My name is Megan. I am a wife and mother of 3. Last August (2022), I was diagnosed with Lupus and Gilbert's Syndrome. After lots of bloodwork, tests, and doctor's appointments, I found out that my gallbladder was also failing. I scheduled a consultation to have my gallbladder removed that October, and found out I was pregnant with mine and my husband's 3rd child the night before. My care team (rheumatologist, urologist, general surgeon) were notified I was expecting. I saw a high risk OBGYN, underwent multiple maternal and fetal heart echoes, had weekly non stress tests, biweekly growth scans - if I wasn't at work, I was at a doctor's appointment. Three months before my due date, I was having contractions every 3 minutes and had to go to L&D to stop labor. I was put on work restrictions then and was terminated from my position 2 weeks later. I became a liability. Unfortunately, I live in a "fire at will" state and could do nothing about it and was denied unemployment pay. And due to my termination, I lost my health care coverage. Thankfully, majority of my illnesses and their effects lied dormant during my pregnancy and we only had a few little hiccups along the way. I gave birth to a beautiful 7lb 6oz baby girl in June. She was born with a small hole in her heart that will just need to be monitored and will hopefully close on its own by her first birthday.
Ever since her birth, my health has declined rapidly. I finally had my gallbladder removed September 1st (2023) and have had multiple kidney infections. This last Tuesday (Nov.7th) , I started having severe lower back pain on the right side. I brought my oldest daughter to school at noon, and by 12:30pm, I was violently throwing up on top of the severe pain. I picked my daughter up from school at 2:30pm, waited for my son to get off the bus at 4pm, and finally reached out to family members to bring me to the hospital. They did a bunch of bloodwork and a CT scan. My bloodwork showed severe kidney infection, numbers worse than they have ever been, and I had no idea. The CT scan showed a 1.1cm stone causing a blockage, holding all the infection in the kidney. I was told I needed emergency surgery and was being admitted to the hospital. I had surgery around 9pm that night to put a stent in my kidney. This pushed the stone back, opening the kidney up, so the infection could drain out. I stayed overnight in the hospital and was sent home with antibiotics. My husband was working a few states away and rushed home to be with me and to help me with our children while I recover. The antibiotics I was give were not only extremely expensive, but I also had an allergic reaction to them which caused hives, itchiness, chest pains, and horrible acid reflux. I had to stop this medication and start a new one, which was also not cheap. My husband's works insurance company is trying to deny my claims. The CT, bloodwork and procedure are all going to cost a lot, and I'm going to need at least 2 more procedures. One to remove the stent, and another to remove the stones. I hate having to ask for help, but the doctor's have said that this infection was life threatening and I'm lucky I went to the hospital when I did. I have a husband a three young children that depend on me daily and this was such a close call. I could have lost my life. My children could have lost their mother. My husband, his life partner. I'm not sure what the future holds, but as of right now, I know we need help paying for these procedures and appointments to help keep me alive for my children.
Literally anything helps. A share, $1, anything.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and helping any way you can♡
Signed,
A mama just trying to stay alive for my babies♡
