Stories from our members
Gail's Story
On 9/25/08 my husband of 45 years was diagnosed with AML (acute leukemia). The first few weeks were hell and I got very, very little sleep, perhaps catching an hour or two here and there, but never more than 3-4 hours in a day. My husband was in the hospital 3 times in September/October, never for less than 3 days. Several times I thought he would not make it through the night. I was scared for him and scared for me. When he was not hospitalized he went for chemotherapy 10 days every month, and for the first several months had blood transfusions weekly. On these days we would spend 7-11 hours at the UW hospital. My husband also had several medical appointments a few times a week, sometimes at different locations. One day he had 7 appointments at three locations all over town. We were gone from 9:30 am - 5:30 pm. With acute leukemia, he had virtually no white cells, so his body could not fight infection. He could not be around pets or live plants; he couldn't even eat fruit and vegetables that were not cooked. My husband, by nature, is a pack rat. This presented a major problem, given his condition. Our house was so cluttered that I am ashamed to say there were many, many areas that were not cleaned in decades. Enter the Dane County Timebank. I posted an alert (a request for help due to a medical emergency) on the website of the Dane County Timebank. Help came immediately. Timebank members, strangers in my local community, came forth to help me...something I never imagined in my wildest dreams. Timebank members came not only from Madison, but from Middleton, Verona, Oregon, Deforest, and Marshall. They carefully wrapped, boxed, labeled and stored books, curios, newspapers, household items, etc. They cleared out enough space in the garage so that I would not have to worry about alternate side of the street parking in winter. Some men from Options in Community Living raked my leaves and helped take down my vegetable garden. And last, but not least, Timbank members helped me clean and sanitize the house, not just the initial cleaning, but several times a week. It took months to get things to the point where the house was really orderly, sanitized, and easy to clean. All the stacks on the floors and tables were gone. All the ornaments and curios disappeared from flat surfaces. But this was not the end of it. I had ongoing help for months and months to keep it up. There is no way I could have done this all myself. My husband certainly could not help. He was so ill and had medical complications that left him incapacitated: he could perform none of the activities of daily living. With all the help I got from timebank members, our home was a perfect environment for recuperation and my husband never caught an infection. Last November, two days before Thanksgiving, my husband was told he was in complete remission. His quality of life has improved so much he has no restrictions. Now he and I continue to keep the house clean and sanitized, with a thorough weekly cleaning. We would never have come to this point were it not for neighbors helping neighbors...the basic premise of the Dane County Timebank.
Carlos' Story:
On October 3, 2009 I fractured my upper left humerus bone in a bike
accident. I did not have health insurance at the time and therefore I
incurred over $2500 for the emergency visit. Having chosen to work for
a small non-profit I did not exactly have money to afford physical /
rehabilitation therapy. At first I figured I was young enough that it
would heal itself. However, even as the pain slowly went away it
became very obvious that I could not lift my left arm farther than 2
degrees on its own and 3 degrees without assistance. I was able to
locate a massage therapist on the Dane County TimeBank and worked with
her for a few weeks. With the sessions paid for through the TimeBank I
was able to regain the full range of motion in my left arm by 2010.
Blog by Ali Trevino-Murphy. Features member interviews
On 9/25/08 my husband of 45 years was diagnosed with AML (acute leukemia). The first few weeks were hell and I got very, very little sleep, perhaps catching an hour or two here and there, but never more than 3-4 hours in a day. My husband was in the hospital 3 times in September/October, never for less than 3 days. Several times I thought he would not make it through the night. I was scared for him and scared for me. When he was not hospitalized he went for chemotherapy 10 days every month, and for the first several months had blood transfusions weekly. On these days we would spend 7-11 hours at the UW hospital. My husband also had several medical appointments a few times a week, sometimes at different locations. One day he had 7 appointments at three locations all over town. We were gone from 9:30 am - 5:30 pm. With acute leukemia, he had virtually no white cells, so his body could not fight infection. He could not be around pets or live plants; he couldn't even eat fruit and vegetables that were not cooked. My husband, by nature, is a pack rat. This presented a major problem, given his condition. Our house was so cluttered that I am ashamed to say there were many, many areas that were not cleaned in decades. Enter the Dane County Timebank. I posted an alert (a request for help due to a medical emergency) on the website of the Dane County Timebank. Help came immediately. Timebank members, strangers in my local community, came forth to help me...something I never imagined in my wildest dreams. Timebank members came not only from Madison, but from Middleton, Verona, Oregon, Deforest, and Marshall. They carefully wrapped, boxed, labeled and stored books, curios, newspapers, household items, etc. They cleared out enough space in the garage so that I would not have to worry about alternate side of the street parking in winter. Some men from Options in Community Living raked my leaves and helped take down my vegetable garden. And last, but not least, Timbank members helped me clean and sanitize the house, not just the initial cleaning, but several times a week. It took months to get things to the point where the house was really orderly, sanitized, and easy to clean. All the stacks on the floors and tables were gone. All the ornaments and curios disappeared from flat surfaces. But this was not the end of it. I had ongoing help for months and months to keep it up. There is no way I could have done this all myself. My husband certainly could not help. He was so ill and had medical complications that left him incapacitated: he could perform none of the activities of daily living. With all the help I got from timebank members, our home was a perfect environment for recuperation and my husband never caught an infection. Last November, two days before Thanksgiving, my husband was told he was in complete remission. His quality of life has improved so much he has no restrictions. Now he and I continue to keep the house clean and sanitized, with a thorough weekly cleaning. We would never have come to this point were it not for neighbors helping neighbors...the basic premise of the Dane County Timebank.
Carlos' Story:
On October 3, 2009 I fractured my upper left humerus bone in a bike
accident. I did not have health insurance at the time and therefore I
incurred over $2500 for the emergency visit. Having chosen to work for
a small non-profit I did not exactly have money to afford physical /
rehabilitation therapy. At first I figured I was young enough that it
would heal itself. However, even as the pain slowly went away it
became very obvious that I could not lift my left arm farther than 2
degrees on its own and 3 degrees without assistance. I was able to
locate a massage therapist on the Dane County TimeBank and worked with
her for a few weeks. With the sessions paid for through the TimeBank I
was able to regain the full range of motion in my left arm by 2010.
Blog by Ali Trevino-Murphy. Features member interviews
