Maureen Tedesco

My name is Maureen Tedesco. Over the past four years my life has been anything but what I thought it would have been. You see I was living a comfortable life until Cancer turned my life upside down. I was married to my husband for 31 years. We have three wonderful children. Two boys who for 15 of those 31 years were the light of our lives. While we continued to thoroughly enjoy our boys, God gave us a beautiful daughter, Kaitlyn, 13 years ago. We felt so blessed and absolutely thrilled for a chance to raise a girl. At approximately 2 yrs of age Kate began to have excruciating pain and tingling in her legs. After many tests we were told she has a form of Spina Bifada. As heartbreaking as that news was, we were given hope that with surgery she would lead a normal life. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Now after 31 surgeries and some lengthily hospital stays she is able to walk, but continues to experience a great deal of pain and other complications.

Another difficult part of our lives was having my husband diagnosed with Osteosarcoma approximately four years ago. Of course we searched for the best doctors and traveled back and forth to Sloan Kettering in New York for most of his treatment. They offer phenomenal care and through a few connections we were able to seek treatment there. (My husband was a pharmaceutical chemist, working on prostate cancer treatment at the time, henceforth the connections.) Unfortunately, my husband lost his battle and I was left to deal with Kate’s chronic illness.

This is where the Great Guys Group comes in. In the past year Kate has spent most of the time in the hospital for complications from the Spina Bifada. Since she was hospitalized for such a long period of time, I was placed on family leave from my job and we went several months without a paycheck. It was becoming very obvious we were in financial trouble, as I had used my husband’s life insurance to help pay the medical costs not covered by insurance. As I am sure you can imagine the bills continued to pile up with no end in sight.

A mutual acquaintance suggested that I contact Paul Isenberg of the the Great Guys Group to see if they could help. This was going to be way out of my realm, as it was usually us who helped people, as we always wanted our children to know giving more than receiving. However, I was scared and knew I needed to give up my pride and ask for help. So I made the call and immediately knew I had done the right thing. Paul Isenberg could not have been more supportive. He listened to our story and compassionately told me not to worry, that they would begin to pray and let me know they would help us out. He continued to stay in touch during my daughters much extended hospital stay while also helping us financially. One would think that was enough, but unfortunately, we lost our home to foreclosure in July of this year and once again, the Great Guys Group assisted us with getting situated in a beautiful townhouse.

This is why I am so deeply appreciative to this group. While Kate is walking now, at any time she may need surgery which puts her in a compromised condition with limited mobility and the need to use a wheelchair for mobility. She has chronic pain along with many other ailments associated with her condition. She has an amazing strength and positive disposition despite her setbacks attested to by those who know her. My heart aches for her as she misses her father and copes with all she has to deal with. It is a rare day that she complains about her situation. I know this is because even though she lost her father and the house she had shared with him, we were able to begin again in a home that is really a home. It is handicapped accessible, which as you can imagine, was a must. As she continues to grow I am not able to pick her up to move her around.

I am indebted to the Great Guys Group for not only helping us financially, but for also teaching me that pride was stopping me from being a good parent. Oh Paul never said those words, but what they did gave me a very important message. While we may think we are very comfortable in our lives that can change in a second, with a few words that no one wants to hear, “cancer” and “terminal.” My husband and I thought we had done everything right to allow security for us. But one spouse’s illness and chronically ill child can change that in a second and leave us where we never imagine ourselves to be. Allowing myself to accept help, while uncomfortable as it was to admit, was the right thing to do.  Help that allowed me to do what I was called to do first, be a mom to my daughter and be with her when she needed me the most. Help that unconditionally accepted us for who we were and recognized that while I was not comfortable with the asking part of it, I needed to get past that and do what was right.

Our life continues to offer challenges that cause me to ask why most days. I may never know the answers to the whys in my life, but I do know that God brought us to the Great Guys Group for a reason. I also know that as we continue to benefit from their kindness, which is not where it ends. From their acts of unending kindness my daughter has experienced the goodness of giving, that my husband and I tried so hard to show our children. Kate has been able to see that our lives should be about giving back and Kate has had a firsthand experience from the goodness of others. She understands what her responsibility in life will be, no matter how compromised her health is.  We have a great deal of medical debt and things will continue to be difficult, but I know with the Great Guys Group behind us we will be able to handle the setbacks with a sense of dignity and patience. For that I will be eternally grateful. We pray in thanksgiving for this wonderful group of people who make helping others a priority. We also pray that this group will be around for a long time to come so others will benefit from their kindness and support.

Sincerely,

Maureen Tedesco