IT ALL STARTED…
• Last year in 2022, “my husband Jeff, who was a Beasley truck driver for Logistics, started to have pain in his neck,” according to Lisa Lawson, the matriarch of the Lawson family. After suffering through long days of work and many sleepless nights, Jeff sought out a doctor to find out what was causing the pain that never seemed to get any better. The diagnosis didn’t take long after scans that showed he had a collapsed vertebrae in his neck. Worse news followed as they were also told by the doctors that Jeff had a degenerative disease that would only worsen his conditions. Later in the year, he began having pain in his shoulders too. He was referred to another doctor who ran more exhaustive tests and imaging only to determine that Jeff was also suffering from AVN (Avascular Necrosis), also called osteonecrosis or bone infarction, is death of bone tissue due to interruption of the blood supply.
• 2023…Surgeries begin. Jeff’s first shoulder surgery in January was to repair torn ligaments and muscle. Because of his AVN, physical therapy was painful and lengthy. After recovering, he went back to driving a truck for Logistics but wound up re-injuring the same shoulder and was then out of work and is still unable to return to his job.
• July 2023…15-year-old daughter Anna was taken to a hospital in Savannah after blood work that was taken at a clinic was flagged for abnormalities. After arriving in Savannah and completing a barrage of tests, the Lawson’s were told that their daughter had ITP (Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenia, is a type of thrombocytopenic purpura characterized by a low platelet count in the absence of other causes and accompanied by a red-purple rash called purpura. It is a rare autoimmune disorder that leads to an increased risk of bleeding along with low blood platelet levels. Normal levels are 250,000 – 450,000 and Anna’s levels are around 23,000. Further testing revealed that Anna had been living with this disorder for over a year before her diagnosis.
• August School starts…and Anna will not be allowed to start with her friends and classmates that she had gone all through primary and middle school with. The doctors recommended Anna be placed on hospital home-bound study classes due to the risk of incidental bruising or minor accidents that could lead to serious problems.
• August 2023…as Anna and her family are trying to navigate the new lifestyle of maintaining scholastic activities through home-bound learning, Jeff is now scheduled for shoulder surgery the same month. Surgery number 2 will now incapacitate Jeff who is now not able to work at all. Adding to the medical saga that is unfolding for the Lawson family, Jeff is also told by his doctors that because of his AVN, he must be scheduled for both hips to be replaced…beginning in October 2023.
• Meanwhile, Lisa, the mother and now THE sole income provider, must figure out how to maintain 2 jobs and make all the doctor appointments that are mounting up between two of her immediate family members, who are both incapacitated and can’t drive.
• September 2023…more medical news hits the Lawson family concerning Anna. In an early September visit to more specialist doctors, additional screening showed that Anna is positive for Lupus. Lupus is a chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections — attacks healthy tissue instead.
• September 2023…more medical news hits the Lawson family concerning Anna. In an early September visit to more specialist doctors, additional screening showed that Anna is positive for Lupus. Lupus is a chronic (long-term) disease that can cause inflammation and pain in any part of your body. It’s an autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system — the body system that usually fights infections — attacks healthy tissue instead. September 29th, Anna will have to travel to Atlanta to have further testing done to make a final determination for the Lupus diagnosis.
• Lisa…even through all the trials and tribulations, Lisa has worked incessantly to maintain the support for her household. She has a full-time job driving a log truck for Beasley Logistics and a part-time, weekend job working for the state of Georgia training new potential CDL candidates for the Southeastern Technical school in Vidalia. With all her personal duties…she can’t perform either of her jobs well. She also has the sole responsibility to transport both Anna and Jeff to all medical appointments and surgeries. Lisa also tries to maintain the financial responsibilities of her household, including her husbands work medical insurance policy since he is unable to work and all medical bills that are not covered through insurance. After a bankruptcy last year, the purchase of the families first home, and mounting medical issues, this family has had circumstances create for them financial hardships that few could endure to this point; but yet, Lisa’s will to survive and provide for her family has continued to be strong and enduring, although fatiguing.