Help A Family In Need

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Carol Gilbert. In November 1996, my husband, Mark, was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease called Wegener's Granulomatosis (WG). Our son was 18 months old. He has never known his Dad to be completely healthy.

There is no known cure for WG and no known cause. It is not hereditary and affects people differently. I know people with the disease that have only one organ -- such as eyes or ears -- involved. This is not the case with Mark. Virtually his whole body has been affected in one way or the other (see Our Story for more details.)

Due to this disease and its subsequent treatments, our family is deeply in debt. We have been through bankruptcy, which did take care of some medical bills, but new treatments, including two rounds of chemotherapy and more in the future, has piled the bills back up.

While we do receive Social Security Disability, I am under "income restrictions" because I am Mark's dependant. I can only earn approximately $13,000 a year. After that, the government will take half of everything I make over that. Yes I can work full time, but then I will not get any SSD benefits although our son still will. I did try to work full-time for a while but I ended up taking home less after paying for what meager benefits my employer offered. Also Mark was extremely ill at that time and I was needed more at home.

Currently we owe medical bills in excess of $150,000 to several different hospitals and clinics. Our main hospital is the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Their fine doctors have helped Mark in more ways than can be counted, but the trip also takes its toll on us. We live 200 miles away from Univ. of Mich. and we travel their approximately once a month to see Mark's stable of physicians: rheumatologist, pulmonologist, nephrologist, neurologist, ophthalmalogist and the pain clinic. We also owe our local hospitals and doctors. Our bills may increase threefold if Medicare decides not to cover Mark's last round of Rituxan treatments. These bills go up every time Mark goes for treatment. Although I work part-time, our income is just not sufficient. We drive a 1992 Oldsmobile mini van with well over 200,000 miles on it and is on the verge of breaking down permanently. We are thankful that our rental house is at least in good condition. At present we have about $30 to last us for a month since some bills are taken automatically out of our bank account by creditors. This is not even enough money to pay for gas to get me to work.

Although Mark "looks healthy" his x-rays and blood tests show another story. Prednisone masks a lot of his ailments. Currently his ANCA blood test is still elevated and he experiences constant lung discomfort and shortness of breathe. His body is in constant pain and he does not sleep at all.

Then in 2006, I was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. Although BCC typically is not a fatal form of cancer, mine had gone so deep that it required surgery, a skin graft on the top of my head, and radiation treatments. My insurance did not pay, declaring it was a pre-existing condition, leaving me with an additonal $30,000 bill.

We came up with the idea that if every person in American could send us a quarter (25 cents), a lot of our problems could be solved. We know it is unfeasible to think that everyone in American will get this message, so we are counting on the support of all who read this pass the word along.

EDIT 6/20/2006:   I may have to raise that to a dollar since I have checked my Paypal account and the fee for a 25 cent transaction is -- 25 cents! In order for us to make 25 cents, I have to ask for 56 cents. However, if I ask for $1.00, then we receive 68 cents. So I am updating the Paypal button for $1.00 but you can send whatever amount you wish.

I know there are sham cases floating about the intrenet and some of them are urban legends. This is not the case. We are an American family in need. Please help us in any way you can. 

You can help out by using the Paypal button below for any donations. You can now also send donations to:

Mark & Carol Gilbert

719 Echo Street

Celina, OH 45822

A small portion of all proceeds will go to benefit the Vasculitis Foundation (formerly the

Wegener's Granulomatosis Association.)

 http://www.wgassociation.org/

Thank you for your time and consideration!