👋My name is Brittney Hamilton-Heath I’m 32 years old and I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at age 12.
💥when I was diagnosed I had the worst case in the state of Ohio and the worst case in a child in the country.
💔My life has been a constant struggle whether it’s medically financially or emotionally.
🏥my first surgery was at 14 to save my life from a bleed in my intestines, and it hasn’t stopped from there.
I’ve had 17 stomach surgeries in twenty years. My tissue left is now pre cancerous and needs to be removed. I’ve had to skip certain surgeries at this point because they think I will not survive. HOWEVER THIS SURGERY I CAN NOT SKIP OR WAIT ON ITS AN EMERGENCY SURGERY TO SAVE MY LIFE AS I CAN’T CONTINUE TO LOSE THIS MUCH BLOOD OR HAVE THE DISEASED TISSUE LEFT IN MY BODY
I’ve had three ports inserted in my body to have access to get blood, iv nutrition(which is currently keeping me alive at 5000 bucks a bag!) the cost of my drain supplies is almost 500 dollars a month and that’s half my income right there!living on less than 1000 is not cutting it I can’t survive without some help literally!
i have to travel to my nurse to care for my port and app my appointments and I have no vehicle of my own for this need. I get my medication and fluids and food through this iv port I can’t not let it go un cared for so I have to get to rides to all these appointments leading to surgery. I have an illeostolic drain that allows my stomach to drain fluid so I don’t constantly throw up every single meal I do try to eat , which is why I’m on the iv nutrition, This stuff is so expensive and even the small percentage I’m responsible for is way out of my reach and I need it to live.along with my Crohn’s disease comes a lot of other auto immune conditions that people don’t think. Because of the steroids that I am on, I have Osteo necrosis and both of my knees and hips that literally means bone death. My bones are dying due to the treatment to keep me alive. I also have Ehlers danlos syndrome, which is where all of my joints are hypermobile and don’t sit right in the joint. I have constant pain I over rotate and sprained my joints all the time it also affects my immunity to things I have no immune system as I’m on medication’s to put my immune system to sleep. My immune system is what’s actively trying to kill me. Your immune system that sees the bacteria in your gut that properly break down your food, as a good thing, and leaves it there to do it’s work. My immune system, however, does not do that. It sees that bacteria as foreign and attacks it to the point of eating holes through my gut and digestive system. I literally cannot live a life without intervention and the intervention is very expensive and often leads to surgery like now so here I sit, and I need your help.
the surgery I’m about to endure on 30th will be my 18th surgery and the final surgery on my abdomen that I will ever be able to have. The scar tissue in my stomach that has built up from constant opening has made it where I only have one more chance to be opened and I will need cosmetic surgeons, and skin graphs in order to do it successfully. I am responsible and paying for 15% of the surgery consult for the plastic surgeon, as it is something my insurance does not cover even though the initial surgery is covered that is requiring me needing a plastic surgeon to sew me back up, but still my insurance is refusing to cover. they are also refusing any transportation that would be required to and from the hospital after discharge and leading up to surgery. I also have to cover any wound care needs as the wound will be made by the plastic surgeon last and they are not covering him taking care of me, so I’m responsible for anything that he does in my recovery which to me is nonsense and insurance needs to change because of this. But it won’t change by the time that I need it so I am asking for your help I live on disability income which is less than $1000 a month on this thousand dollars a month I pay my bills and buy my food and I am left with less than $100 to my name after that is done . I have no way to cover these extra expenses without asking for your help. My surgery is extremely high-risk. They have already prepped me for what is going to be done when they put me under. There is no guarantee that I will come out from under anesthesia in optimal condition so there’s stuff I need to save for that could come out of left field when I am brought back around after the surgery. So I’m in a bad spot, no income, no transportation, no help. Could you please be the Angel I’ve been praying god for? Asking for help is something I was raised not to do. So this is extremely hard for me which is why I’ve been struggling alone with this for 20+ years. I’ve officially been sick longer than I’ve been healthy now.
I’m asking for your help with these expenses. I can not cover them myself. I can not work without losing the little insurance I have that’s covering what it is already. I could be left with thousands of dollars in care, I could be sent to a long term facility and lose my coverage and disability payments while I’m there and that can not happen. I need to be able to keep my place to live and my income in tact so these expenses aren’t going to stop while I recover. Please be the Angel myself and my family need at this moment. My recovery is resting on whether or not I’ll be able to properly care for myself at home alone. So this is so important. Don’t let me go to a nursing facility, the spells death for someone in my position and I’m too young to go there again.
thank you and god bless you for reading this!! 🙏🏻
