My husband and I married September 1, 1979 and he worked at a paper mill from 1979 until the mill closed in 2004. We have two children – a son, 28, who is currently deployed to Iraq, serving with the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, New York and a 24 year-old daughter and a 22-month old grandson who lives with me – circumstances of which are detailed below. Just to give you some background and a timeline of our life – our son was deployed in February 2006 to Afghanistan; in October of ’06 he was able to come home on leave and a friend of our daughter’s brought a girl to a welcome home gathering we had for him. In December ’06, we were informed that she got pregnant when he was on leave- naming our son as the father – there is a point to telling you this. In February of 2007, our son came home from Afghanistan and returned to Fort Drum, NY. until his re-deployment in October 2008. On March 15, 2007; we received a call from the local police department that our daughter had been drugged, beaten, raped; had broken bones and was found in the woods behind a local lounge – but she was alive. We had been dealing with getting her healthy – mentally and physically; when my husband started experiencing headaches. My husband had never been sick in his life – and while employed received awards for many years of perfect attendance. We assumed it was from the degree of stress our family had been dealing with. On June 15, 2007, my husband experienced slurred speech and facial droop. He was seen by his physician who had him undergo a CT Scan and then an MRI from which brain lesions were discovered. On Tuesday, June 19th he underwent a brain biopsy. On June 21st – my husband was told he had four inoperable brain tumors; 20 minutes after being told this; the baby was born to the girl mentioned above that stated our son was the father. Our son came home on emergency leave when his father was admitted to the hospital and had paternity testing done which determined he was indeed the father of the child. The baby had complications when he was born and had to undergo surgery within an hour after birth. On July 17, 2007, my husband and I went to Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to see what options for treatment he had available to him. He was told he had approximately 2 weeks to two months to live and that chemo and radiation therapy might prolong his life a few months but would have to be extremely aggressive. He opted to try the radiation and chemotherapy to achieve a goal of making it to the Holidays, and to receive his first Social Security Check. Our son was in Afghanistan for the Holidays the previous year, and my husband wanted to have one more Christmas with our children and new grandson. At the baby’s four-week check up, July 23, 2007 – it was determined he would have to have surgery again. He had the second surgery on July 24th – the evening prior to his surgery tht baby's mother was reported to Child Protective Services for placing him in danger - she has and alcohol and drug abuse problem. so DHHS placed the baby with me since my son was back at Fort Drum.
Now – at this time, I am working a full-time job at it has been determined that my husband has inoperable brain cancer and has a very short life expectancy; that he has been declared disabled by Social Security but has a five-month waiting period before his checks would start; been told by the Union Pension Plan that my husband has been denied his disability benefits because he is under the age of 55 and still not employed I am still trying to take care of my daughter who still has issues she is dealing with from her assault; take care of my husband who was declining on a daily basis and taking care of a one-month old baby while still trying to maintain a household on one income. My husband’s insurance had a $50K annual maximum and it didn’t take long to reach that with him having a brain biopsy, chemo and radiation.
My husband passed away on January 17, 2008 – he did meet his goals of having one more Holiday season with his children and receiving his first (and only) Social Security check on January 16 (his last goal). My husband’s medical insurance had a $50,000. annual maximum, which with him receiving radiation and chemotherapy did not take long to reach and I then had to start paying out of pocket. I applied for Medicaid but made just over the allowable limit to qualify. I am now burdened with thousands of dollars in medical bills; his funeral expenses and no life insurance.
I moved out of our house and am now living in a townhouse apartment. On June 3, 2008, DHHS once again removed our grandson from his mother’s care and placed with me as my son was still at Fort Drum. My son’s PR&R case was put on a “back burner” until the mother worked on her substance and alcohol abuse issues. She has been living in a “recovery house” and is now pregnant again with her third child – third father. My son was deployed to Iraq in October of 2008 and apparently his case can’t be heard until he returns from Iraq due to the Soldier/Sailor Act.
I humbly request that you please take my family circumstances into consideration and try to put yourself into my situation to have juggled all the responsibilities that I had at the time and still have and the emotional stress I have been under.
Currently I am living paycheck to paycheck and am behind on several bills. I am trying to get caught up and I really need to purchase a headstone for my husband's grave. I truly believe that once I am caught up I can stick with a budget and hopefully I can put my husband's soul to rest and be able to rest myself.
I thank you for your consideration
