Help Save My Son

MY YOUNG SON'S STRUGGLES WITH MENTAL HEALTH

     I am a single mom trying my best to provide what my son needs.  My son was diagnosed with a dibilitating mental health issue that has been robbing him of a normal childhood and making his life a waking nightmare.  He is suffering from Pediatric Bi-Polar, which has manifested itself in self-destructive behavior while Manic, and multiple suicide attempts when Depressed.  In a desperate effort to provide him with proper treatment to allow him to potentially live a normal life, we uprooted our family and moved to Central Florida. 

OUR SETBACKS THAT HAVE PUT HIS HEALTH IN GREATER DANGER:

     What followed was a series of devistating and unexpected events that have put our family on the edge of destruction.  All of our furniture was lost and most of my savings went toward replacement of the most necessary of these items (mover's insurance was so prohibitively expensive, and I didn't think we would need it).  The transmission in my only car went out and took the last of my savings to get it fixed.  My job transfer evaporated and I was forced to take a minimum-wage job that barely covers our rent, with almost nothing left for utilities, food and gas to get to my job.  My new job doesn't provide insurance for the first 360 days of employment.  To carry-over insurance from my previous job I would have had to cover 100% of the monthly premium, which would have taken nearly half of my monthly salary at my new job.  Because he cannot be left alone, I cannot take on a second job.  As a result, there is no health insurance for my son's desperately needed care.

THE COST OF MEDICATION AND TREATMENT:

     Medication alone for his Bi-polar can easily cost $1000 a month, and without it, he has shown marked suicidal tendencies, twice resulting in stays at Children's Hospital's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, as well as multiple trips to our local ER for less severe attempts.  We only have enough medication to last until mid-September.  I have no idea what we will do at that point.  Therapy is also essential, to help him understand this is not his fault, and give him the tools to deal with the hand God has given him.  Bi-Polar is devistating for anyone, but it is particularly difficult for children who are too young to grasp what it wrong with them, and why they have these feelings, or feel compelled to act as they do.  Each weekly or bi-weekly therapy session costs at least $250.  Without them, it's the same as cutting a climber's life-line.  You know he's going to fall, but wondering when, how far, and how severe the damage will be makes life almost unbarably stressful, painful and frightening.

GETTING THROUGH THE REST OF THIS YEAR:

     If we can get through the rest of this year, I have a line on a better job starting in February, one that includes excellent insurance and one-and-a-half times the pay I am getting now.  In addition, I will have a tax refund that will help recoup some of our current losses.  But none of this will happen until February or March.  In the meantime, my son's health, even his life, is at stake.  Please, help my son to have a normal childhood, one without all the nightmares of depression, mental monsters of Mania, and fears of suicide.  Whatever is donated to us now, once I am back on my feet I will donate that amount to others with problems similar to my son's.  I strongly believe in 'paying it forward'.  Even one dollar could help save his life and his childhood.  Thank you!