Hello to all that are in Aidpage!  I will be honest and frank.  This is a last resort and attempt to find someone or something to help me and my family.  My wife and I were married on January 3rd of 2003.  Shortly after this I injured my back while excercising.  I hurt my back very badly and just sort of dealt with the pain for the next 6 to 7 months.  Luckily my wife and I had purchased health insurance.  Since both of us were self employed our payment was very high and we did not have very good coverage.  My lower back and left leg began to hurt so badly that I finally went and saw a doctor.  They had said that I had a bulging disc in the L5 S1 area of my back.  This disc was pressing up against my sciatic nerve and was causing horrible pain.  I had 3 different times that I had went in and had a shot of cortisone which did not work at all.  So for the next few weeks I had to live on Vicatin pills.  I took 4-5 pills per day just to exist and get thru the day.  In late July I was working and when I twisted to turn around I almost dropped.  I had such a rush of pain that I dropped to my knees and almost started crying.  I had to have my brother drive me home while I rode home laying in the back of my pickup.  The next day I saw a spine doctor and they told me that I had to have surgery to fix the problem.  I did so and when I woke up from the surgery the pain was completly gone.  After a week I was outside doing some things and bent over and again the disc slide out and the same horiffic pain dropped me to my knees.  I had to go back and get a 2nd surgery.  After the second one I pushed myself to take it easy for 3 months before I did anything so that it would heal properly.  Well the doctor bills added up and since I was not able to work and my wife only made a small amount a month we began to recieve the bills from the various doctors.  I managed to rack up around $14,000 in which we owed not to mention what the insurance paid for.  Well in 2006 we had only approximately $1,250 left of the $14,000 and then we had our 1st child which then made that $1,250 pushed back up to around $11,000.  Please note that we have also been paying for our over $60,000 in school loans all this time.  We also bought a home almost 2 years ago and got taken with our home loan that we are paying $2,600 per month along with health insurance that ran $450 per month and then an additional $400 or so for school loan payments along with $450 per month for our doctor bills that we continue to pay.  Well since both my wife and I are in real estate we have barely stayed afloat the past few years.  At this point we have not been able to afford to make our home payment and are in pre-foreclosure, and on the boarder line of filing bankruptcy.  We barely make it each month and have continued to pay our obligations even though we are loosing our home.  I don't believe in filing bankruptcy so we are trying to make this work.  I just heard that there are many ways to find help with grants to aid people in my situation.  My wife and I were for the most part good stewards or our money but have just had really bad luck over the years.  I am just looking for someone to help my family and I stay afloat and if possible help find some grants to either payoff the dr bills or at lesast help pay down our school loans and doctor bills to make our life a little bit better.  Thanks for reading my story and I hope someone will have some direction for me to take.

Rich