Megan's Medical Bills
Hi. My name is Megan, and I need your help. Even if it is just reading the story below, I'm incredibly grateful for whatever you can do.
On June 17th, 2014, I woke up in the worst pain of my life and was rushed to the ER. Once there, I was assessed and taken in for emergency surgery on a ruptured cyst that had caused torsion in my left ovary. After recovering for a few weeks from the surgery and the scare, I was at least glad that the worst had happened and I'd made it through.
However, on November 1st, 2014, things began to get worse again. I started having similar pain in the same area, but the doctors were convinced that nothing was wrong; tests came up negative and showed that everything was fine. I was in and out of school/work for weeks, visiting doctors and trying to convince them that something wasn't right. It wasn't until December that I found a doctor willing to help. I finally had my second surgery on December 14th, 2014, during which they discovered that my ovary had most likely been torsing on and off for almost two months. After tending to the site to prevent future issues and recovering once more, I was at least certain that, this time, I'd made it through the worst of it.
5 months later, I was healthy and excited for my first pain-free summer. After spending my last semester as a full-time student working three jobs to pay off my medical bills, I was thrilled to stay with my good friends in California to relax. However, the night of May 11th, 2015, I woke up with excrutiating pain on my left side, and I knew all too well what it was. I had a friend rush me to the emergency room for the pain, but after many tests, they decided (once again) that I looked fine. However, this time around, they prescribed me Percocet for the terrible pain. I was wary of taking it at all, since I'd used it for previous recoveries and knew it was strong; however, I felt like I had no other choice. Over the next few weeks and multiple additional ER visits/tests, they continued telling me that nothing was wrong and to keep taking the Percocet around the clock.
Finally, I found a doctor who was willing to help despite the test results. On May 29th, I went in for my third surgery. The doctor discovered that my ovary had migrated and had begun attaching itself to other organs, which was very dangerous. They'd also found varicose veins and possible signs of more torsion, which was the source of my incredible pain. After finally removing the ovary, I went back to my friends' house to recover, hoping so much that the problem was fixed for good. I'd be done with the Percocet and the ovary-from-hell, ready to move on with my life.
On the night of May 31st, a day after I'd stopped taking the Percocet, I had my first seizure. The pain was unbelievable, the new worst of my life. I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on or why. We discovered that I had been on such high doses of Percocet for so long that my body had started going through withdrawal. I was never too worried because I'd never had a single mental craving, but the evidence was there. All for a drug I never wanted to take.
These past four months have been a grueling process to recover from this withdrawal and the physical, mental, emotional, and financial burden of this medical issue. After three weeks of a uniquely-painful weening-off process, I was still having symptoms long after I'd taken any Percocet. Even a month and a half later, we were still visiting doctors trying to get help, only to be written off with, "There's no way it's still withdrawal, just take Percocet as needed for the pain." It wasn't until returning home in August and having a doctor finally conclude that I was, indeed, still going through a very severe case of withdrawal, that I was finally able to start healing.
As of right now, I am still barely a step above bedridden. I live every day coping not only with the physical pain and with my recovering nerves, but with the mental/emotional results of months of trauma. I have severe anxiety that appears without warning, sometimes escalating to full-scale panic attacks. I've had nightmares every night since the last surgery that send me waking up gasping and in tears, making it hard to get any sleep at all. Because of this, I am no longer able to graduate early from Emerson College and had to take this semester off to recover.
And yet, through all of this, I've still yet to receive the majority of my impending medical bills looming over my head. Because I am not physically able to work and I won't be getting money from this semester's financial aid, the hole just keeps getting deeper. I've applied to over 45 jobs in the past few months and haven't managed to solidify anything. During the one job I managed to land an interview for, I had an anxiety attack and lost my chance. I've done everything I can this past year, working as hard and often as possible to pay off the thousands of dollars from the first surgeries, but this one has drained me of everything I have.
I realize that this number is intimidating, but I think it's possibly still an underestimation of how much I have left to pay. The cost of the surgery, anesthesia, ultrasounds, CAT scans, MRIs, ER visits, and in-patient medicine over the past four months are stacking, and I'm in need of whatever help you can provide.
It was incredibly hard to convince myself to make this, but I've tapped out every other options. Every single dollar truly counts. Even if you aren't able to provide a monetary donation, please consider sharing my story with your friends or on social media to help me reach my goal.
Thank you so much for everything. I'm incredibly grateful.
