definition for: #helpmichaelbreathe

Once incredibly rare, Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis (PAP) is a spreading terminal lung disease. Help my husband, Michael, win his fight to breathe despite PAP!

The Story Meeting my terminally ill husband online was a beautiful miracle! Now, we're praying for another miracle! It was in 2009, just six short years ago, that my dear husband, Michael Thompson, was diagnosed with Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis. "I'm sorry to say," said the doctor nervously, "that there is no known cure. PAP is a terminal lung disease. You're probably only going to live for five more years at the most." It must have felt like a kick in the stomach. Unfortunately, I didn't know him then. I wish I had so we could have gone through it together. How We Met Michael and I met through an online dating site in March of 2012. He was very honest and told me in his very first email that we was terminally ill with Pulmonary Alveolar Proteinosis. But I wanted to be Mrs. Thompson, even if it was only for one day! So we met in person on April 7th and were married fourteen days later on April 21st, 2012. We married in haste...and it was the best decision we ever made! What in the World is PAP? Well, it's an extremely rare lung disease. So rare, that less than 500 people diagnosed in the United States suffer from it. So rare, that it took the doctors two years to diagnose it. Basically, it's an auto-immune disease that causes the body to produce extreme amounts of the natural protective protein coating in the lungs. Your fate is to drown to death in your own protein. Michael lives every day with this fate hanging over his head. Any day may be his last. How did he get PAP? While research is ongoing, we believe he contracted Gulf War Syndrome while serving in the military (1987-1995) and PAP may have been caused by the injections and pills taken to protect against possible chemical warfare agents. But as we cannot prove the correlation, there is no support or responsibility taken by those responsible. Unfortunately, when you have one auto-immune disease, you usually have several. And so it is with Michael. While suffering from PAP, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis and heart disease, he is still the most cheerful, positive, creative and loving person that I know. And I'm so lucky to have him! We're need a miracle now We badly need funds to finance a lung lavage or two (washing out the lungs with warm saline to remove protein build-up.) This procedure costs over $100,000 and is NOT covered by our insurance. And usually more than one lavage is needed. Michael has also been suffering from agonizing debilitating back pain for over a year. The doctors diagnosed a disc leaning on his spinal column and severe stenosis throughout his spine, but declined to operate. Please be an angel in our lives and help to ease the burden of these ongoing expenses. > Lung Lavage - over $100,000...not covered by insurance (out-of-network) > Outstanding medical bills - $54,000 It's humbling to turn to friends and strangers alike to ask for help. After a lifetime of working hard and paying our own way, turning to YouCaring has not been an easy decision taken lightly. But there comes a day when you must throw yourself on the kindness and generosity of others. Your help will make the difference between agonizing pain and comfort. The difference between fear and peace. The difference between life...and death. We thank you very much. God bless you for your help! If you prefer to mail your donation, please make the check payable to "Help Michael Breathe" and mail to... Help Michael Breathe P.O. Box 92 Gonvick, MN 56644 Like, Share and Follow Michael's journey and battle to breathe on his Facebook page, "Help Michael Breathe."