Thank you for taking a few moments to stop by. I truly know how precious every moment is, and I’m honored you have taken a few with me. Here’s our story....
In 2017 I had worked my way up in the freight forwarding industry, and gained a position as a gateway manager. Excellent pay, approaching 6 figures. Horrible stress, company and hours, but that was the trade off . Around T hanksgiving, I had missed a couple days to deal with some family issues. To my surprise (but par for the way employees were treated there) upon my return I lost my job. And due to the company size, they were not obligated to pay unemployment. By Christmas, we were being evicted. Unable to secure a new job in time, and already long past when we were supposed to be out of our place we were out of options. We received some assistance from family and we made the decision to move out to the country where the rent was cheap and that assistance would buy us 6 months of pre-paid rent. It was a risk, as I had not yet secured a job but JT was soon to start school as a kindergartner and that would allow Julie to at least find a part time job as well. We moved in to our very humble 2 bedroom home, and within the first week there a plus sign on a stick confirming we were being blessed with an additional challenge. A new addition to our family was on the way.
After a small stint pulling the graveyard shift at a local gas station, I landed a brand new position as press production supervisor at a growing company in the area. Something very new, and I was excited to take a detour from my background in international transportation and learn something new. It was all new staff and we were getting ramped up to take over production from the old facility. I was in charge of two industrial printers, 2 laser engravers, and a sand blasting machine. Pretty cool. We were getting settled in our new country life, and loving it. July 4 th was approaching and we should have been ready for our first summer celebration. However, just 2 days prior Julie started to not feel well. By the holiday, Julie was having hot flashes and extreme chills. I found her in the bathtub soaking in cold water trying to cool down. The look on her face was enough to know we needed to go. To the hospital we went, fireworks were watched from her hospital bed. Then, well the shit hit the fan.
The doctors were unorganized, they couldn’t figure out what the issue was. First an UTI, then a swollen kidney, then a blood infection. They got her started on antibiotics and did an MRI to check for a kidney stone. The antibiotics kicked in and the MRI came back as “no kidney stone”. Julie was feeling better, except her eye was bothering her. And for 6 days, her eye progressively got worse. When asked how she was, she continually let the docs and nurses know that she felt so much better but there was something wrong with her left eye. Each day more discharge collected in it, each day her pleads for attention to it increased. They provided Visine. Then next a topical antibiotic. They were very lax about it, and we weren’t. We literally begged for some real attention to the growing problem in her eye. By the 6 th day of our pleading, they finally sent an optometrist to have a look. Within 2 minutes he confirmed the issue was major and he couldn’t address it.
They were going to airlift her to Chicago, but the ambulance was quicker. After 9 days in the hospital our by us, we were on to round two in Chicago. That night, it was confirmed the blood infection got into her eye. And as is the case with infections in the eye, it remains isolated and nothing topical could of helped it. Certainly not Visine as was given at the previous hospital. The administered antibiotics into her eye to stop the progression. But it was too late, her retina had detached and her vision was 98% gone in that eye. And that is how it will remain. They stabilized her, performed surgery to re-attach the retina and we were about to be discharged. I stayed by her side this whole time, family took in Justin for the nights and I had slept by her.
Just before we were going to be released, my work confirmed that they had to let me go. Production had finally transitioned over and they needed a body in there. I hadn’t been there long enough to utilize FMLA. Also, the hospital decided they wanted to look at that MRI taken at the previous hospital, and low and behold there was a kidney stone. Clear as day and easily pointed out to us. We weren’t leaving yet. While 6 months pregnant, they couldn’t remove the kidney stone so they had to put a tube into her kidney, accessorized with a pee bag. All the while, Julie’s blood pressure is through the roof. Julie has severe white coat syndrome. This goes back when she went in for a routine doctor visit and they noticed some sever bruising on her arm. She was hurried to a hospital then and stents were placed in two major veins in her chest. She has a rare condition essentially resulting in small veins. This condition also contributed to having a fingertip amputated a few years back, due to lack of blood flow to it. This is why she is so scared of doctors. And our new bout with them certainly wasn’t helping. We were released from the hospital and Julie was beat to shit.
She literally couldn’t walk for the first week at home. A walker was needed thereafter. As she was starting to feel a bit better, it was time for our next routine OB-GYN appt. Her blood pressure was taken and immediately an emergency c-section was initiated and our Tate was born at 27 weeks. 1lb, 10oz and our little fighter was here. And here we were back at the same hospital that misdiagnosed her kidney stone and ignored her pleads for attention to her eye. Now they were trying to address her blood pressure and pumping her up with meds accordingly. To the point that we realized that if she went home, where her blood pressure stabilizes once as there are no white coats around, that she would be in danger. I called in the CMO of the hospital and to our face he admitted their complete mismanagement of her care. Yet nothing improved and finally we left against medical advice and I left them a letter knowing exactly why. Later we received a letter recanting the CMO’s statement. This fnhospital , the same one that now has care of our tiny little man. Luckily, their NICU is renowned in the area. They just don’t know how to take care of anyone over 1 y/o it seems.
I finally pulled Julie out of that place, but our little peanut was in there for 69 days. 69 days of which I was out of a job, and being so our visits to our little man were so limited. We simply couldn’t afford the gas as it was a half hour away. Our little man was very much blessed with amazing nurses, one of which we simply refer to as his angel. The prayers and well wishes from everyone, especially the Vero community, certainly manifested within our son. He fought, and was thriving and just plain kicking ass. Oh how we needed his strength.
We were now getting some food stamp assistance, and family helped out with a couple months rent. And by the end of last year I had secured a job at a trucking company. That is where I work now, and my pay isn’t good. Essentially we make about $300-$400 less than what our basic expenses are. We were ok, as food stamps and formula vouchers made a big impact. We were doing ok, I mean after all that we went through we were (and always will be) just happy to all be alive and together. Once I filed my taxes for 2018, a year in which I made $3,000.00 our food assistance was gone. Although my low income is under the threshold, I guess my filing status pushed us over. I’m still confused how you go form that much assistance to zero. And we are feeling the hurt. I’m certainly not too proud to accept state and government assistance, as I’ve been paying taxes since I was 15. I have made good money in my past, and this was a return on those taxes. But now that return is gone, and our struggle is growing.
We are strong, and so very grateful. Tate is doing amazing and is certainly a miracle. Very few preemies born at his age develop at the pace he has. His big brother is doing amazing, and since Julie cannot return to work as a result of her eye she is now starting to homeschool him. We are humbled by this experience. We know the importance of each other, and the strength in our family. We are close, the 4 of us in our tiny little house. We are love. And as we look to figure out how to rebuild, we are faced with daily challenges of being behind on utilities and days of empty cabinets. We have a second car which we cannot afford to get our registration current on. These past two days alone, I couldn’t even afford to buy a gallon of water for our little Tat’s formula. I know in my heart of hearts that this is temporary. And that we are blessed that Tate receives SSI which covers our rent. But it’s taking it’s toll, especially on Julie and I. We just wonder how much more we can endure before we go bat shit crazy.
And as of late, I feel my light fading. That’s a big deal to me. Truthfully, I’m very new to depression and anxiety. It’s alien to me, and it’s freaking me out to experience it. Julie has had anxiety ever since her medical issue first arose and I have been her rock all through it. But now that I feel my knees weaken, it worries me. My role is the rock, but I feel it crumbling. That is where I’m at now.
The ultimate goal is for me to take photography and graphic design classes and pursue my passion and allow it to support us. Our goal is never to be well off. But simply to chase our passions and have the bills paid while doing so. Any help we receive will go to food, and every day essentials. Clothes for the children, school supplies for Justin’s at home schooling, getting our second car legal so Julie and the kids can at least get out of the house while I’m at work. And to help ensure our utilities are paid every month. And how these things would bring our spirits back up, and jumpstart the fight in us.
T he Erickson family is strong, and bound for great things. And just the thought that there are those out there that would like to help ensure that to happen. I left out a lot of the emotional tribulations incurred along the way, this really kicked the shit out of us. It also amazes me, that here we are and we are ready to fight to move on with our lives. To grow our family strength and values and give our son’s an amazing life. We have learned the value of all the little things that make up this amazing journey. And look forward to seeing our children grow into the type of human beings this world needs. People like you.
