For anyone willing to help,
I reluctantly set up this fundraiser out of honest desperation.
Last May I learned that I would need a series of surgeries. Due to the personal nature of these surgeries and how deeply they have effected me emotionally I cannot divulge a lot of information regarding medical details, but I can speak to the financial burden.
A number of factors surrounding the surgeries have contributed to the near complete depletion of my savings and the panic that has ensued to pay for the upcoming surgeries and all appointments surrounding them.
The number of doctors who are involved in my care is a big factor. The collaboration of all of these doctors for a surgical plan, albeit necessary, comes with a grueling amount of ongoing separate appointments (and fees) with each provider. Office visit fees, imaging, fees for interpretation of the imaging, lab work and a multitude of other tests, along with the increasing referrals to other specialists joining my care team is just a part of the financial burden, and that's excluding the surgeries themselves. Many of my specialists, additionally, are out of network.
A staggering amount of my surgery (and even anesthesia, despite my appeal) is not covered by insurance, and I don't want to get into the details of my insurance like my deductible and such, but I have thousands out of pocket that I have paid and that I need to pay for the upcoming surgeries. I'd get into more details about why these need to be paid up front/immediately, why I can't use a payment plan for a lot of it, etc, but that would speak too much to details of my surgeries and providers that I don't want to divulge for my privacy and for the reputations of my providers. I can say that one of my surgeons is not in network and of course, that doesn't help.
Time taken away from work to make all of these appointments, as well as time off for surgery and for surgical recovery is another major factor. Between the time taken off for the recent passing of my father, mandatory time taken for Covid, my appointments, surgeries, and recovery, I have taken and will be taking a lot of leave unpaid as I don't accrue time off quickly enough to keep up with such major life events.
None of us know what others are dealing with, but I can tell you that this has been so much for me to handle that I absolutely can't deny that I can't alone anymore.
Anything helps.
