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Edition:
September 02, 2010
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NEWS
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Friday, November 20, 2009
Benefit set to help Frazee family defray medical costs of surgeries
 | | A benefit will be held for the Englehart family from 4-8 p.m. Sat., Nov. 21 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Frazee. The Englehart’s are (from bottom left) Chad, Owen, Cindy, Cayden, (back) Hailey and Reed. Submitted photo |
• by Barbie Porter
While trying to jump start two businesses and raise four kids Chad and Cindy Englehart have been plagued with medical problems.
While the two aren't the type to ask for help, according to longtime family friend LuAnn Carow, they do need it, which is why she and her daughter, Whitney, a senior at Perham High School, organized a benefit for the family Saturday, Nov. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 210 E. Maple Ave., in Frazee.
The benefit includes a freewill spaghetti supper as well as a live and silent auction.
Auction items include gift baskets, art prints, gift certificates, handmade furniture, hunting gear and more.
Donations for the auctions will be accepted until the event. To donate an item call LuAnn or Whitney at 640-1441 or 346-7325.
Losing an appendage is no excuse to miss work
Chad and Cindy met in 2003 while residing in Fergus Falls. She was going to college. He was working at a factory. She applied at the factory, which made cupboards, and was hired. The two met and fell in love.
Eventually, Chad went to school for surveying and found a job in Perham, so they relocated to Silver Leaf Township just outside of Frazee.
"I was happy to be home near family," Cindy said.
Vince and Jane Bachmann of Bachmann Auctioneers are her parents.
After settling in and starting a family, Cindy and Chad decided to start their own businesses, including a lunch wagon, a land surveying company and a shop that sells items on eBay for other people.
The businesses took off and the lunch wagon was hired for an auction. But the night before, Chad severed a finger.
"He was out there getting everything ready and the hitch fell," Cindy recalled. "He lost his finger up to the first knuckle."
Even though he was in the emergency room until 2 a.m., Chad was ready to work in the lunch wagon by 6 a.m.
"There was no way he was going to miss it, even though he couldn't do much," she said.
"That really is Chad and Cindy in a nutshell," LuAnn interjected, noting even losing an appendage isn't an excuse to miss work.
Atop the accident, Chad also was feeling lethargic for some time, with barely enough energy to get off the couch. He saw various doctors, but received no concrete answers.
"Doctors thought it might be chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia," Cindy recalled. "They did a lot of blood tests but found nothing until we saw the doctor in Fargo who suggested it might be Lyme disease."
Chad recalled being bit by two deer ticks while surveying. He had them removed at a clinic, but learned sometimes symptoms don't show up for a year or longer.
The doctor inserted a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) line, which Cindy described as an IV that was there for six months.
"He started getting better," Cindy recalled. "It proved Chad has Lyme disease."
Chad now sees a specialist in Staples to ensure the lifelong disease is kept in a state of remission.
"I know Chad will have literature about Lyme disease at the benefit for people to read," Cindy said.
Bad knees and inverted chest bone ring up big bills
Cindy, who'd recently given birth to their youngest of four children, Cayden, was standing, holding her newborn when her knee gave out and she lost her balance.
"I almost fell with him in my arms," she said.
The knee problem had plagued Cindy since high school, as it was a condition created from participating in sports.
"It had been getting worse and at that point I decided it was time to do something before something really bad happened," she said.
This past June, Cindy went in for knee surgery.
She returned to the hospital in August after experiencing stomach pain, which resulted in the removal of her appendix.
The medical bills were piling up, but the two worked harder and longer hours.
Then in October, Chad began having difficulty breathing.
After some tests it was discovered Chad had an inverted chest plate that was causing the left side of his rib cage to push his heart to the left.
"Chad knew about the inverted chest plate, but it never caused problems so it wasn't an issue," Cindy said. "Suddenly his blood pressure was skyrocketing and his heart rate was rising rapidly to the point it was beating three times as much as a regular heart."
The repair procedure, Cindy said was fairly routine. However, the surgery ended up lasting five hours and Chad had to remain in critical care for seven days.
"It's been about eight weeks since the surgery," she said. "And he's doing well. Real good, in fact he just got the news that he can go deer hunting so he's extremely excited about that."
While some things are starting to return to normal for the Englehart family, there are daily reminders of recent health issues.
"He isn't supposed to lift anything over 10 pounds until his chest heals," Cindy said. "He's reliant on the help of my brothers Austin and Andrew (both Bachmann) to lift the survey equipment so he can do his job."
Reminiscing about the support from family and friends caused Cindy to pause and wipe her eyes.
"We are very thankful; very, very thankful for our family and friends who have supported and helped us," she said. "I really don't know how to describe how thankful we are."
Being hard-working entrepreneurs Cindy admitted it's difficult to ask for help from people outside family and friends.
"When LuAnn asked (to have a benefit) I was glad, and accepted it because at this point the medical bills are so, so overwhelming," she said. "I think we reached a point of desperation where we realized we need people's help."
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