- D
2019 has been a rough one, for me.
It started out okay - I moved to California in October of 2018, and while it's been a big change from Minnesota, I'm pretty happy here. I joined the local roller derby league here in April, and rapidly fell in love with the sport, and skating in general. It is, without a doubt, my favorite pastime, my ultimate hobby, my happy place.
I lost my mom to suicide on June 22nd, 2019. This started a snowball of financial issues that I still haven't been able to pull myself out of, and I seem to keep hitting little roadblocks continuously along the way.
While I've been working through my grief, derby, and the community that I've found in it, has been vital for me. Some days, when I'm REALLY sad, it's the only thing that can pull me out of my own head.
On November 12th, I fell and broke my right ankle at practice.
I got what is called a trimalleolar fracture, as well as a dislocation. It required an ER trip, where they had to take X-Rays, and sedate me in order to fix the dislocation. The X-Rays revealed that the break was bad enough that I would absolutely require surgery to fix it.
I was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent surgery on Friday, November 15th.
Adding fuel to the flames, I went into the ER early in the morning of November 23rd with excruciating stomach pain, and wound up needing to get my gallbladder out and stay overnight in the hospital.
I'm now on the road to recovery, but admittedly a bit stressed about what this is going to mean for me, financially. I do get short term disability benefits through my work and through the state, but I am having some significant difficulties getting the state coverage (60% of my income) that I need in order to be able to pay my bills. They just sent me a letter in the mail today indicating that they needed information from my medical provider, simply sending me a new, blank version of the form that my doctor had already filled out without referencing what was missing. As I can't drive, I need to wait until I'm able to make it back to my surgeon (an hour away) to get it filled out again, and then will have to wait for their decision in the mail, which will likely add at least another week of waiting for a decision/pay. I have a follow-up appointment on Thursday, which is currently the earliest I'm expecting to see them.
As I can't drive, and my work is an hour away, I am currently out of work.
Finally, the medical costs themselves - my medical plan has a $3,000 deductible, at which point i am covered at 80%. I received the first of my bills today, and owe around $2,300 thus far. That seems to be for my ER X-Rays, and for my ankle surgery itself.
Those are only going to keep coming, likely even more significantly due to the gallbladder surgery typically being more costly than the ankle. After my $3,000 deductible, my plan has an out of pocket maximum of an additional ~$2,000 for the year.
GoFundMe does take a portion of donations, so what I'm trying to raise on the platform is money for medical expenses, my regular living expenses for the brief time that this is going to keep me out of work, as well as the GoFundMe fees.
Thank you in advance for any help you're able to offer, be it kind words, a share, or a donation. I hate asking for help, but am at a point where I need to admit that I need it. I know that it's the holidays, and very much understand if people aren't in a position to help financially, but will never know if I don't reach out.
It started out okay - I moved to California in October of 2018, and while it's been a big change from Minnesota, I'm pretty happy here. I joined the local roller derby league here in April, and rapidly fell in love with the sport, and skating in general. It is, without a doubt, my favorite pastime, my ultimate hobby, my happy place.
I lost my mom to suicide on June 22nd, 2019. This started a snowball of financial issues that I still haven't been able to pull myself out of, and I seem to keep hitting little roadblocks continuously along the way.
While I've been working through my grief, derby, and the community that I've found in it, has been vital for me. Some days, when I'm REALLY sad, it's the only thing that can pull me out of my own head.
On November 12th, I fell and broke my right ankle at practice.
I got what is called a trimalleolar fracture, as well as a dislocation. It required an ER trip, where they had to take X-Rays, and sedate me in order to fix the dislocation. The X-Rays revealed that the break was bad enough that I would absolutely require surgery to fix it.
I was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon, and underwent surgery on Friday, November 15th.
Adding fuel to the flames, I went into the ER early in the morning of November 23rd with excruciating stomach pain, and wound up needing to get my gallbladder out and stay overnight in the hospital.
I'm now on the road to recovery, but admittedly a bit stressed about what this is going to mean for me, financially. I do get short term disability benefits through my work and through the state, but I am having some significant difficulties getting the state coverage (60% of my income) that I need in order to be able to pay my bills. They just sent me a letter in the mail today indicating that they needed information from my medical provider, simply sending me a new, blank version of the form that my doctor had already filled out without referencing what was missing. As I can't drive, I need to wait until I'm able to make it back to my surgeon (an hour away) to get it filled out again, and then will have to wait for their decision in the mail, which will likely add at least another week of waiting for a decision/pay. I have a follow-up appointment on Thursday, which is currently the earliest I'm expecting to see them.
As I can't drive, and my work is an hour away, I am currently out of work.
Finally, the medical costs themselves - my medical plan has a $3,000 deductible, at which point i am covered at 80%. I received the first of my bills today, and owe around $2,300 thus far. That seems to be for my ER X-Rays, and for my ankle surgery itself.
Those are only going to keep coming, likely even more significantly due to the gallbladder surgery typically being more costly than the ankle. After my $3,000 deductible, my plan has an out of pocket maximum of an additional ~$2,000 for the year.
GoFundMe does take a portion of donations, so what I'm trying to raise on the platform is money for medical expenses, my regular living expenses for the brief time that this is going to keep me out of work, as well as the GoFundMe fees.
Thank you in advance for any help you're able to offer, be it kind words, a share, or a donation. I hate asking for help, but am at a point where I need to admit that I need it. I know that it's the holidays, and very much understand if people aren't in a position to help financially, but will never know if I don't reach out.