Further update, and thanks!

Because of your generosity, we’re nearly to the point where we can break even every month, and keep our heads above water.

Doing a deep dive into our finances, I found that we are paying an astonishing $50K per year out of our gross income on medical expenses for Satch / taxes.

In large part, this is because the job my wife took — she manages offices in Dallas and New Jersey from Colorado (and has to travel frequently) — offers sub-par insurance coverage for someone with Satchel’s medical needs. She’s also underpaid for the market, which is the cost of working remotely and having to travel so much. The job she had before Satchel’s diagnosis and surgery not only paid her more, but had a much better benefits package. My wife lost that job because the company, we think, was worried about the time she’d have to spend with Satchel’s comprehensive clinic schedule — along with their worry that his needs would likely cause their company premiums to go up across the board.

The foremost specialist for Satch’s rare form of brain cancer works and researches out of Children’s Hospital, Denver. And so we have resisted taking other jobs that will require that we move out of state. First and foremost is Satch’s continued recovery and health; Children’s is the best option for him.

Life comes at you fast. Tanner, our youngest, is in a Charter School just up the road. Satch goes to high school out of the immediate township as part of an IB program that, when he graduates, will give him the equivalent of an associate’s degree worth of college credits — as well career accreditation.

There is no from-home transportation to either school. So I have to provide all the transportation daily, which amounts to 4 trips every day.

In essence, Satch’s cancer and all the costs and logistical / career changes involved, has reduced out income to about 1/3 net of what we were bringing in when this hit us. My wife is expecting a pretty substantial raise here soon, so the aim has been to get rid of the monthly payments — nearly all of it interest — that has been burying us.

That is almost entirely gone now — again, thanks to all of you. In particular, And this has enabled us to work out some other plans that have gotten us very close to break even.

I need to single out the folks at Instapundit, who helped publicize our predicament. Stephen Green, Glenn Reynolds, and Sarah Rolph have each shown us enormous compassion and friendship. Ditto Moe Lane, and a few other of the old school bloggers who appreciated my work in the days when political social media was only beginning, and stepped in to help.

On Twitter, the support has been incredible, and again, we are humbled. And I suppose I’m most proud that the support we’ve received from the Twitter community has come largely from the grassroots — people without checkmarks, people with modest followings, people just like me. And that’s fine: let the blue check conservative warriors chase clicks and likes and daily outrages. What I have is a committed extended community behind me that can appreciate the realities and hardships that sometimes afflict those in their own orbit, and respond with the charity and grace I’ve long held out hope would remain strongly weaved into the fabric of conservatism.

— Which is not to say some prominent “influencers” haven’t contributed. They have, and I greatly appreciate that. They are the old school pundits, coming from the ranks of the blogs that helped build new media as it exists today in the political sphere. They remember their roots, and they know mine. I am forever indebted to these few men and women.

If my wife gets her raise — which will still leave her short of market value for a VP (but she loves the job and can still work mostly from home) we will be fine. If not — barring the ability to cut down on one of the very few monthly payments we have remaining (outside living necessities) — we may have to move in order to take another job. And selling our house will be a prolonged process to ensure we get market value. Though we’re fortunate enough to live in what USA Today has named the best city in Colorado, our house is valued much higher than the median price for houses in our area.

What all of you have done is given us a real fighting chance. If you are so inclined, please consider donating what you can to help us get over the finish line. The stress of all of this has weighed heavily on my wife and I over the past couple of years. But we are starting to catch a glimpse of that mythical light at the end of the tunnel.

We greatly appreciate your support and interest in our fluke of a predicament. We’ve endured a perfect storm of financial strain, but we’re so close to being out of the woods we can taste it.

My paypal address is [email protected]. Or you can use the donate button on the left sidebar, which — because those donations are considered “gifts” — don’t remove PayPal fees.

Thanks once more. In the comments here, I’ve tried to thank everyone individually who has helped us out. I hope I haven’t missed anyone.

We are humbled and indebted.