Skip to content

Family Benefit Society helps families in time of need

To the outside world, Marilee Lucksinger puts on her brave face and pretends that things are OK. But inside, her body is in pain, weak and failing, as she deals with the later stages of chronic hepatitis C and liver failure.
The Lucksinger family is one of four families that have received support from the St. Paul and Community Family Benefit Society this year.
The Lucksinger family is one of four families that have received support from the St. Paul and Community Family Benefit Society this year.

To the outside world, Marilee Lucksinger puts on her brave face and pretends that things are OK. But inside, her body is in pain, weak and failing, as she deals with the later stages of chronic hepatitis C and liver failure.

“People ask me how I’m doing, and I say fine. But I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I hide it quite well,” she says, adding she’s trying to stay strong for her family, particularly the youngest of her three children. “I’ve got a nine-year-old daughter that worries like heck for mom.”

But her daughter is dealing with her mother’s sickness and knows her future is uncertain. When Amanda asked the doctor, “Is mummy going to die?” and was told yes, she simply thanked him for sharing it with her.

“Amanda’s my little nurse. If I’m not feeling good, she’ll tuck me in and sit there, and watch me be,” said Marilee, noting that her husband Tim is having a tough time handling his wife’s illness, but that they are all dealing with it.

Hepatitis C is spread through blood-to-blood contact; Marilee contracted the virus from a roommate who hadn’t told her he had it, with Marilee believing she contracted it from shared use of a personal hygiene item, like a toothbrush or a razor. She’s lived with the disease for years, but in the last while, her symptoms have become more and more acute.

With Marilee hospitalized five or six times this year, and with trips back and forth to the city for treatment, the family has faced some steep bills for hotel and gas expenses. A treatment she tried last year cost as much as $96,000 – luckily, she notes, her husband has very good insurance coverage through work. Not so luckily, the treatment that she says has worked for 98 to 99 per cent of people did not work for her, which has meant she continues to face pain, her belly is swollen and full of fluid, and she’s beginning to have troubles walking.

“It’s starting to hit me know, because my body’s giving up.”

But in the face of a lot of challenges, Marilee notes there has been a glint of light. While she is very sick, she has always tried to support her daughter in her activities, including being a Girl Guide leader, and just recently, she learned that a fellow Girl Guide leader had nominated her to receive support from the St. Paul & Community Family Benefit Society.

Last Thursday, Marilee and Tim received $2,100 to help offset some of the expenses they face for her to get treatment. Marilee notes the group’s annual New Year’s Eve Benefit is a great event that supports people in the community who have faced medical issues or tragedies in the year.

“I think it’s fantastic for people to get help when they need it. I’m grateful, very grateful that Heather (Nickel) nominated me,” she said.

It’s not only that the group offers financial help, but Lucksinger says people can also appreciate the fact the group is there to say, “We’re here to help.”

She’s looking to keep fighting and hold on to get a new treatment later in 2017; while she’s not sure what the future holds, she says she remains hopeful.

“I always tell people that I won't ever give up because I have a wonderful husband and a sweetheart of a daughter to care for.”

Katie Lysy and Lucas Harris have three children, but their youngest, six-year-old Landon, has had medical issues since he was born. However, when he was four, he slipped on water getting out of the bathtub and banged his head, knocking him unconscious.

It was an accident that would be the start of major seizures, leading to him being diagnosed with epilepsy this year.

“It was really scary,” said Lysy, of the first time he had a major seizure. But in the time since, he’s been rushed to the hospital so often by airplane, that she says the family has become more used to the constant state of emergencies.

“Here we go again Landon,” she’ll tell him; for his part, he’s quite used to sticking out his arm and getting needles or having his temperature taken, she says.

Fortunately, this year, Landon has been put on new medications that “have helped amazingly,” and has meant

This year, a friend nominated Lysy and Harris to receive support from the family benefit group, with Lysy saying it was a relief from the stress, and came in handy to offset gas expenses from traveling back and forth from the city.

“There was one week that we were going back and forth all week,” she said, adding that she and her husband still have to see their other two children through school, as well as continue to work, although she notes her boss has been very understanding when she needs to go.

So far, the family has received $1,500 from the group, but she says, what is really the best thing about the gesture is that “It’s not really about the money, it’s that someone notices you have a problem and they’re willing to talk to you.”

She and her family all plan to attend this year’s New Year’s Eve Benefit Dance, with proceeds to go towards helping other families in the community that have faced struggles, due to medical issues or tragedies.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at St. Paul Co-op Gas Bar or at Xtreme Power Products in St. Paul, or by contacting Lynda at 780-207-0159.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks