Dear Esteemed TE friends,
I can't remember where I wrote the thread about my BIL's fundraising efforts for his daughter who has leukemia, or what I called it. But, I wanted to give an update.
He's stopped talking to us and to his other 2 siblings because of our supposed "heartless cruelty." He called to tell DH about his "plan" to use the $ to help them buy a new house... because his daughter just has to have a new house to come home to, after her transplant. Retrofitting her room with an air filter was not good enough. OK, this has been his way of being since I've known him, but here's the good part. He can't sell his present house as he's under water. He can't get a cheaper car as he owes too much on that, too. DH tried to give him financial advice, like why don't you downsize? He has a good job and benefits, but in his eyes, well, the "economy is bad, everyone is underwater, so what." He's come up with some kind of scam to get the new house, mostly spending all of his retirement so the daughter won't have to be known as the "cancer kid," according to him. He says he will pay 2 mortgages until the present home sells. He got furious when we said we pay cash for our cars, even though they are nice, because we wait ten years to get new ones and basically pay ourselves to save up. He blamed that on me, like you had 2 incomes and only 2 kids and I have one income and 3 kids . We discussed choices and decisions... he said it's all Obama's fault .
We said that family support, friends, and faith should get them through this, and yes, while we can't imagine what they are going through, money does not buy happiness. DH suggested all of it is to make him feel better, as he has always done this. My FIL, FIL's sister, and sister's son all have/had bipolar d/o and I've always suspected BIL does, too. The crazy spending and scams are bordering on mania. He is getting counseling and is on an antidepressant, but I doubt he told the prescriber about the family history... antidepressants can cause mania to get worse. He describes being sad, can't sleep, etc, but no matter what we say, we're evil.
We really wanted to help, by giving advice, but he can't hear us. I feel badly for his wife and all of the kids.