Our Story: When Adversity Knocks, Use the Difficulty

S.A.N.T.A. = Send All Negative Thoughts Away. This isn't how our journey started, but it is how it continues, because positivity manifests outcomes.

Our story begins in Northern California in the year 2014. Mrs. SANTA had just sneezed, and shortly after fell to the ground in agonizing pain. What we didn't know was she just herniated a disc in her lower back, and we would spend the next two years working and reworking our way through the progressive medicine model while doctors ignored the advice of specialists until her symptoms were severe. From the moment she sneezed she was bed-ridden by pain. Within a week she needed in-home hospice care, and within three weeks she was hospitalized and on steroids. Her neurosurgeon consult told her she was clear to travel if she felt up to it, but advised if the pain persisted at this level in six months that she would require surgery. One move across the pond and a provider change later, and she was forced to begin at step one of the progressive medicine model. Physical therapy, followed by pain management, imaging, and eventually consultation with a neurosurgeon that concluded she required surgery... over 18 months later in 2016. The surgery (microdiscectomy) was a temporary relief, but it relieved the pain for a few years.

Fast forward to the year 2019. The pain is back, and Mrs. SANTA is slowly regressing back to her previous state of being more and more bed-ridden by pain in her lower back. It was clear another disc was going bad, and this time she would need a more invasive surgery. Initial research into treatments available suggested she would be recommended for vertebral fusion surgery in the United States. However, in Germany artificial disc replacement surgery has been the preferred treatment over fusion for over a decade. Unfortunately, insurance providers in the United States only covered one-level artificial disc replacements in the US (with a cost of $200,000 or more), and Mrs. SANTA needed a two-level procedure.

After much research and consideration, SANTA took out a loan for $42,000. This amount covered both his and Mrs. SANTA's flights and hotels, as well as all of her meals, surgery, anesthesia, artificial disc implants, rehabilitative care, and neuromuscular massages for two weeks. Almost one-fifth of the cost in the US, but uncovered by medical insurance due to its "experimental" classification, and well above what their annual gross income could support.

Fast forward to the present. Mrs. SANTA has been relatively pain free for five years, and has accomplished feats that would make the average housewife faint of heart (such as baking 600 cinnamon rolls in less than a week to support a thanksgiving dinner for over 1,000 active duty Airmen deployed in-garrison for humanitarian purposes).

SANTA's Legacy Foundation seeks to advocate for philanthropy that will prevent this situation for others, and create partnerships with those we help by setting goals which are achievable and help sustain both parties' financial capabilities. Every situation is different, so we do not limit the opportunities in which we provide spirited giving. Our assistance may come in the form of grants, loans, or a combination of both, but the ultimate goal is to return a member of society back to a productive quality of life that can help contribute to the greater good.

Please join us in spirited giving, and remember to Send All Negative Thoughts Away.

Many blessings,

Derick "SANTA" Nickless

CEO, SANTA's Legacy Foundation