I have considerable debt and a restricting medical problem. My Medical problem is limited to my legs only. I had an operation about 15 years ago to repair a strangulating and gangrened hernia. I just found out 2-21/2 yrs ago that my lymph-gland in my groin was damaged and/ or destroyed in the course of that operation. It is well documented that the medical problem that I now have as a result of that damage and/or symptoms may not surface for weeks, months and; 10 to 20 yrs or more is not out of the question either. 
What I now have is not curable but is treatable until grave time. If informed in advance of / or immediately post operative there are rehab treatments to avoid the advancement of the medical problem to various degrees of severity. 
It wasn't until I was hospitalized for 5 wks that I had a very severe case of Lymph-edema. 

Lymph-edema is a disruption of the flow of body fluids, which cause a collection of proteins, which creates the edema. The blockage of the flow of body fluids which causes disfigurement, pain, and discomfort as well as extreme swelling of the limb which also restricts the movement of the limb. In my case it also affects my being able to sit properly. The collection of fluid in my leg makes it very heavy and difficult to maneuver. My thigh measures 50'in around and it doesn't look like I have any toes due to swelling. I also have some growths outside the back of my knee that is tumor like. Those will be surgically removed after we get the swelling and fluid reduced to as near normal as possible. It has been said that what brought my medical problem to a final head was the amount of stress, anger, frustration, and depression that I had encountered over a short period of time. It came about as follows. 

My oldest son and I were working in const. together building new homes in MA and NH. My son was having problems with one of his legs that he had bruised at work. He went to several doctors to no avail. He finally found one doctor that couldn't find a pulse in his foot or lower leg so they decided to do some exploratory surgery. That was the beginning of the end. For 6 years my son went through hell with doctors, hospitals and three leg amputations. One below the knee, one above the knee and finally the whole other limb. It gave him severe mental problem. They were treating him for Bergers disease caused supposedly from smoking. Wrong disease!?

In the meantime the two banks I had const. loans with had problems, went belly up and took me with them. I didn't have to file bankruptcy but I lost everything I had put into that sub-division plus my savings and retirement funds. While this was taking place I had to have a hernia operation, my son had 2nd leg amputation then my wife fell on the basement stairs while checking on the washing machine, broke her leg in two places and had a cast from hip to toe. We were in good shape. The recession was on and there was no building going on in New England. It was finally decided that I would leave SC to find work after hurricane Hugo and my wife and kids would join me after I found a place to live and got some work going. That only took about 60 days. My oldest son decided to stay in NH. He was over 21 so it was his decision to make. We had extras so my wife set him up with a full apartment of furniture and condiments and things to make it comfortable for him. He had some pretty good friends to keep an eye on him so we weren't too worried about leaving him behind. 

We were always as close as the telephone. I stayed in SC for 3 years and couldn't make any descent money and I got sick of hearing "Yankee go home" even when it was meant in pure fun. It was agreed I should try FL after hurricane Andrew. That experience was even worse. It was going to be a long wait to get contractors license in order to work legally. There were 3500 applicants waiting to take the state test, which was given only twice a year with a few hundred openings available per test. I couldn't wait that long. I had family to worry about. I stayed in FL for about 10 months. 

I had heard there was a building "boom" in Branson MO I called the big bldg. dept in Branson, MO to find out what it took to get a contractors license there. I was asked if I had workers comp insurance references and $50.00. I said yes to all three and mailed everything to them and in less than 30 days I received my contractors license in the mail while I was still in FL. I contacted a couple of the real estate agents in the Branson area to see what was available in land for home building that was reasonable. They said they would check around to see if what I was looking for was available and call me back. I got the call in mid August. I packed up and was on my way to Branson on Labor Day weekend. 

It took me about 11 months to find some build able land that didn't require mountain goat to get to or ton of dynamite to blast for a foundation and that was affordable for my wallet with some room to make a descent profit. I finally started building 3 new ranch style homes in the 150,000.00 price range. I was about 80% completed with he building the three homes when the bottom fell out of everything. 

On March 29th I was living in Harrison, AR. because it was cheaper than the immediate Branson area. I was having supper at the Burger King in Harrison when I got a call on my cell phone from NH. Police dept that my oldest son was found dead in his garage about 4:30 PM that afternoon. I had to make arrangements to go to NH to claim his body and make arrangements to have him buried with his mother in MA. My first wife and I had 22-1/2 years together. She battled 6 yrs with cancer before she lost her battle. While I was in New England taking care of my son's burial I stopped by a very good friends home to say hello in person. We stayed in telephone touch while I was trying to survive the recession in the New England area. To my great surprise all my const equipment; tools vehicles and building supplies were no longer at my friends yard. He was a small contractor himself so he had plenty of extra room to spare. I found out that they sold all my things while I was down south. When I talked to them on the phone there never was a word about them wanting my things off their property. I didn't have any recourse because the statue of limitations ran out. 

I was out approximately $150,000.00 worth of construction items. My son was buried with his mother. He was only 35 years old. He was a Marine. The Marine that handed my granddaughter the flag at the funeral almost lost it himself. He said later it was the first time he ever handed a young child a flag. My son was divorced and left behind my granddaughter who was living with her mother. He was a devoted father. 

I returned to MO to finish bldg. my three homes. I got a call from my 2nd wife who was still in SC waiting to see how I made out in MO before joining me there. She was calling because she was battling cancer and my youngest son was left alone much and was starting to roam the streets late at night and she thought he might be getting involved with drugs so she thought it was time for me to pick him up to live with me so she could fight better without worrying about him. I had an 800# installed at my house so she could call at anytime day or night. At night with the 800# when the hospital switchboard shut down she could still call me. She would call sometimes in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep because of some of the medication. She fought for 13 months and lost the battle. She wanted to her ashes spread over a lake she loved to vacation at in ME. She never let on how bad she was feeling. Her mother was visiting her when she suddenly passed away... Her mother called me to let me and my son know she passed away in her sleep. It was surprising that she passed away on my first wife's birthday. She also passed away only 9 months after my son. That damn cancer took both wives away. 

Back in MO to finish the houses. Time to hook up the sewer and water lines. "Surprise-Surprise" There's no water or sewer lines in the street. The manholes and gate valves at the top of the street does not mean that there are connection lines between them. With the medical center across the way at the top of the hill here were its lines connected?? The title search that I paid for showed that everything was OK. The town also issued building permits for the lot's I purchased. Come to find out that the subdivision that I bought into wasn't even approved or accepted by the town when I bought the three lots and when the title co did it's title search. So where did that leave me?? It left me to sue the person I purchased the land from for misrepresentation and fraud. To sue the title co for false report and search. To sue the town for issuing bldg permits in a subdivision that the town hadn't approved or accepted yet. Can't sell the homes without sewer and water connections and service. How long will it take to straighten out this mess?? Who pays for the mail sewer and water lines to be installed in the street?? Will it ultimately take court action to finalize??

I had to decide to take my youngest son back to New England to be with his grandmother and my daughter in case something happened to me. He was only 13 years old by now. Nine months after we move him to New England. My son-in-law commits suicide and leaves my daughter and two grandchildren behind. He was an alcoholic. He reported for work on Friday morning and was laid off that afternoon. That following Monday he completed suicide. In less than 2 years I lost a son, a wife and son-in-law. The carpenter tools and equipment that I had left I sold in the pawnshop to pay for our expenses back to New England. With all the stress, anger, depression and frustration now my legs started to act up. I'm forced to sign up for Soc.Sec. Before I'm 65 years old. I lost 20% for signing up before I became 65. 

I managed to get SSI along with my Soc.Sec and with survivors benefits we were OK for a while until my son finished school. By that time I had planned to have some other kind of income in the works. I didn't expect my legs to get as bad as they have. I had to stop driving for safeties sake. 

I developed an ulcer on my lower leg and went into the ER to have it fixed. I was admitted to the hospital for 5 weeks and that's when I found out what kind of disease I had and how I got it. My daughter gave me her computer for me to learn on. I knew nothing about computers. What little I know today about them is only what I learned on my own and from my mistakes. When I got out of the hospital I got on the Internet and searched for all the information I could find about my leg problems. I was amazed to find out that Lymph-edema is not that well known in the US yet but we're still learning. 
The UK, Germany and Australia have a lot of information on lymph edema. 

While I was in the hospital I received a letter from SSI that I no longer qualified for SSI and that I was overpaid for 2 years and that I had to repay back over $5,000.00 that I was overpaid. The Soc Sec Ad has been drawing $49.00 per month out of my regular Soc Sec check. I tried to argue with them but to no avail. I even contracted my Nat congressman to help me. Even that didn't work. My youngest son got a job with a local grocery store and gave me room and board that helped pay the bills. 

My son then gets a girlfriend. The next thing you know she's pregnant. She has two other children from a previous affair. He finds a 3 bedroom apt. To start his family. Naturally his room and board goes with him. Understandable. Now my bills start to get behind. I'm searching for a home based business that I can handle alone and generate enough money to pay my bills and maybe put some aside for other projects that I would like to take care of. I have been trying to put something together since my daughter gave me the computer. Before when I had a few extra dollars I would buy resale and reprint rights and programs, e-books and newsletters. Losing my SSI money plus paying it back put the brakes on my continuing that avenue. I have a website that I need assistance to design and develop. 

I tried doing it myself but it doesn't come out right. I don't have the funds to hire a professional. I've been around long enough to know that if you don't do the job like a pro than you'll never make it in any business. If you don't give god service you won't last long either. And the price has got to be right and fair. I made comfortable living building homes. I didn't get rich because I gave my customers their dollars worth and I tool pride in my work. My structures always exceeded the code. I never had any problems with my bldg. inspectors. They didn't have to keep a close eye on me like they did with some of my competitors. Until the recession came along I always had a waiting list of at least 90/120 days for structures. 

To summarize my request for donations, I am looking at about $50,000.00 in debt total. I don't expect to receive all that from donations. I'm looking for a helping hand to get started to get back on my feet and maintain my independence and not be a burden to my kids. They have enough on their plates to take care of themselves and their families without having to be trying to help me. I need to pay off some of my credit cards debt; about $10,000.00 worth $2,500.00 for overdue utility and rent bills $2,200.00 to finish building the high speed, large capacity special computer I need to operate the type of business I'm building $2,700.00 to purchase a CD / DVD duplicating machine to make my own projects on CD's or DVD's. I can purchase more programs on CD's and DVD's with reprint and resale rights. 

I need an additional $1,500.00 for supplies, postage, ink and website work, $1,00.00 to have on hand to take care of things that might pop up or that wasn't thought about. That all comes to about $19,900.00, might as well say $20,000.00. This amount will give me the leg up that I need to get my home-based business up and running. This is the help I need to get some cash flow going. The rest of my debt I can take of out of my future earnings. I don't qualify for a SBA loan because my Soc Sec doesn't provide enough to pay a monthly payment on a loan along with my living expenses. 

Your generosity is greatly appreciated and will give me the help I need to get started to once again work and earn a living for myself and not be a burden to my kids or anyone else for that matter. I also promised that a minimum of 10% of my income will go back to help someone else in need of a helping hand. I've always been a work-a-holic. I love to work and I take pride in anything I do. As my medical problem improves and I can get out and about I'll do even better. I don't believe that God has a blueprint for poverty for anyone. 

I tried to shorten a real long story get brief to inform you of where I come from, where I've been and where I intend to go and how I intend to get there. I've still got my work well ahead of me to go yet, where with your generosity help I'll make it keep an eye out for my website when I get it up and running. It's www.GatorEnt.com

I thank you in advance for your time, attention, patience and generous response to my request for your help 
Donations may be made by "PAY-PAL".


Member #LR9M5F2