UPDATE FROM HALLIE

An update from Hallie:
Hi everyone! I realize that if we haven't talked to you recently, you might be a bit out of the loop. So here's a quick update to bring everyone up to speed. But before we forget - thanks for everything - and WE LOVE YOU!

The Most Important Thing:
The biggest news: Joe's health has improved so much that he was able to return to work this week. And although his energy is far from 100%, he's a completely different person from that guy in the hospital bed just a short time ago. It's pretty amazing - and we feel very lucky.

What We've Already Accomplished:
On the fundraising front - you'll be happy to hear that we've already raised $18,500! And that's before selling a single ebay item! We honestly can not believe how generous people have been - especially in these less-than-flush financial times.

What We Are Still Dealing With:
Joe's hospital bills alone came to roughly $50,000, and on top of those, there are many different physician and lab bills to contend with. However, after doing extensive research on line item reimbursement from Medicaid, we came up with drastically reduced financial offers for each separate bill, which we put in writing and mailed out. So far, we've only heard back from one MD who accepted our offer with no haggling:) We'd always planned on negotiating, but we owe a huge thanks to our friend Trevor Houser who gave us the idea of researching the amount that Medicaid pays for each service. Trevor, who HAS insurance, is still paying off the operation that successfully removed a tumor from his brain several years ago. If any of you are currently dealing with medical debt of your own and would like to see my calculations, or the offers that I presented to docs/hosp - I will gladly supply anything that might help.

That's all for now, we promise to let you know how the rest plays out.
xxo
Hallie.

ps: Here's my seller's profile on eBay - you should be able to browse all the items we're auctioning off here. We are adding items all week. Happy shopping!