Hello! My name is Michelle Carter. I am asking for help pay our rising medical bills and make some disability adjustments to our home for my husband, William’s, mobility.

In February/March of 2025, my husband started showing signs of a stroke, memory loss, and falling. We took him to the hospital where they ran a bunch of tests and could not give us an answer, just that it was not a stroke. We were referred to a neurologist where my husband underwent many tests, MRIs, blood work, and hospital stays. Throughout the year, he lost his peripheral vision, his ability to walk, stay awake, talk clearly, and began losing his short-term memory. The neurologist theorized MS, ADEM, or both. But while my husband continued to go through all the testing, he eventually lost his job after FMLA ran out in June of 2025.

In August of 2025, he suffered 2 grand mal seizures, leading them to realize his brain was swelling and he had a 9 mm shift in his brain with lesions. In November/December, the neurologist referred us to a neurosurgeon to do a brain biopsy.

On January 7, 2026, he went in for a routine biopsy and suffered sudden cardiac arrest due to a massive pulmonary embolism. He was down off and on with CPR for almost two hours. We were told ECMO was the only other thing we could do to keep him alive.

For 8 days, my husband was on ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation). He had to be cut from sternum to waist for Exlap due to his ribs puncturing his liver after CPR. He was taken off the mechanical ventilation after 14-15 days but stayed in the hospital for physical therapy.

He was transferred home to a rehab but was only kept there for 10 days due to insurance, then was sent home to us with no help. He was still falling and couldn’t really walk or stay awake.

We are so happy and blessed that he is still with us today, but now with him not being able to work, we are running out of our family savings. We have been trying to get SSI disability for over a year but the process is long and very slow. We also need to renovate the front porch and the bathtub so he can get in and out of the house and the bathtub easily with his wheelchair and walker.

We have 3 young adult children and 3 young children. Our adult children have helped the best they could with what they have when we have it. Our other three children are ages 12, 9, and 5 years of age, and we can no longer afford daycare or after-school care.

I'm asking if anyone could donate or help; any help is appreciated. If you can’t donate, just share and get our story out there. On top of bills, we have to travel a lot for his appointments and it’s hard to get a wheelchair in and out of the house without the needed repairs. Thank you and please keep my family in your prayers