Fundraisers

What a year this has been for so very many; not just my family. Richard asked me to share my story with you, so thank you for reading.  In combined misfortune, my kids and I have found ourselves in two emergency rooms, having three major surgeries, one totaled car, two oral surgeries and a few other interesting challenges this year. Thank goodness for insurance. Except dental and health insurances don’t play nice together and we are left paying a huge amount out of pocket still.

A bit about myself and my family… I’m Erika. I’ve been raising my three kids solo for about 16 years. I work for the state of Washington helping people navigate during times of unemployment. This year I have had a rotator cuff surgery in December and in August a major foot surgery. Both were needed for old issues that were made worse by a mountain biking accident last fall. When I’m healthy I work a second job cleaning some properties and/or bartending. I'll be about 3 more months before I am even back into a shoe. My daughter Barrett (who is 23 and having a hip replacement mid-November) has been working as a wildland firefighter for the Forest Service for several years until her hip got too painful to continue active duty, so she found her way to fire dispatch and has enjoyed it. My son Brody (20) has worked in wildland fire on the same crew as Barrett. They both call the Missoula, Montana area home for now. My other son Gantry (just turned 18) is a senior in high school, plays sports and works at Starbucks. In January he had an accident in snowy conditions in my car- thankfully no one in either vehicle was injured, but I needed a different vehicle. 

We all really love being outdoors in this beautiful world we live in and are so grateful for the opportunity to continue to do so. But this year has stretched us so very thin. 

If you knew my son Brody, you would see that his smile and laugh light up a room. Last winter he was working at Winter Park Ski Resort in Colorado for his second season, teaching snowboarding lessons. In January, Brody went down face-first while doing a box jump during an off-work skills clinic at Winter Park. It’s a simple skill he’s done many times but landed just a bit wrong that day.

He destroyed four of his front teeth and damaged two others, earning a ride on the ski patrol sled to their clinic (technically an emergency room) and then on to a level 1 trauma center in Denver. He had one oral surgery in February to remove all 4 teeth and place bone grafts in preparation for implants. He will be getting another surgery in the months to come to have the implants placed, then wait for several months for those to heal and have crowns placed on. To date, we have paid about $10,000 out of pocket after both dental and health insurance have paid what they will. I’ve appealed health insurance numerous times, but they have found a way out of covering it, as an exact treatment plan wasn’t put into place at the beginning of care. 

The estimate to complete the second oral surgery for implants is approximately $16,000 and another several thousand for crowns. We will have coverage for about $2500-3000 of the procedure and the remainder will be out of pocket. We did a GoFundMe last winter that covered the first oral surgery. My network is tapped out, I believe. 

And thanks for reading this far! Many blessings and so much joy to each of you.

~Erika 

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