Mike's Medical and Living Expenses
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Thank You for reading my story.
My name is Michael Brand and I am a 48 year old Husband, Father, and Grandfather from rural Georgia.
I have worked in the HealthCare field for the last 15 years, most of that career being in Hospice.
My wife is a nurse at the local hospital and my two older children are pursuing their careers now. One as a pharmacy tech at CVS and the other works with the Carpenters union. My third child who lives at home is a Junior in Highschool. I am also financially responsible for my seven year old grandson. That is a longer story in itself.
In August of 2013, I was pumping gas at the local convenience store when an elderly lady came across the parking lot and wrecked into my car. As I was standing outside pumping gas, I had no way to protect myself from what was to happen. The force of the impact caused my car to hit me and slam me into the corner of the gas pump, This fractured my back in 3 places. I was thrown about 15 feet and as I landed, I instinctivly stretched out my hand to brace for the fall. This caused a broken scaffoid in my wrist which required surgery to fix.
The lady that did this damage to me had the minimum coverage acceptable for the state of Georgia. $25,000. The life flight I was own charged $29800.00, not to mention the wrist surgery and emergency room and follow up visits.
Being that I live in the great state of Georgia, when a person has minimum coverage with auto insurance, that's all there is available. My personal Health insurance had to pick up the lions share of the bill.
I continued to work with Hospice for almost 2 years and all of the daily driving began to take a toll on my back.
I was offered, and accepted, a position with a long term care facility in order to continue working in healthcare. I was adjusting well to the new job and then it happened.
My L4 disc finally collapsed completely and caused severe impingment of the nerve roots to my right side. I was not able to walk for 3 days. I informed my supervisor and was referred to a neurosurgeon by my primary care physician. After the visit, the neurosurgeon placed me on medical leave and because I did not have an exact date that I would be able to return to work, I was terminated. I have never been terminated from a job in my working career.
I have lost my health insurance as of 1/31/16 and because I was not at my current position for a year I do not qualify for FMLA. I am also not eligible for unimployment benefits because I can not seek gainful employment elsewhere due to my back. I am unable to drive because of back spasms that cause immediate loss of control from my waist down. The pain is undescribable.
I have a test scheduled for 2/9/2016 that will determine exactly what the neurosurgeon will need to do to fix this problem. He stated at my previous appointment that a 3 level fusion is probably the answer. This is a procedure in which the vertibrae in the back are permenantly fixed in a single position. If this is the case, I will not be able to bend at the waist again.
I realize that there has been a short time frame between this last event and the time I am creating this request. The reason is because I, like most everyone, live paycheck to paycheck in this economy. I do not have several thousand dollars in the bank to cover Cobra Insurance and can not work until I have my back fixed.
The procedure I need cost well over the request I have submitted. I am just asking for what I need to pay my portion of the procedure, for Cobra insurance, and assistance for a mortgage and other bills of life until I can do it myself or I can get approved for disability.
I have been told by my primary care physician to expect to be totally disabled after the procedure. This will require me to be on Social Security disability. The process for this is very long. I takes approximately 18 months without income, insurance or any assistance.
I have worked my whole life. I have never been without a means to take care of my family and responsibilities. I am now at a loss as to what to do without having to ask for assistance
I need help immediately. I have the procedure I mentioned previously, scheduled for the 9th of February. This will determine what needs to be done and whatever surgery I need to fix it as soon as possible afterwards.
As I said, I have been fortunate to be able to work and pay for everything I and my family needed prior to this event. I will forever be indebted to those that are willing and able to help. I will also dicontinue my help request when I am able or if I am able to resume a normal work life.
Thank you very much for reading my story.
My name is Michael Brand and I am a 48 year old Husband, Father, and Grandfather from rural Georgia.
I have worked in the HealthCare field for the last 15 years, most of that career being in Hospice.
My wife is a nurse at the local hospital and my two older children are pursuing their careers now. One as a pharmacy tech at CVS and the other works with the Carpenters union. My third child who lives at home is a Junior in Highschool. I am also financially responsible for my seven year old grandson. That is a longer story in itself.
In August of 2013, I was pumping gas at the local convenience store when an elderly lady came across the parking lot and wrecked into my car. As I was standing outside pumping gas, I had no way to protect myself from what was to happen. The force of the impact caused my car to hit me and slam me into the corner of the gas pump, This fractured my back in 3 places. I was thrown about 15 feet and as I landed, I instinctivly stretched out my hand to brace for the fall. This caused a broken scaffoid in my wrist which required surgery to fix.
The lady that did this damage to me had the minimum coverage acceptable for the state of Georgia. $25,000. The life flight I was own charged $29800.00, not to mention the wrist surgery and emergency room and follow up visits.
Being that I live in the great state of Georgia, when a person has minimum coverage with auto insurance, that's all there is available. My personal Health insurance had to pick up the lions share of the bill.
I continued to work with Hospice for almost 2 years and all of the daily driving began to take a toll on my back.
I was offered, and accepted, a position with a long term care facility in order to continue working in healthcare. I was adjusting well to the new job and then it happened.
My L4 disc finally collapsed completely and caused severe impingment of the nerve roots to my right side. I was not able to walk for 3 days. I informed my supervisor and was referred to a neurosurgeon by my primary care physician. After the visit, the neurosurgeon placed me on medical leave and because I did not have an exact date that I would be able to return to work, I was terminated. I have never been terminated from a job in my working career.
I have lost my health insurance as of 1/31/16 and because I was not at my current position for a year I do not qualify for FMLA. I am also not eligible for unimployment benefits because I can not seek gainful employment elsewhere due to my back. I am unable to drive because of back spasms that cause immediate loss of control from my waist down. The pain is undescribable.
I have a test scheduled for 2/9/2016 that will determine exactly what the neurosurgeon will need to do to fix this problem. He stated at my previous appointment that a 3 level fusion is probably the answer. This is a procedure in which the vertibrae in the back are permenantly fixed in a single position. If this is the case, I will not be able to bend at the waist again.
I realize that there has been a short time frame between this last event and the time I am creating this request. The reason is because I, like most everyone, live paycheck to paycheck in this economy. I do not have several thousand dollars in the bank to cover Cobra Insurance and can not work until I have my back fixed.
The procedure I need cost well over the request I have submitted. I am just asking for what I need to pay my portion of the procedure, for Cobra insurance, and assistance for a mortgage and other bills of life until I can do it myself or I can get approved for disability.
I have been told by my primary care physician to expect to be totally disabled after the procedure. This will require me to be on Social Security disability. The process for this is very long. I takes approximately 18 months without income, insurance or any assistance.
I have worked my whole life. I have never been without a means to take care of my family and responsibilities. I am now at a loss as to what to do without having to ask for assistance
I need help immediately. I have the procedure I mentioned previously, scheduled for the 9th of February. This will determine what needs to be done and whatever surgery I need to fix it as soon as possible afterwards.
As I said, I have been fortunate to be able to work and pay for everything I and my family needed prior to this event. I will forever be indebted to those that are willing and able to help. I will also dicontinue my help request when I am able or if I am able to resume a normal work life.
Thank you very much for reading my story.
Organizer
Michael Brand
Organizer
Reidsville, GA
