I've got a few stories I need your help with today.
Please, if you feel the need to pay it forward, email us at MLHolidayPayItForward@yahoo with the subject line "Mama" and the story you choose to help, and we can better assist you!
Charlie's Story
Location: Eastern Connecticut
"I called our pharmacy and asked about gift cards. They're a special "Cystic Fibrosis Services" Pharmacy so it's a little different than Walgreens or CVS, etc. They don't offer gift cards and they won't let anyone else call in to make payments, however they will accept a check. So if someone writes a check with our account number on it and "Charles Cyr" in the description they will be able to apply it to our account. They can make out the check to "CF Services Pharmacy" and mail it to them directly. The copays range from $15-$45 each, not much individually, but when there are 10 Rx/month to pay it adds up quick!
************************************
Sadie's Story
Nominated by: Danielle Duncan, family friend
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
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"This is Sadie. She is 16 months old she was diagnosed with Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. She is one of the most amazing little girls I have had the privilege to meet. Her cancer came on sudden about a month ago. Her new home for now is at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville TN. She deserves an amazing Christmas. Her mom and dad have to split time at the hospital because they have a 3 year old little boy, Eli, and they are trying to keep his life as normal as possible as well. They drive about 40 mins to the hospital from their home everyday and have lots of medical bills coming in. Anything would help them. But most of all I would love for people to to pray for this amazing little girl. Please help make her and her family's Christmas great. Nothing would be better than hearing Sadie beat cancer, but they have a long road ahead of them. So until then if you can help in any way with donations or some toys for her Christmas it would mean the world to this family I just know it. Please just keep Sadie in your prayers. And pray for a cancer free baby girl SOON."
Hostess Layoffs
Nominated by: Anonymous
Location- Dallas, Tx.
"As you have all heard, Hostess went out of business putting many, many people out of jobs. While the world suddenly feels they can't make it without their Twinkie and hoho fix, several families really cannot make it. My friend and her family are in that boat. My friend's husband is one of the employees out of work now due to Hostess closing their doors. They went to work and were told they would know in three days if they would have a job anymore. So sad during the holidays, especially.
Her and her husband have three sweet girls; two in third grade and a four year old. She is a stay at home mom who watches her daughter and another little boy. This one child now serves as their total family income. Imagine paying all your bills and feeding five people with less than $200 a week. To make matters worse, her parents, who she would normally rely on to help until they could get back on their feet and employed, were also victim to the Hostess mess. Her father who worked there almost thirty years, just a few months short of retirement, lost it all when they shut their doors. As of now, her husband has two more weeks of employment (he was one of the "lucky" ones who gets to pack up the company) and her fifty year old father is in search of a job after doing the same thing for almost thirty years.
While my friend would never ask charity from anyone, I felt her family a great candidate for your generous way to spread holiday cheer. I think it would be awesome if they were able to make it through this Christmas without worrying how they were going to feed their kids. I can not imagine a worse feeling than not being able to provide food for your children.
While everyone is worrying about what will satisfy their sweet tooth now that they can't buy twinkies, I would appreciate any prayers or any support for my sweet friends who don't have the money to buy food for their precious children.
Thank you for considering them and for being so generous this Christmas season!"
That's all I've got for today.
I realize that some of you may not want to read these heartbreaking stories over the next month, and that's understandable. I will still be updating on Instagram (@mamalaughlin) and adding odds and ends here on the blog as well.
But right now, my #1 goal is to help these families in need.
Please, if you can, help one of these families out. It really does feel great to pay it forward!
And don't forget to check out Aly& Holly's blogs today to read their stories, too!
xoxo
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Please, if you feel the need to pay it forward, email us at MLHolidayPayItForward@yahoo with the subject line "Mama" and the story you choose to help, and we can better assist you!
Charlie's Story
Location: Eastern Connecticut
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| photo by Charlie's dad, Robb Cyr |
"To tell my story I have to start back in January 2010. I was employed as a Scientist at a large Pharmaceutical company, my husband and I had just bought our first house, and I was 8 weeks pregnant with our first child. My husband was employed as a web designer/photographer and financially our family was doing well.... until I was laid off. I applied for jobs but as I grew more and more noticeably pregnant I wasn’t able to find anything. In August our son Charlie was born and when was two weeks old we found out he was born with Cystic Fibrosis.
Cystic Fibrosis is a life-long genetic disease that causes an excess production of mucus. This mucus gums up his airways leading to constant respiratory infections, lung damage, and breathing difficulties. The mucus also prevents his digestive system from working properly; people with CF cannot digest their food properly and require a diet high in salt and fat (“I swear lady, the doctor told me to give him McDonalds!” haha). Living with CF means a minimum of twice daily respiratory treatments, medications before any meal or snack, lung transplants, feeding tubes, and never ending trips to the doctors. With all the newly available medications and treatments life expectancy has increased to mid thirties, which is AMAZING because not so long ago many people with CF never made it out of childhood. We were devastated when we found out.
I stayed home with Charlie until I found a new job when he was 6 months old. The medications and breathing treatments became second nature to us and now it’s just our way of life. Unfortunately my new job is at a much smaller company (with an hour long commute) and while the insurance coverage has been great, the salary drop was significant for our family. We also decided that Charlie should be cared for by a nanny instead of in a daycare. We wanted his exposure to extraneous germs to be as small possible and we knew he needed individualized care for his breathing treatments. While having a nanny has been great it is much more expensive than day care. Between the nanny, doctors appointments, and prescriptions we have started to fall behind in our bills.
Last month Charlie was diagnosed with a lung infection of Pseudomonas bacteria. This is a very nasty infection and needs to be treated aggressively; which means two more prescriptions and two extra breathing treatments each day. As of this writing Charlie now requires 10 prescriptions per month and is administered medication 15-17 times per DAY. He’s freaking awesome about it though. He sits quietly for his 2 hours of treatments per day (MOSTLY) even though he’s a rambunctious 2 year old. He takes all of his medicine without complaint (MOSTLY haha). He rocks so hard.
So why am I writing? As I mentioned, we’ve fallen behind in our bills. Charlie’s prescription and doctor copays cost anywhere between $250-$300 per month. Last week a representative from the CF Services Pharmacy had to hold one of my sons prescription shipments because we had a $550 outstanding bill. We scrounged up $100, which was enough for them to ship up the medication, but we will be back up to a $700 bill by December. What I’m asking for is some help with the copays for his prescriptions. I know it’s a huge bill, but just a little amount would be a huge help for us. A HUGE help. Thanks so much for reading our story.Charlie is the cutest and happiest little dude around and we are so lucky to have such a great child that takes all of this in stride!"
When asked how we could help Charlie, his mother stated they just need help for his prescription copays.
"I called our pharmacy and asked about gift cards. They're a special "Cystic Fibrosis Services" Pharmacy so it's a little different than Walgreens or CVS, etc. They don't offer gift cards and they won't let anyone else call in to make payments, however they will accept a check. So if someone writes a check with our account number on it and "Charles Cyr" in the description they will be able to apply it to our account. They can make out the check to "CF Services Pharmacy" and mail it to them directly. The copays range from $15-$45 each, not much individually, but when there are 10 Rx/month to pay it adds up quick!
If you're interested in mailing a check for Charlie's prescriptions, please email me and in the subject line put "Mama- Charlie's Story" and I'll get you the address of the pharmacy to send it to.
Thank you so much for helping making this family's financial burden a little lighter this Christmas.************************************
Sadie's Story
Nominated by: Danielle Duncan, family friend
Location: Knoxville, Tennessee
"This is Sadie. She is 16 months old she was diagnosed with Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. She is one of the most amazing little girls I have had the privilege to meet. Her cancer came on sudden about a month ago. Her new home for now is at Vanderbilt hospital in Nashville TN. She deserves an amazing Christmas. Her mom and dad have to split time at the hospital because they have a 3 year old little boy, Eli, and they are trying to keep his life as normal as possible as well. They drive about 40 mins to the hospital from their home everyday and have lots of medical bills coming in. Anything would help them. But most of all I would love for people to to pray for this amazing little girl. Please help make her and her family's Christmas great. Nothing would be better than hearing Sadie beat cancer, but they have a long road ahead of them. So until then if you can help in any way with donations or some toys for her Christmas it would mean the world to this family I just know it. Please just keep Sadie in your prayers. And pray for a cancer free baby girl SOON."
The Davis family could use anything. Gift cards to Target, Walmart, restaurants, ANYTHING.
Prayers are ALWAYS accepted!
If you're interested in paying it forward and helping this family, email me at MLHolidayPayItForward@yahoo with the subject title "Mama- Sadie's story".
Thank you for helping this sweet baby girl!
***********************************************Hostess Layoffs
Nominated by: Anonymous
Location- Dallas, Tx.
"As you have all heard, Hostess went out of business putting many, many people out of jobs. While the world suddenly feels they can't make it without their Twinkie and hoho fix, several families really cannot make it. My friend and her family are in that boat. My friend's husband is one of the employees out of work now due to Hostess closing their doors. They went to work and were told they would know in three days if they would have a job anymore. So sad during the holidays, especially.
Her and her husband have three sweet girls; two in third grade and a four year old. She is a stay at home mom who watches her daughter and another little boy. This one child now serves as their total family income. Imagine paying all your bills and feeding five people with less than $200 a week. To make matters worse, her parents, who she would normally rely on to help until they could get back on their feet and employed, were also victim to the Hostess mess. Her father who worked there almost thirty years, just a few months short of retirement, lost it all when they shut their doors. As of now, her husband has two more weeks of employment (he was one of the "lucky" ones who gets to pack up the company) and her fifty year old father is in search of a job after doing the same thing for almost thirty years.
While my friend would never ask charity from anyone, I felt her family a great candidate for your generous way to spread holiday cheer. I think it would be awesome if they were able to make it through this Christmas without worrying how they were going to feed their kids. I can not imagine a worse feeling than not being able to provide food for your children.
While everyone is worrying about what will satisfy their sweet tooth now that they can't buy twinkies, I would appreciate any prayers or any support for my sweet friends who don't have the money to buy food for their precious children.
Thank you for considering them and for being so generous this Christmas season!"
This family is in need of gift cards this season. Target, Walmart, restaurants, grocery stores, ANYTHING!
And of course, prayers are welcomed!
If you're interested in helping this family out, please email me at MLHolidayPayItForward@yahoo with the subject title "Mama- Hostess Layoffs".
**********************************************That's all I've got for today.
I realize that some of you may not want to read these heartbreaking stories over the next month, and that's understandable. I will still be updating on Instagram (@mamalaughlin) and adding odds and ends here on the blog as well.
But right now, my #1 goal is to help these families in need.
Please, if you can, help one of these families out. It really does feel great to pay it forward!
And don't forget to check out Aly& Holly's blogs today to read their stories, too!
xoxo
