Hi! My name is Alycia. I have had scoliosis my whole life, and at the age of 16 I had my spine fused as well as rods & screws implanted to help straighten 40°, 30°, and 20° curvatures. It went pretty well but I had a lot of complications that were limiting my quality of life. About five years ago I started seeing a team of neurological and spine surgeons to address the pain, numbness, and tingling in my back throughout my right leg and down to my toes. Those who know me know I’m a tough cookie who doesn’t complain, but every day I have been living with excruciating pain. I am too young to live like this.

I was told that due to my narrow spinal column, several screws had been drilled directly into my spinal cord and them being loose was a possible culprit for my constant discomfort. I was informed that surgery would be the only fix but that it was extremely high risk- and I appreciated having a surgeon who was not candy coating this. I held off on the surgery until this year when it came to a point of, I must do this to be able to live.

December 5th I took the leap and sincerely did not think I was going to make it. I had been more scared than ever in my life in the days leading up to this huge surgery- all the previous hardware, rods, and screws were going to be taken out and replaced. However, since those initials screws were being replaced, larger ones were needed and thus required larger holes in my spinal cord and column. Since this is directly drilling into my brain’s spinal cord, a wrong move could mean instant death. They had to break my ribs, cut through massive amounts of tissue and muscle, and remove all the surrounding organs to complete the job.

When my amazing surgeon got in there, he was met with some surprises which strayed from the initial plan. The fusion at the top of my spine from my initial surgery had never fused nor hardened, so he had to re-fuse the top and extend it upwards due to the weakening of my spine from deterioration due to the lack of fusion. He also discovered that I had a joint at the base of my spine which was awful which needed replaced and reinforced. He put in a spacer to help alleviate some stress in that area. I also had to have a disk removed. They ended up extending my spinal hardware and fusion down two lengths rather than one due to how much deterioration they had found between the lower disks and joints.

I was told I bled out during the procedure and required a blood transfusion while I was in the OR. I also suffered from a punctured lung.

By the grace of God, I woke up.

I hope some day I can recount some of these details without being brought to tears.

The hard part is not over. Far from it! The hard part is that now I will be unemployed until March, but my rent & medical bills from this do not accept excuses.

I hate asking for help, I never ask for help, I try to be as strong and as independent as I can no matter what life throws at me. But this time is different. Being evicted when I can barely move is as big of a fear of mine as not pulling through this surgery. I cannot physically heal properly when my mental health is plagued by worry.

However, today I am asking for help. I am admitting defeat. In this season of giving, in this season of kindness, cheer, joy, and love, I hope that you can take a moment to help lessen this huge financial burden I am facing for the next three months of no income. If you have even a dollar, it will do so much to help alleviate all this stress I am facing over stupid money and help me to focus all of my energy on recovering and getting back to the job I love. It’s so hard and pathetic for me to ask for help but I hope you can find it in your hearts to join this season of giving and help out someone who truly, desperately needs a little bit of giving for just a little bit longer.

I have faith there are good people reading this who understand the severity of this situation and how embarrassed I am that it’s come to this. For anyone who may judge me, I’m sorry you feel that I’m a loser and I feel that way too right now. But I am alive and trying to make this work and I pray there are some people out there who can help me make this work.

I will be completely alone for the entirety of my recovery. Hospice is not going to work out because of financial difficulties. Willy was sent off for the next few months until I can care for him- yes, this means Christmas alone, too. If you cannot donate, I request that you say a little prayer for me that I can pass through this last, largest hurdle. Thank you. God bless, Merry Christmas, and Happy New year to you all.