My beloved friend and adopted sister Fey (aka Gina Salvatoriello) needs your support! Fey (Gina) is a well-known teacher, speaker and community leader that has been extremely active in the central Florida Region charities. She is also a parent and young woman (only 34) that is living with a rare disease known as chronic regional pain syndrome (RSD -CRPS). The name sounds relatively innocuous, but it is an indescribably and excruciatingly painful disease that will eventually cause her body to shut down and literally die from pain overload. Right now, this brave woman is struggling to regain some measure of independence and care for her beautiful infant daughter. Since 2002, she has undergone a staggering ninety-seven surgeries, the most recent of which was a below the knee amputation to prevent gangrene from setting in. Her neurological disorder had caused so many fractures (due to muscle spasms and convulsions) that it broke her foot in eleven places. Before that, the bones had been broken countless times and were so damaged that she had required eleven reconstructive surgeries to repair the right foot and ankle. The last breaks were so severe that the bone itself had begun to die and had to be amputated in order to save her life. Beyond the difficulties of a horribly painful and debilitating disease, she has had to work against a non-stop tsunami of red tape spewing forth from a faceless and seemingly uncaring bureaucracy. Although she is unable to stand and has been using a motorized wheelchair that is almost five years old (and actually caught on fire less than six months ago), she has been repeatedly denied a new one due to one oversight or another. Her doctor even wrote a note explaining that the current chair is unsafe and therefore unfit, but did not use an acceptable diagnosis code and so her claim summarily rejected. While the wheels of the bureaucratic morass move agonizingly slowly, she has had to consider paying out of pocket to the tune of almost five hundred dollars a month for a rental or buying one outright at a cost of well over fifty-five hundred dollars, which she cannot afford. At the present, she faces renting a chair for another six months or remaining stranded and unable to move beyond her bed. By the way, that is the baseline cost and does not reflect the actual cost of the needed equipment in order to move her safely. Nor does that count the modifications to her home and vehicle. Please understand that a wheelchair is not a luxury item, without it, she is unable to move about her home, much less leave it to go to doctor appointments or have any semblance of a life. Amid all of the finger pointing between agencies and caregivers, she has been left stranded and feeling alone betrayed by her own body which has also become her prison. Gina has always believed in giving back and it has not been unusual to see her volunteering to feed the hungry and or helping to organize local community support events. She has tirelessly devoted herself to good causes and has been a board member and or served for multiple local non-profit organizations and charities. In other words, she has put some good karma out there and now she needs just a little to flow back and help her now. She has insurance, but it does not even come close to covering the necessary medical support she requires. She has supported herself for many years as a commercial artist, but current circumstances have prevented her from working as of late. This noble woman has been very active in the community and has helped so many people around the world and especially in the central Florida area. Many of us would have given up by now, but Gina struggles on. She is anxious to reclaim her life and to get back to the business of living all for the love of her tiny baby girl. Can you give her a leg up?
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 20:57:25 +0000
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