Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Dear Leaders of the Great State of Minnesota

My husband wrote the following email today and sent it to Al Franken, Amy Klobuchar and Steve Drazkowski:

My father, who lives in Pine Island, recently had open-heart surgery to place a Left Ventricle Assist Device. The original plan was that he would be in the hospital for up to a month, then return home to finish recovery and increase his quality of life. All of this was approved by the insurance company.


During or shortly after the surgery he suffered a stroke. The results of the stroke are relatively positive, however the doctors are recommending 24 hour care for the foreseeable future. While we knew it was a possible complication of the surgery, we never actually expected something like this to happen. My dad has been very sick for many years and has left the family without much left financially. Any in-home care is not covered by the insurance company, and no nursing home will take my dad because of the LVAD.


So, now we're stuck. None of us can afford to quit our jobs to take care of Dad, but we also can't afford to pay for in-home care out of our own pockets.


I'm not sure what, if any, assistance you might be able to provide, but right now we will take just about anything we can get.

Needless to say, I am very proud of my husband.

Now, my youngest daughter Katy is writing an email of her own to Steve Drazkowski. She met him at the Minnesota State Capitol this year on a trip with her school. With her permission, I will share her email when she is done.


Needless to say, I am very proud of my daughter.

(Please feel free to pass this on and to provide any ideas you have to help us figure out this situation. We are very worried about what we are going to do. Dave is due to come home on July 7th and we have NO plan in place for him. Linda is applying for FMLA but that will not keep the bills paid. We NEEDED the insurance company to cover in-home care and their refusal has made this situation impossible.)


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3 comments:

KristinFilut said...

Wow! The health care costs in this nation suck. I am praying that something pans out.

Anonymous said...

Great blog. At what email can we contact you with ideas?

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