magicalgirlmeghan:

I don’t usually do this, but this is something important to me, and if you can spare a second to read it or signal boost it it would mean the world to me. 

Anyways, these are pictures of my biological father, Mark. My dad has always been pretty sick but since 2008 when he had his first stroke it’s gotten worse. His first stroke occurred in 2008, and he was paralyzed for a while but he got better. He lost a little bit of memory, but it wasn’t anything too detrimental. 

Now, this is where my timeline gets weird, and just because my dad and my stepmom do not usually tell me when he is sick. Sometime in 2010 he had another small stroke. Later than year he was cleaning his gun in the garage and it went off. He shot himself in the leg, and had to crawl up the driveway to get signal to call the police and ambulance. 

He recovered, but his walking wasn’t the best, and he used a can for a while. On top of this, he overdosed on his medication. Of his own accord. He took nearly the whole bottle of pills and, realizing how bad this was, he called poison control. My dad was placed on suicide watch for 72 hours. 

He would become volatile, and would disappear. One time he packed a bag and left, not telling anyone where he was going. He would lash out, and be angry, and this reached a head when he was forced to sell the business he built from the ground up in 2012; it was too hard for him given his condition and how badly he shook nowadays. Now he was out of a job, and forced to stay home. My father has always been a working man, and this drove him to become mean and reclusive.It was not a good time. 

Recently, he was diagnosed with epilepsy, and he has epileptic seizures in his sleep frequently. He shakes constantly; he’s frail, and moves slowly. My dad is barely 50, by the way. He’d developed psuedobulbar affect which you may have heard of if you watch TV. It’s when someone has a neurological problem and will laugh or cry at random. It’s scary for those it happens to, and my dad would break down crying which is hard for a man to do at all. He was embarrassed when he had no reason to be, because he couldn’t help it. When I was up during the winter to visit, he even fell down the stairs and sometimes couldn’t eat. It was heartbreaking. I watched my dad become a feeble person, who I just wanted to hug and take care of. And who I felt guilty about not being a very good daughter. 

Today (3/36/2014) I received a text from my stepmother telling me that he’d been put in the hospital again (last month he was placed in there and diagnosed with diabetes). This time for blood clots in his lungs. She says he is okay, but he’s going to be in there until Sunday. He won’t answer my calls, but I’m guessing it’s just hospital frequency messing with the phone. 

All of this to say that my stepmom is taking care of him, working a job, and dealing with my little brother by herself. Her insurance is making her pay $12,000 in medical bills before it will cover it. My dad hasn’t been on disability for a year, so he can’t qualify for medicaid. I don’t know how she is going to do this… Let alone by herself. 

So, if you can please, please, please visit this site I set up and donate. Anything will help. I’m NOT using this for me; I plan on sending all of it to my stepmom to help her. She would be so thankful. and I know it would be a weight off her shoulder. If you can’t donate, or don’t want to I understand. Please spread this, though. 

My dad and I haven’t always gotten along, and sometimes it’s hard for us to talk but I do love him very much. I want to help him and my stepmom, and I’m not sure how. But I know there’s a community of helpful people out there who might be willing to help. I just want to help my dad get the treatments he needs. 

Thank you for reading. 

(Source: megglytuff)