Build an extension for my Mom

Hi. I'm writing this to try and get some help for my Mom. She had to have her leg amputated in November, 2013. We live in a 30’ X 8’ travel trailer. Let me explain, Mom and Dad worked while my brother and I were in school. Mom wanted to go back to college. She enrolled at the university and started classes in 2008. All my life she’s been our computer technician/ tech support (and a great mother, too). Dad had a good job so Mom decided to quit her job to concentrate on her schoolwork. In January, 2009, five days before the start of the second semester, Mom had a stroke. She got up that morning and couldn’t walk straight. At first I thought she was just trying to be funny but, I knew it was not a joke when Dad brought her to the hospital and she was admitted.

Dad was a welder. He says it’s hard to get a job because he’s not certified. Shortly after Mom’s stroke, the company Dad worked for announced that they were moving to a different state. Both Mom and Dad were now without an income or insurance. They ended up spending their savings to keep the bills paid and food on the table. As I understand it, they voluntarily let the house be repossessed. They used the last of their savings to buy the travel trailer so we could have a roof over our heads.

Mom partially recovered and Dad got a job. Between Mom’s disability and Dad’s wages, they were able to keep from falling behind on the bills. They were also able to start saving money again. They found a small mobile home and bought it. Their plans were to gut out the house and rebuild it. So far, we knocked out the inside walls. They were going to put two bedrooms in it then let me have the travel trailer for myself.

Mom has Diabetes. She was diagnosed with it when she was a teenager. She admitted that she fell out of control after my brother and I was born. Knowing how busy Mom was with taking care of us, the household, and work, I understand how she neglected to take care of herself.

Mom doesn’t complain about her ache and pains until it get very bad. We went to the city pool in July and I noticed that she was limping. I didn’t notice it earlier because I usually stayed at home when she and Dad went shopping. I didn’t watch my Mom walk much; we only have to take a few steps to move from one room to another in the travel trailer.

In March, 2013, while we were knocking down walls in the mobile home, Mom was helping Dad when a board with rough edges fell on her foot.  It hurt for about a minute and when the pain was gone she went back to clearing out the rubble. Later that night she saw that there was a sore on her foot.

It wasn't until September when Mom finally got her foot looked at by the doctor. By that time the sore was a lot bigger and it was infected; she didn't feel her shoe irritating the sore. The doctor admitted her into the hospital for nearly the entire month. Between all the visits to the hospital and the doctor’s office the final result was that Mom lost her leg. Dad also lost his job for missing so much work. We live in a rural area and it’s difficult for all four of us to be in different places at the same time with only one car. We manage to make everything work out with what we have.

I’ll admit I didn’t embrace the notion of having to live in an RV but now that I’m older I’m grateful for what we do have. My brother ‘gets it’ too. I can’t begin to explain how much admiration I have for them. They sacrificed everything to keep us together and safe.

My Mom has to crawl to move around in the RV. Our RV has stairs, two steps up into the bathroom and one large step to get up into the bedroom. There isn’t enough room for her to use her wheelchair. She doesn’t complain about it but, I hate seeing her have to get on her hands and knees just to go use the bathroom.

I don’t know how much it’s going to cost but I’m asking for donations so that my Dad can buy what he needs to build an extension onto the RV for a new bedroom and bathroom. I’ve heard them talk about how it can be done; sounds complicated

Any funds beyond what is needed towards the project will be used to build a wheelchair accessible safe room. We live in tornado alley; we’ve been lucky so far. For every donation of $50.00 and up I will engrave the donor’s name on a name plate and attach it to the ramp up into the extension.