RSS Feeds: A Possible Disappearing Act
Update: The "Donate" button has been removed. Please read The Circle of Life to see why.
It's possible that I'll have to disappear for an indeterminate amount of time next month. My wife just called me from the US to let me know she'll be having surgery to remove her tonsils. She's deathly afraid of it, and rightly so since she's 46-years old and not a spring chicken anymore. She wants me there.
One of the tonsils is severely infected due to a fish bone that has been lodged deep in the flesh for more than a year. They can't remove it without removing the tonsil. The surgeon told her they would remove the other one at the same time to prevent future problems. She doesn't need tonsils causing bad breath any more.
I have several problems with this. The blog, well, it's nothing compared to what's going on with her and besides, I can probably access it from her cousin's computer or even a local library.
Problem #1: I'll barely have enough money saved to buy a round-trip ticket. It will be somewhere between $1000 and $1200 in US dollars.
Problem #2: The surgeon told her she wouldn't be able to work for 4 to 8 weeks. I don't think that's true, but even if it is, we won't have enough money to live on. She, by herself, can live off her cousin and others for a very short time. Both of us? I don't see it happening.
Problem #3: My son, although he's going to college, still needs my assistance from time to time due to the history with his learning disability. Leaving him here practically alone is a scary proposition.
There are other problems that will occur that I simply cannot mention here. So, you see, it's more than just me taking off for a week or more and I'm not sure what to do about it.
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Update January 16, 2008: I'm contemplating PageRank suicide in order to build up funds quickly. If you've followed along, you'll know exactly what I mean. It looks like I'll be heading out sometime between mid-February and mid-March, depending on when the surgery is scheduled. I could be gone for up to 30 days.
My parent's home is about 80 miles away from where my wife is staying right now and they have a spare bedroom, so we have a place to stay that'll be a little friendlier than her cousin's house. My youngest sister, 42, lives there with her 3 children (all girls) and she has an Internet-enabled computer, so I'm good to go on that end.
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Okay, Okay! Enough already! Thank you, all of you, for the comments. I'll put up the PayPal button and write about it shortly.
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RT all the luck to you and to your wife.
I hope everything turns out allright, it's sad to see this happening, but life treat us bad sometimes.
Cheers
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[...] Philippines. His wife is in the U.S. and is having some health problems and needs to have surgery. RT is caught in a very tough predicament and doesn't have the money to make the [...]
[...] http://www.untwistedvortex.com/2008/01/15/a-possible-disappearing-act/ [...]
Hey, read about this at tuttle's blog. I don't know if you've considered having your wife travel outside the US for the surgery? I'm sure you could have it done anywhere between 30 – 50 % less than whatever you're being charged for right now. If you're interested have your wife leave me a quote at my site and reference you. I will waive all my commission fees. Either way I hope it works out for you, good luck!
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Thanks for the offer, but her company's insurance plan is covering most of it. She only has to pay whatever the deductible comes to (under $800 because she's been paying co-payments at every visit).
[...] the U.S. and the possibility of the loss of his wife's income became a concern. In a plea, RT wrote about his ordeal and explained that things would be tough for a [...]
Good luck to both of you i hope everything will finaly be ok with you.
No matter what happens with the website, it is still just a website… family comes first in my life and I am sure most will agree… Do what you have to do. Goodluck to you both
I have a friend who is a youth pastor and he told me that many people that have come to his church have gone to South America to get expensive surgery's done for half the price. It might be worth looking into.
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[...] by…the response by bloggers to RT's post. To raise over $3k in less than 24 hours made me feel proud to be a part of all this. I read [...]