As many of you know, Tom Payne suffered a life-changing stroke in May, 2015 while working on one of his many client projects. Today, fifteen months later, Tom has no use of his left arm, limited use of his left leg and he is confined to Life Care Nursing Home in Vista, California. Sadly, his health insurance coverage for rehabilitation has now run out, and as a result Tom is unable to receive any more rehab services. His situation presents as a “catch 22” as Tom cannot leave the nursing home facility until he regains additional use of his left arm and leg, but he is not receiving rehabilitation due to the out-of-pocket expenses it would take to undergo rehab services. As you can imagine, the cost of additional rehabilitation is very expensive, which is why Tom desperately needs your help.
Tom had his own tile and woodworking business in San Diego County for many years. He worked for some of the biggest and best flooring companies in the county and does outstanding work. In spite of his current situation, Tom is optimistic that with the right therapy he will be able to resume his passion and go back to work. Tom has done a significant amount of research on rehab methods that might help his situation. In addition to conventional physical therapy and rehab for stroke patients, Tom has come across promising therapies that could potentially help him: hyperbaric oxygen therapy and non-embryonic stem cell injections. Both have produced excellent results for patients with brain injuries, but both are very expensive and not covered by Tom’s insurance.
Updates (1)
October 20, 2016
Kathleen Quinn, owner of San Marcos Yoga, and Colleen Moss, retired lecturer at California State University, are requesting your help for our friend, Tom Payne.
Tom has been a friend of Kathleen’s for ~40 years, and a friend of Colleen’s for ~8 years. In May, 2015, at the age of 58, Tom experienced a severe stroke that resulted in the loss of the use of his left side. As a result of this, he is unable to live independently, and is unable to work. He currently resides in a nursing care facility in Vista.
Prior to his stroke, Tom made a living working with his hands by installing flooring, and doing carpentry, and woodworking. He has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. His skills were mostly self-taught, and he has worked for himself most of his life.
His stepdad was a master carpenter, and although Tom did not exactly study at his Dad’s knee, he did emulate his ideals -- enjoying the challenge of puzzling things out and finding creative ways to solve a problem. As his skill set grew, he was able to do just about everything, but in particular, he became a master carpenter and woodworker.
Tom has done a great variety of work for Kathleen, from flooring, to wood replacement, to remodeling walls. He also did all of the beautiful finish carpentry on her yoga center. For Colleen, he has also done a great deal of high quality work, including designing, building, and even hand carving a beautiful wood screen. This is just a tiny example of all the projects that he has taken from design to finish, for his friends and customers. As his customers realized his exceptional talents, his jobs always tended to get bigger, more creative and even more beautiful.
Tom has always relied on his physical ability to work, so as you can imagine, the fact that he has lost the ability to use his left side has been utterly devastating emotionally and economically. Because of his age (60 yrs.), and his work history, there is no social security. What little savings he had was used up immediately, leaving him at the mercy of the state medical and disability programs.
At this point, Tom’s best hope for improvement and recovery is hyperbaric treatment. Despite significant research showing that that this treatment may have substantial benefit for stroke patients, it is not covered by insurance. For Tom, this may be the only promising treatment option in an otherwise grim future.
We are therefore asking for your help to raise the funds needed so that Tom can get this hyperbaric treatment. Funds are being raised through this website, HelpHOPELive, which disburses the funds directly to the health care provider/vendor. All donations are tax deductible.
On behalf of all of Tom’s friends, we hope that you will help by donating what you can.
With gratitude,
Kathleen and Colleen
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Guestbook
December 31, 2016
You are in our thoughts and prayers Tom. God bless you in the coming year! We are hopeful that the funds will be raised for the treatments that you need.
Much love,
Jennifer and Victor Tomassetti
November 10, 2016
We miss you and would love to come visit with the kids! Let me know if you would like some company! I could also bring my acupuncture tools:-) I can text Skip my number. All the best to you.
Ron, Melissa, Sayla and Dakota Brizzie
November 7, 2016
Praying for strength and healing for you Tom.
Elaine and Bill Schultz
