A little over a month ago, Janet Sarbaugh Parker started dropping things and could no longer hold her phone.
At 84, Janet has spent most of her life using her hands to help care for her family and others in need. Along with her first husband who pastored for 30 years, she helped plant a church in rural Wisconsin, and then transitioned into home missions in Colorado and Utah. After her husband passed away from brain cancer, she remarried a missionary whose extensive service in Brazil included church planting and pioneering a river boat ministry on the Amazon. During her first year of marriage, she spent 6 months serving the people of Brazil with her new husband. Back home in Florida, she kept going: teaching Sunday school, VBS, serving the homeless, and working the food pantry at First Baptist Church of Hudson. She is a mother of four, a grandmother of 14 and a great-grandmother of 15. Up until a few weeks ago, she was still showing up every week.
Then, in August, her left hand and leg grew weaker with severe limited mobility. After a visit to her primary care doctor was unsuccessful, she ended up in the ER with hospitalization. After a second ER visit and hospital stay with conflicting opinions, we were losing hope.
Janet found the Bonati Spine Institute in Hudson where she was evaluated and found to have degenerative disc disease in her cervical and lumbar spine, causing severe left-sided radiating symptoms and affecting her ability to walk. Her condition is treatable, but requires four separate procedures on her neck to restore function of her left upper and lower extremity, as well as strength and mobility.
Her doctors did not stop at a diagnosis. The Bonati Spine Institute has donated $20,000 toward her care.
The first procedure is scheduled for Monday. Time matters. The longer nerve compression goes untreated, the harder it is to recover function.
Why Janet needs help
The four cervical and lumbar procedures cost $80,000. Like a lot of families right now, ours cannot cover that, and her insurance will not pay the full cost of the procedures her doctors recommend.
Here is where things stand:
- The Bonati Spine Institute has donated $20,000.
- Friends and church family have already given $15,000.
That leaves $45,000, and we are asking for all of it by Sunday night. The doctors have done their part. Now it’s our turn.
In Janet’s words
I’ve been in ministry 50 plus years of my life, first in churches here in the states as well as a short stint in Brazil. I’ve had the opportunity and privilege of helping others with physical, financial, and spiritual needs. Today I am asking for your help as I have entered a season of great difficulty with my own health. Prayers and any financial gift towards this urgent and needful surgery would greatly assist in my future recovery.
What happens if we raise more than $45,000
Every dollar raised beyond the cost of Janet’s care will be used to help start a foundation that funds surgeries for people who cannot afford them: patients like Janet, who have a clear path to getting their life back and simply cannot pay for it. Janet’s story will be the first of many, not the only one.
How you can help
- $50 or $100 helps. Forty-five gifts of $1,000 gets Janet to Monday.
- Share this page with your church, your family and anyone who has ever watched someone they love lose their independence.
- Pray for Janet on Monday morning.
II John 1:2 “ Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
She has spent 84 years serving others. Let’s make sure she can keep doing it.
A note from Cynthia
My mom has always been very conscientious about her health and exercised daily. She would ride her bike and swim every time she had a chance. In the last month and a half her abilities have declined so drastically that she cannot even walk by herself. We were desperate for answers and help. We asked God to show us the direction to take, and Dr. Bonati is our answer to prayer!
This campaign is organized by her loving family. Funds go directly towards Janet’s care. Any amount raised beyond the cost of her procedures will be transferred to the foundation once it is established.
