ONLINE FUNDRAISER SET UP FOR PETER DAVID
'Hulk' Writer Has Medical Problems, Suffered Series of Strokes
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ONLINE FUNDRAISER SET UP FOR PETER DAVID
'Hulk' Writer Has Medical Problems, Suffered Series of Strokes
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I am currently at DragonCon by myself. Talking about various topics, judging people (No, really I am the judge for the Friday Night Workmanship contest), and seeing friends old and new.
When I get home, I plan to find our lost laptop and get it and a headset to Peter so he can start writing again by dictation. He has stories to tell and right now they are all in his head.
Caroline is discovering how much she has to do homework-wise for animation and it is quite a bit. Fortunately she has a leg up on the software.
That's the update. I am thinking unless something happens, I am going to try to give you an update on the first of the month.
All the best,
Peter, Kathleen, and Caroline
Today by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
PETER UPDATE OCT 15 2024
Here is the update on Peter
He is in the hospital to deal with cellulitis at the surgical site. There was also a fungus in the wound. His right hand is swollen with edema as is his arm to the surgical site.
There is also tissue break down at the end of his coccyx they are treating. This is not unusual considering the amount of time he is in bed.
The bacteria from his infected heart catheter came back as MRSA and they are treating that with the big gun antibiotics.
I saw him yesterday and we had a chat for about an hour and half before he fell asleep. He is aware of where he is and why. He is very tired which makes sense since he has YAI (yet another infection) He is still fighting the good fight and has a positive attitude towards living.
Today by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Peter is much better. His arm looks normal again. He is in good spirits. He is impressed by the size of the Aquaman Compleat Peter David series. His daughters have visited him and he’s working on getting better.
Today by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
I love being able to tell you that nothing new has happened. We have our routines pretty much set right now.
I have applied for an assistant editor job at Marvel that I have worked my whole life to have the skills to do.
Caroline is animating things and learning what she does not know. She is enjoying herself at school.
I am going to have to go to the Genius Bar to figure out what switched I flipped that shouldn't have been switched because I can't get the dictation feature to work consistently but I am still working on it.
Nothing is going wrong and it has been lovely.
Thank you again for your help.
Kath
Today by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Why I have been quiet 2024 edition
On the 22nd of November 2024 we entered our third year of our new normal, which has been anything but.
I have been thinking about the last two years a lot recently. How our lives have changed rather radically. I have been rattling around this house with ghosts of the past showing up once in a while in a photograph I find or artwork or something we picked up during our travels or some toy we got ourselves.
There are puppets all around the place each telling their own stories and adventures. I want to make more. I have a commission I can finally start on as the previous one is shipped and the table clear. I have an idea for an art piece that involves puppets that I might get too sometime.
Ideas for stories are rattling around in my brain, and I type them out on my computer or at least what I have figured out. I really need to outline more.
Peter is at his new normal. No current infection or any other health crisis recently. He is enjoying the What If with the Disney Character. His favorite is “What if Donald Duck became Wolverine” which is one of the best in the series. I bring him comics, books, and magazines to keep him in touch with the outside world.
Other than dialysis, he has not been out of that facility except for hospital visits, Doctor appointments, and dialysis. He hasn’t sat out in the sunlight for over two years.
He says he is tired but is fighting the good fight. I agree.
Caroline is learning animation and the speed of the work. She is learning a lot and is frustrated with one teacher but is finding ways of dealing with him so she can get the info she needs. She loves her apartment, and her roommates are good friends.
Me? I am a ball of stress that occasionally loosens up but is always looking for the next shoe to drop. I am under the care of a therapist and physiatrist, who have helped me so much to not go in a bed direction. They did have to pound me over the head that self-care is not selfish but needed so I can help my family. If I totally burn out, that is not going to help anyone.
I am adjusting to the new normal. Are there things I miss? Of course. I miss telling Peter something I found funny because he is sitting on the other couch. I miss going to movies. I miss being able to discuss all the topics we would discuss. We always find it fun to find a fact or a story the other didn’t know. Someone pointed out that I was a widow with a living husband. There has got to be a term for that besides caretaker.
I miss going to conventions. I really do. I can’t afford to go to one and without Peter I am nothing to these conventions. The exceptions and thank goodness for them or I might go mad, are Farpoint, Shoreleave, and DragonCon with an occasional GalaxyCon tossed in for good measure. These are my tribe conventions.
There are other things I miss but they are a long list that gets boring quick.
We are here. We are surviving. We are getting ready for what this year brings us.
I am grateful I can spend time with my husband.
Today by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Kath here with an update
Well I have a mountain of paperwork to find. Peter was rejected for Medicaid after being on it for a year and a half. Insurance pays only for so many weeks unless there is a new diagnosis then the clock goes back to zero and he has that many more weeks. Medicaid is why we are not totally broke the other reasons are GoFundMe and Patreon. We shut the GoFundMe down because I thought we were financially secure while I continue to try to find a job I can live with. Now this has reared its ugly head.
Yesterday’s meeting was both good and bad news. We do have a plan to fight the rejection starting with an appeal to the Suffolk county social services office. Gives us a little time to get the paperwork together. However this is all happening during the holiday season which, actually gives us less time over all.
Getting the paperwork has been like pulling teeth. I have power of attorney but I have to get vetted for every company that Disney uses for payroll and the like. Then it has to go through the Disney lawyers who sign off on it and that can take a long time like seven to ten business days or two weeks to us mortal folk.
I am making progress however it is like I get a puzzle piece I have to use to finish the Medicaid paperwork.
I am tired and very frustrated. But I will continue to work on this because in the alternative I lose everything.
Thanks for reading
Today by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Peter is at his new normal and no infections
Our big problem is Medicaid rejecting Peter. We have a hearing on Wednesday. There may be a new go fund me to pay his medical bills which are stacking up. I have kept up so far but the budget is squeaking.
In other news Caroline has applied for an internship at Disney. And I am still here.
I've been following this thread. Not because I'm an admirer of Mr. David's comics writing, but because, twenty-five years ago, he graciously provided me a respectful answer to a question I'd e-mailed him about comics' frequent misrepresentation of the military. (We're clearly on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but from his "But I Digress . . . " column in Comics Buyer's Guide, I got the sense that he would give me a fair answer.) In fact, he devoted one of his column articles to my question and his thorough response. No snarkiness, no digs at conservatism, but a respectful effort to genuinely address my concern. (Which, these days, is a remarkable attitude from liberal or conservative.)
Obviously. since the Good Mrs. Benson's stroke, his situation has a more personal interest for me. For one thing, the Davids' efforts to get necessary health care has emphasised in my mind what a great advantage the GMB and I enjoy in TRICARE. I don't say "lucky" or "fortunate" to have it because we earned it. But, still . . .
The Davids' situation has caused me to re-evaluate my attitude toward health care in America. I've never believed in socialised medicine or free health care, and I still don't. Basic health care is the responsiiblity of the individual, just as all of the other components of a happy life are one's own responsibility. But it now seems to me that when a line is crossed, when someone contracts or develops a medical condition so egregious, as Mr. David has, that exceeds what one can reasonably expect and plan for, then there should be some system in place to provide one with the necessary medical treatment---without going through the emotion-draining struggles that the Davids are waging with Medicaid.
Oh, sure, one can point fingers at, say, a stroke victim and pronounce, "If he'd taken better care of himself", "If he'd eaten more healthful foods", "If he'd exercised", "If he hadn't let himself get overweight", "If he didn't smoke . . ." (And NOTE, I am not attributing any of these to Mr. David himself.) But, often none of those factors have anything to do with the thrombosis that develops to cause the stroke. And, in any event, it doesn't matter. If someone jaywalks between two parked cars and gets run down by passing traffic, do we refuse to call an ambulance for him because he caused his own distress? Of course not.
In the light of the GMB's stroke, my sympathy for the Davids has crossed over to empathy. I know the bullet we dodged in Cheryl's stroke being so mild. The complications added to our lives are minscule compared to what the Davids have to endure. Even if all of their financial hardships and medical expenses were magically forgiven, their life together will never be nearly the same as it was before.
I'm a Republican in the genuine sense of the affiliation---I believe in fiscal restraint by the government. I don't believe in general hand-outs to people because they aren't as "fortunate" as me. But, if you were to propose to me that tax dollars should go toward immediate remedy of situations as extreme as what the Davids are facing, I'd agree wholeheartedly.
As little as it offers, my prayers go with the Davids.
I just found out that a new GoFundMe has been started to help Peter amd his family deal with their continuing medical and other expenses. Note the new name of the fundraiser.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-peter-david
Graham Murphy is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Kathleen David.
Hi, friends. I'm restarting a fundraiser for Peter David and his family. Peter's health issues continue to be a challenge. He has been in recovery now for three years! Peter is steadily improving - even with his kidney disease, minor surgeries, and some recent small strokes. But Medicaid, which had been taking care of his Long Term Disability, has just dropped him. As a result, medical care and living expenses are mounting beyond current control.
So, we are reaching out to you for help. I've known Peter and his family for many years. They are the nicest, kindest, and most generous people you will ever meet. Let's return some of that kindness and generosity and help them make it through this. Please donate and spread the word. Thank you!
These are Kathleen’s updates since my previous posting. The newest one is at the top:
April 8, 2025 by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Peter's white count is normal for the first time in a year and a half. This news makes me feel more relaxed.
Could I ask for another blast that this is still going?
Still catching up on bills and other expenses. I could not have done any of this without your help. Consider yourself a distant cousin to Peter David.
Peter had been enjoying watching the Mets. For him there are two seasons Baseball and waiting for pitchers and catchers to start up. I am the sports person in the family.
Caroline and a friend are going to Japan next week. They have been saving for it for two years now doing all kinds of jobs from TaskRabbit along with their normal jobs working in animation and other gig jobs. I am impressed with both of them.
I am still job searching. I have a couple of musts for me to be able to take the job and I am honest about it. In other news, I have plotted out the puppets I need to make between now and Dragon Con. I am going to be building puppet bodies that I am calling blankies. A lot of people who want to make their own puppets but have no idea where to start so I am selling blank bodies in several colors to give them a starting point.
Again if were not for all of you, we would be underwater. Now we are doggie paddling and grateful.
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March 30th, 2025 by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
I have been asked if there is an address where cards and notes can be sent to. It is 76 Cedar Ave Patchogue NY 11772.
Peter is showing no sign of infection. His wound is healing finally. His spirits are good. I have been reading your comments to him. He is amazed how many lives he has affected with his work. He says that writing is a lonely profession. You write something that you want to read and hope others want to read it as well.
I am still job hunting. It is becoming clearer it's going to have to be mostly from home.
Caroline is taking a master course with Bill Pympton that she is enjoying. 2-D animation is her love but she knows there is more money in 3-D. I have a very practical daughter.
Thank you oh so much again with your kind donations. I have cleared a lot of our ledger.
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March 21st, 2025 by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Peter is well enough they are sending him back to his rehab facility today. His white cell count is dropping back to the new normal for him. I learned that surgery can cause an increase in white cell count. Apparently cutting into the body can cause your white cells to start attacking the invading bodies.
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March 19th, 2025 by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Peter had surgery yesterday and they did not put the wound VAC back on him. The site looked so much better that they did some sutures that needed to be done for the fistula and stapled the wound closed. He will be released later this week.
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March 15th, 2025 by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Peter was floored by all the love shown for him. He said thank you and he feels humbled by all the love shown to him.
He will be in the hospital about another week
They are changing his wound vac Tuesday
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March 13th, 2025 by Kathleen David, Beneficiary
Saw Peter yesterday
He was tired but we had a nice discussion about the family and other things. He watched the John Oliver on tipping. He agrees with John. But it is a very complex subject.
The wound vac is doing what it is supposed to be doing. They are changing the wound vac on Friday. So, more surgery.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for supporting the go fund me. I can feel my neck loosen for the first time in a long time.
This wound is going to take its sweet time to heal. Because of the dialysis, his heart issues, and white cell count. It is going to take longer than healthier guy.
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March 11th, 2025 by Graham Murphy, Organizer
From Peter's wife, Kathleen…
“We are starting this up again due to circumstances beyond our control. The short version is we are swimming in medical debt due to Peter being rejected for Medicaid – which was one of the few things that had been going right. As many of you know, insurance will only pay so much and so far. Once one has used that up, one depends on the social services to allow one to live without being homeless and broke. That is what Medicaid has been doing for the last two years. Yes, as of November, we started our third year of this journey.
Overall, it has been a time of frugalness and counting our blessing where we can. Your contributions will go towards the bills we have, and are, accruing. This gives Peter and me much piece of mind. And gives me time to worry about other things that really need more of my attention.
The job hunt continues. Got close twice but then it went internal, so I was used as a statistic. I have also learned new ways to say you are old without saying it. I continue to try to find work that I can do. I am down to one day a week at Micheals so that is a princely $120 I get every two weeks. Understand I am grateful for the job, however, it doesn’t pay a living wage even if I worked 20 hours a week.
Caroline applied for several internships in Animation including Disney and Dreamworks. She is working very hard in school and enjoying the animation program at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). These past few years of her father's illness have been tough on her, but she is pushing through.
Please pass this GoFundMe around so it will be seen by many eyes. We appreciate those who have previously donated, and we appreciate those who are donating for the first time. Peter is floored by the support. I don’t think he knows how beloved and admired he is. Thank you.”
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