financial affairs. However, with her health so tenuous it is something that could change at any minute.

My only hope is that this fundraiser will pay off enough debt (medical and others) to really make a difference in our lives from month to month. The worst thing I can imagine to have to do is ask for monetary help, yet here I am. I hate to ask. I hate to beg. I hate the need to do so. If you are like us and struggling and unable to help monetarily then please help by sharing this with everyone you know. That is also helping us. Thank you for reading and for your time.
 

If you or anyone you know of would like to donate to this cause, Please click the following link.

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1742056732760660/

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