Like so many of us, Cindy and David Hill, worked hard for
what they have. They raised their 2 children in a small house in the country
and they both worked fulltime jobs, rarely if ever missing a day of work.
Things were always tight but Cindy was gifted in the ways of stretching a
dollar so they got by and they were happy.
In 1996 when Rachel was 10 and Davey 17 Cindy had a
terrifying Grand Mal seizure. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance where
Doctors discovered that she had a rare congenital defect called Arteriovenous
malformations (AVMs). She underwent brain surgery to repair
the vascular abnormality and had a metal plate put in her scull. She continued to have seizures for a year but
they are now controlled with medication. The medical bills from her surgery were
staggering and insurance only paid for a portion. Two years later she had an
emergency ovariectomy and they accumulated even more
medical bills. Then in 2008 she had a medically necessary complete
hysterectomy. They were swamped during these years by the medical bills and
loss of work income from her surgeries and recovery. Through all of this they never
asked for help. They had to refinance their home multiple times to get out from
under the medical bills, after all they had kids to raise bills to pay and they
were just grateful to have their health, home and each other.
In 2009, a year after Cindy’s hysterectomy, they received
the devastating news that David had lung cancer. He was being treated for pneumonia
when they discovered the cancer. David underwent surgery and they took 1/2 of
his lung out to remove the cancer. In order to pay off another round of
incomprehensible medical bills they exhausted all of their meager assets including
David’s retirement fund. With nothing left to “Cash in” and no equity left to
borrow on the house, David went back to work as a tractor-trailer jockey
immediately. He worked out on the pavement in the heat, wet and cold elements
everyday, never able to rest his body and allow it the time it needed to heal
from the cancer and surgery. Five years later, in 2013, they were still paying
off those medical bills when they received a catastrophic blow.
In December of 2013 David was extremely ill with bronchitis.
He tried to “Work through it” because he
couldn’t afford to take time off, but he was too sick. When he went to the Dr.
they did x-rays and on December 24th,, Christmas Eve, they
discovered another mass on his chest X-ray. To make matters worse this new mass
was in David’s good lung. The day after Christmas David went in for a CT scan
followed by a lung biopsy. During the lung biopsy something went wrong and
David's airway collapsed, he could no longer breathe on his own. He was
immediately intubated and put on a ventilator in ICU. He remained in ICU on the
ventilator, heavily sedated and unable to communicate with his family for 3
days after which they were told he now had cancer in his good lung and airways.
Once he was able to breathe on his own again they had David undergo a brain
scan, pet scan, and many consults with specialists followed by more tests. Now
he is home on oxygen, a mountain of medications and home treatments and going back
to the hospital daily for radiation and Chemotherapy.
Although Cindy still works full time, the daycare school she
worked at for many years as a teacher closed last year and she lost her teaching
job. She now works in the infant room at a daycare making much less money than
she did teaching. David is no longer able to work and it will take 6 to 8 months
before he will begin receiving Social Security Disability. David was the main
money earner for the household so that loss of income is catastrophic for the
family. The cost of the medications and medical supplies is staggering. Just
to name a few of the medications he is on; he now needs insulin, so they needed
to buy syringes, blood sugar meter and other diabetic supplies, a nebulizer breathing
machine, inhalers, steroids, pain meds, anti nausea meds, acid reflux meds,
cholesterol meds etc....
David has great trouble breathing and difficulty getting
around. He is also in a lot of pain and is suffering bouts of depression. Their
son Davey has moved back in with them and is currently not working so that he
can care for his Dad during the day while the rest of the family is at work.
Davey drives David to the hospital for his daily radiation and chemo treatments
and stays with him to comfort him at the hospital. David can no longer sleep
lying down because of the difficulty he has breathing so Davey sleeps on the
couch so he can listen to his Dad’s breathing during the night in case he needs
a breathing treatment.
Their Daughter and young Grand Daughter also live with them
sharing a room together in the tiny house. Rachel helps out with the chores but
she is working full time and supporting her daughter so she cannot help as much
financially as she would like to.
Cindy and David need your financial help. They are working
with a social worker but that all takes months to get in place and still it will
not cover all of the medical costs and their living expenses until the SSD
kicks in. They need money to pay the mortgage, keep the heat and power bills
paid. They need help with groceries, gas, prescriptions and more. Please donate
generously to this hardworking family and hold your own family a little closer
today.
Thank You and May God Richly Bless You,
The Family and Friends of Cindy and David Hill
