8 Ways to Sunday

Though I was supposed to return to Kansas last Friday, I’m still in Tucson. I’m long overdue for an update on the whole reason we came here — my mother’s health — so let me start from the top. If you’re just now joining this saga-in-progress, you can read this post first for all the back-story.

Setbacks

A few days after we arrived, Angela had her first doctor’s appointment. The doctor is a toxicologist specializing in patients who’ve had toxic mold exposures. Since repeating one of the things he said might get him in trouble with another physician at the University Medical Center, I’ll call him “Dr. Erickson.” He was sympathetic and very knowledgeable, but he couldn’t do much for her directly. He told us what kinds of specialists she should be seeing. He also gave us three bits of information that, while crucial, have forced a massive re-organization and re-assessment of this trip.  

The first unsettling thing Dr. Erickson told us is that Angela should not move back into our house in Kansas. The repair efforts we described to him were not, he said, enough to make the house safe for a person with my mother’s extreme sensitivities. A healthy person could probably live there just fine, but not her. We already knew that we’d cut a few corners on the repair; the estimate we got from a firm that specialized in mold remediation was almost $20,000 and we simply couldn’t afford it. Of course, if we’d found some way to spend the money then, there’s a chance we wouldn’t be here now. You know what they say about hindsight. I suppose it’s nice to know that the house is safe for some other family, but right now it seems like cold comfort.

Secondly, Dr. Erickson confided with surprising frankness that the neurologist my mom was scheduled to see a couple of days later was not a good fit for her case (this is the part I don’t want to get him in trouble for). Erickson explained that, while technically proficient, the neurologist “lacked the patience for complex cases” such as Angela’s. We’ve had to deal with such doctors before, and had no interest in wasting our time. We thanked Dr. Erickson for his candor, asked for recommendations of other neurologists, and canceled with the original neuro that afternoon.

Finally, Erickson explained that while Angela might start feeling better right away in the Tucson climate, her allergy profile and level of illness convinced him that she shouldn’t return to Kansas for at least three months if her lungs were to heal fully. I’ve stayed on in Tucson for another week (until the 20th) to get her set up with an apartment and some form of transportation. The hospitality house where we’re staying is much cheaper than a hotel, but it’s still way more expensive than renting a studio or a one-bedroom apartment.

“Stealth” Allergens and the Waiting Game

We would soon discover that getting in to see other doctors wouldn’t be as easy as we’d thought. The doctors on Erickson’s list were all booked two months or further in advance. The neurologist he recommended at least said that she’d consider seeing Angela sooner if Erickson contacted her and said that the case was urgent. We got back in touch with Erickson, and now the new neuro is seeing my mom on September 23rd instead of in late November. No such luck with the pulmonologist, who still won’t see her until February. It turns out that Tucson is growing very fast, and there aren’t enough doctors in town to keep up. If you want to see some kinds of specialists, you simply have to wait.

Waiting has taken up a frustratingly large portion of our time here, in between futile attempts to get my mother into a doctor sooner. Meanwhile, her lungs have begun to improve substantially. She’s no longer wheezing and coughing constantly, and needs her nebulizer less than she did when we arrived. Her sinuses, however, have been an entirely other story.

Paradoxically, Angela’s sinus pain and congestion had worsened even as her breathing improved. When we stripped her bed to wash the sheets, we found the reason for her troubles: the proprietor of Hotel Schmotel had accidentally left a goose down pillow on her bed. Angela is allergic to, among many other things, goose down.

It took awhile (naturally), but my mom was able to be seen by an ear-nose-and-throat specialist (ENT) today. He suctioned her very-congested sinuses out, and tonight she’s feeling sore but a little better already.

Other than the ENT, Angela has yet to see any other doctors besides Dr. Erickson. The neurologist appointment is coming up on the 23rd, and at this point my biggest concern is that she still doesn’t have a car to get there. Continuing to rent a car after I leave isn’t economically viable, and public transit — while inexpensive — would cause havoc with my mother’s allergies. As you can tell, we’re in quite a bind.

Settling In (or trying to)

Keeping my mother here for a few more months is going to be anything but easy. Bill (my mother’s husband) is looking into selling our house. The sale should raise some capital, but could take months to happen. I’ve been looking into web development gigs I could take on after-hours to bring in extra money, and spending a lot of time on Apartments.com and RentNet trying to find inexpensive furnished apartments within walking distance of grocery stores (Google Earth is great for this stuff).

Finding my mom a car may prove to be a bigger problem. Her credit still hasn’t recovered from the bankruptcy (from medical debts) a year ago, and there’s no money for a down payment anyway. I called up a local charity — Junque for Jesus — that accepts donations of old cars, fixes them up, and gives them to those in need. Unfortunately, some change in tax laws has left them with a backlog of 250 applicants; they aren’t taking any new applications until November.

Blood from a Turnip

There’s this old saying about money, and the lack of it, that applies to our current circumstances. I’ve been reluctant to pursue my fundraising efforts in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, but the my family’s need for help is greater now than ever. We’ve borrowed money against Bill’s retirement account to try and keep up, but that only puts us further in the hole than we already are. There’s a chance that Angela may be able to earn some money while in Tucson by helping out with a University research program, but that’s too big an “if” to count on at this point.

If you can afford to donate, please consider doing so by clicking on the PayPal button near the top of this page. If you know someone who can afford to give, please consider sending them to my main donations page for information on the fundraiser. It was awkward for me to stick my hand out like this when I started this fundraiser last month, and it’s doubly so now that there are so many people suffering in the Southern U.S. I have to take care of my own family, however, and I honestly believe I’ve exhausted my other options. As before, my promises about this fundraiser and the use of your money stand firm.

If a monetary donation isn’t possible, we could really use some advice on finding apartments in Tucson or on getting a cheap automobile. The car wouldn’t have to be anything impressive, just something with air conditioning that Angela could get around Tucson in. Any pointers you might be able to share would be greatly appreciated.

In closing, I’d like to give my sincere thanks to everyone who has given money to date. As of this writing, almost $1500 has been raised. The donated money has been used to pay for the following things:

• Finishing the repairs to our leaky, moldy house
• My mother’s airplane ticket
• The extra frequent flier miles I purchased to get my ticket, and the fees associated with redeeming my miles
• The extra eleven days of auto rental required by my extended stay
• A little bit of the groceries and other expenses of staying here

Thank you for everything you’ve made possible by your generosity.