My Uncle Ken and Aunt Lynn have an amazing touching story. Please read and share! Kenneth Pietri (“Ken”) was born with cerebral palsy. In order to walk he must swing his legs in a way that twists his spine in an unnatural way. This causes a lot of pain and numbness in his body. He has lived pretty much his entire life in pain but refuses to take pain medicine because of the negative side effects and doesn’t want to become addicted to them. When Kenneth was in his teens he spent two straight years in Shriner’s hospital having surgery after surgery. The doctors said he would be confined to a wheel chair by the time he turned sixteen. Well he is now in his fifties and he is still walking (although it has become increasingly difficult and more painful). He will work anytime he is given the opportunity (even if it is beyond what he is capable of doing). He hates “handouts” but was forced to accept our help when he almost lost his home a while back. A long list of events took place including mistakes made with his home insurance (which was no fault of his own) resulting in ridiculous fees that were beyond what he could afford. The family pulled together and did a few benefits that saved his home. Kenneth is now facing a new challenge. A piece of his vertebrae broke off and is lodged on another piece of his vertebrae. In order to fix this the doctors say they need to remove a piece of bone from his hip to repair it. The family is hoping for another option because they have had to take bone from his hip before and the pain from that surgery is excruciating in itself. He is in excruciating pain now however and something will have to be done. Ken has been dating a lady named Lynn for many years. Ken’s family adopted her as part of their family. They refer to her as “Spanky”. Lynn has been through her own battle. She has battled breast cancer, brain cancer, and bone cancer. She has had one breast removed and has never been able to afford reconstructive surgery to have it replaced. This lady has had brain surgery, had needles inserted into her eye, and countless hours of treatment, poking and prodding. She too deals with almost constant pain. Due to the cancer and treatments she has lost a lot of the use of one of her hands (which she used to draw, paint, etc with). She has also lost some of her vision, hearing, memory, cognitive skills, etc. Ken and Lynn take care of each other and it would be almost impossible at this point for either of them to function daily without one another’s help. Ken takes care of her by getting her to her appointments and telling her what medication to take and when to take it. Lynn very rarely drives anymore because she gets confused and driving can easily become a dangerous situation for her. Lynn on the other hand, has to help Ken with every day things like putting on his shoes and taking them off (things that we take for granite). Despite the suffering that these two have endured you will very rarely ever hear a complaint from either of them. Lynn is always poking fun at herself and making jokes to make the best of the situation. Trust me when I tell you that these two have plenty to complain about but they don’t. Neither one of them has much more than a roof over their heads but they appreciate and are grateful for the little things in life .Their limited funds make it hard for them to do anything. There is just enough money to pay bills, for food, and other necessities. In fact, Lynn and Ken have had to accept the fact that they will never be able to get married because the money they get would decrease if they did and that would make it impossible to live off of. Ken’s niece Natalie says “These two people are my heroes. They deserve recognition for their positive attitudes and their persistence. I never realized when I was younger how difficult things are for my uncle because he always made it look so easy because of his attitude. As I have grown older I have learned more and more about his obstacles and I am amazed by him. I look at my Aunt Spanky and think to myself that there is no way I could have went through what she has gone through and continue to fight (much less with a positive attitude).” The family is currently trying to raise money for Ken’s surgery. He is also in need of a scooter and a kit to get it on and off his truck so he can continue to get around. The family is asking people to donate anything they no longer want for a garage sale benefit. Monetary donations can be made at any Capital One bank. It is under Kenneth W. Pietri donation account. Account number 00005626356550
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 00:33:59 +0000
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