Story Created:
Jul 21, 2009 at 5:28 PM MDT
Story Updated:
Jul 21, 2009 at 6:26 PM MDT
BOISE - A Middleton, Idaho family that was subject of an Extreme Makeover Home Edition in 2007 may have to sell their prized home to help pay for a costly surgery.
Ryan Stockdale, a husband and father of four, suffers from excruciating cluster headaches, which some doctors have said is often considered one of the most painful conditions known to man. One of Stockdale's doctors describe the pain as like giving birth out of your eyes.
On Monday, the Stockdale family was informed that Ryan's employer, Omnipure, declined to pay for a $100,000 brain surgery that may give Ryan the relief he needs.
 Workers prepare to surprise the Stockdale family. |
His doctors and wife, Karia, said they were very disappointed to learn that Omnipure denied the fourth and final appeal to pay for an experimental surgery that could save his life.
"We feel that there could have been a resolution here," Stockdale said. "We're sad that they didn't make what we believe was the right choice."
Omnipure released its decision and cited federal law:
"Federal law is very limiting as to how we can administer our plan - even in this tragic health situation we simply do not have the option to cover the procedure," said Roger Reid, Omnipure president.
The Stockdales, whose four children suffer from a white-blood-cell disorder that keeps them from eating solid food, received a 4,200 square-foot home in 2007 - complete with a ventilation system designed to protect the kids' health.
Stockdale family advocate, Scott Turlington maintains that the company is not interpreting federal law correctly, but says now, Ryan Stockdale is out of time.
And his wife Karia says it's up to her to save her husband, even if it means selling the Extreme Makeover house that's helped improve her children's health.
Karia said she's not sure how much longer her husband can take the pain. He suffers almost 20 cluster headache attacks a day.
"To sit four little kids down and tell them they don't have a dad anymore is an unthinkable and horrible thought to think," she said. "And a house is a house."
And her community has been her lifeline.
"We've been amazed by the support that has come from the community," she said. "We know that this will happen for him - it's just a matter of how soon and how we'll get it done."
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