The Watts Family

Hello my name is Marvis I’m 26 years old and born with sickle cell. All my life I’ve been in and out of the hospital getting a monthly blood transfusion to help prevent another stroke. I had a stroke when I was a young boy and ever since the stroke I walk with a limp as I suffered nerve damage in my left leg and ankle. Most days I’m in bed with pain, as I get older the worse my condition gets, i have 4 step children and I rarely have energy to leave the house or help my wife around the house or with the kids doing even the simplest tasks. Sickle cell has taken so much from me and I’m ready to take control back over my life and we’ll being with my upcoming bone marrow transplant. As of right now my wife is the one working a job at minimum wage, I’m receiving ssi and we barely make rent each month, our other bills are always behind, we are in credit card debt as well. One of the requirements to getting my bmt is that we leave Duluth mn and relocate to Minneapolis for at least 4 months for my work up week, and a minimum of 100 days post bone marrow transplant for recovery. We are very unsure of how we will pay rent in Duluth at $1,800 a month plus all utilities since my wife has to quit her job to come with me to Minneapolis to be my caregiver for when I’m healing, and we are to find and pay for our own apartment or fund a hotel in Minneapolis within 30 minutes of the U OF M hospital. We are depending on funds from donors and organizations to help make my life changing bmt possible. This is my story thank you for reading.