On the evening of December 15 2011, I suffered a brain stem stroke, the part of the brain controlling involuntary actions like breathing & heartbeat. I drove myself to the hospital and spent the next two months there, followed by 6 months of convalescence.

The stroke left my right side at 60%; I walked with a cane. Then on July 3 2016 I got up and heard a sound in my good leg which can only be described as snapping a bunch of celery in two. Catastrophic accident to my *good* leg, 2 weeks in hospital, permanently assigned a walker.

August 2018: open-heart surgery. All is going well - until my heart goes into rapid beating - 260+ bpm - and a pacemaker/defibrillator must be implanted & drugs administered. Two weeks in hospital, three months in convalescence. Somewhere in here I pass my tenth ambulance trip.

January 2019: My foot slips off the brake - I am wearing a boot for a broken toe - and I drive into a grove of trees, knocking myself out, totaling the car. Pain is indescribable, constant weeping. Two weeks in hospital, two months convalescence. Still, I soldier on with new job.

In December 2019 my doctor says I *must* apply for disability. I go to my employer & enquire about part-time employment. They give me two hours to clean my desk. I've had no money come in since January: Wisconsin disability application won't allow it. On July 28 I was rejected.

So no income, six figures of crushing medical debt, monthly car payments for a used vehicle, no idea when the state will approve my disability so I may receive Social Security payments. Three years is not out of the question.

And so, my dilemma - and why a GoFundMe. Thank you.