As some of you are aware, Bey was hit in the eye with a mortar firework while our family attended a neighborhood gathering on the 4th of July. Bey lost the vision in his eye and the large hole in the cornea has not healed. Fortunately, this hit Bey, a fully-grown man instead of any number of the children that were running around. As we can all imagine the damage to a child would likely have been much severe.
Bey’s eye has still not healed after two months, although he has been very fortunate to receive excellent medical care and been diligently following all home care instructions.
Soon, on August 29th Bey is scheduled to have 3 surgeries done on the same day. The first will be a stem cell transplant, second to reconstruct his eyelid and the third is an attempt to locate the tear ducts to repair them. These procedures will restore his vision but at this point we need the eye to heal so he does not lose the eye. Once these procedures are completed, the expectation is once healing takes place the surgeons will then be able to attempt to restore some vision, if not all.
Unfortunately, our medical coverage through Kaiser insurance did not include the specialists that attended to perform the types of procedures or provide the level of care Bey needed.
Bey is currently being cared for by the Eye Institute at Harborview and Kaiser is beginning to deny medical bills. During the first five week period; the Doctor placed on his eye to both protect cornea and to facilite healing a Prokera lens, a placental tissue contact. This lens required replacing every week, at a cost of $3000 per lens.
We are hoping to raise funds to help with the mounting medical bills.
Courtney is now the sole provider for their family of four. Although we are hopeful that Bey will be able to return to work within the next month, we are uncertain as to how long Bey’s recovery will be with the upcoming surgeries.
While Bey recovers, he will be unable to drive, which also now makes the daily driving requirements another issue.
In addition to the inability to drive, the childcare costs become a factor. Previously we worked different shifts to facilitate the childcare ourselves with occasional help from family.
While Bey is recovering, he is unable to assist with the driving, household chores or the childcare. He is unable to move about freely or lower his head at all.
Currently, there are so many unknowns and uncertainties with healing timelines and medical costs.
Aside from the distress and pain this accident is causing Bey and the disruption of our normal family life there is the financial.
Our Kaiser medical insurance has approved the in-office visits but will not cover visits prior to August 15, 2019. This means that all the medical bills from the University of Washington Medical must be paid by us.
We are asking our family and friends to please share our story and request with their friends and families in the hopes that we will raise enough to ease this insurmountable financial burden.
If you’re unable to donate, we understand but it would help a lot if you would share our story with your friends and family.
Please feel free to post comments……… we appreciate reading your words of encouragement, prayers and positive thoughts.
We are very grateful for all your support in any form it takes.
PLEASE SHARE………SHARE………SHARE and SHARE!
