Help Phoenix And Bronwyn Keep Going

We finally figured out my chronic health problems back in May (oh hi it's celiac disease). I started working again as soon as I started feeling better and we were trying to keep afloat as we dealt with the fallout of me being unable to work for more than a year. We were just approaching some kind of stability when...

!SNEAK ATTACK: APPENDICITIS!

I ended up in the ER yesterday with excruciating abdominal pain and it turns out that my appendix is trying to murder me. I've been admitted and am currently waiting for an OR to open up for an emergency surgery to remove the traiterous little asshole.

The good news: I've had enough pain meds to laugh about the ridiculousness of the whole situation. (Well, I can imagine laughing. It still hurts too much if I actually laugh.) I'm going to be okay and I got myself to the hospital soon enough that it's not likely to rupture. I'm going to get to read so many books and play board games with my kids and that's pretty cool.

The bad news: I won't be allowed to lift anything for four weeks -- or longer, depending on how the surgery goes. Because I work in body removal in the funeral industry, lifting hundreds of pounds at a time is a core requirement of my job. So essentially, I can't work until I am recovered from this, which means that thanks to this tiny vestigial organ having a temper tantrum, the stability we were just barely approaching has been ripped away again.

Employment insurance has a week waiting period (a "deductible") and even after that will only cover 55% of my income. Bronwyn is in school full time for their Bachelor of Social Work, is themself recovering from a nasty concussion last month, and on top of that does most of the caring for our kids. So they can't really run out and get a job right this second to bridge the gap.

I don't make a whole lot of money to begin with and because we were still trying to catch up from me being sick for so long before, we have no savings. Our rent for the cheapest two bedroom apartment we could find to rent to us this summer is 56% of my income after taxes. I'm not a mathematician, but you may have also calculated that we are royally screwed right now.

We don't want anyone else to put themselves in a precarious position to help us. We are hoping that if you are able to help us without compromising your own ability to survive you might be able to send a few dollars our way so we don't have to stress about money so much while I'm trying to heal. I've set the goal at $3000 which is about 5 weeks of my income. Anything that ends up being above and beyond what we need to cover our immediate expenses will either help us get a little closer to that stability we were almost at or we'll pay it forward to other people in need.

Thank you!

Phoenix
xoxox

P.S. Apologies if any of this is disjointed, it's taken me a couple hours to write it because I keep getting interrupted by nurses poking and jabbing me and the pain meds + exhaustion from pain are making me a bit loopy.