18 months of mostly downs; help Meg build up!

Hi! My name is Meg and I am on pastoral staff at a wonderful UMC and that is truly my joy. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on February 2, 2024 and have been on a wild journey.

Never once was I hospitalized for any lengthy period of time. Even my double mastectomy was only over night.

I was finally getting back to my full strength, health and stamina when I hurt my back on 8/8/25. I ended up needing to be hospitalized on 9/3/25 and I was released 9/6/25. With more tests, procedures, physical therapy, etc staring at me.

Here is what I wrote on my Facebook about it: I have debated on whether or not to post about this publicly… but the more people praying the better is what I have been convinced of.

My back has been giving me problems on and off for a while. Yesterday evening a sharp pain went down my right leg that brought me to my knee. When I stood back up I noticed longer had any feeling in my foot, calf and parts of my hamstring. The rest of my leg has shooting pain.

I immediately called my orthopedic doctor who sent me to Community ER. There I was admitted.

I met with a neurosurgeon this morning who assures me that I will be ok and that it is just going to take time. She was originally estimating this stay to be 5-6 days. The doctor originally said I’d need two days of high dose steroids, the weekend because neurosurgery space doesn’t operate in their suite on Sat/Sun, a discectomy/laminectomy on Monday or Tuesday depending on the availability of the surgical staff.

I was released from the hospital today still in tremendous pain for a variety of reasons. But the short and long of all of it is this particular surgeon is no longer comfortable working with me. I was honest about my past and my fear of how much medication she was prescribing/allowing me to take.. I brought my therapist into the conversation yesterday and everything seems to have fallen apart since then.

My records on my chart are quite interesting and telling of the whole situation. I’m too mad to talk rationally about it right now. But rest assured if there is permanent damage, I have the proof in black and white of her negligence.

It does feel like I just cannot catch a break. Being honest wasn’t helpful. Questioning if I was being given too much medication was for sure not helpful. And I’m still in so much pain. I have to basically restart this process with the MRI evidence of an untreated 13mm herniated SI joint after being denied treatment. Not a great combination.

Thank you all for your prayers, good vibes, juju, whatever you’ve got.

I have been down and out with my health for the past 18 months and have never had to ask for money until today. My medical debt to this building is already astronomical and now I have a three night hospital stay, two more MRIs to pay for, and have to find a new surgeon and all those copays and whatnot.

As a pastor, I am not getting rich in earthly money but in so many other ways. If all of my TikTok followers gave $3 we would exceed the goal and this stay would be paid for and some of my debt would be as well. But truly there is no pressure and I would love your prayers more than anything else. All donations will go exclusively to medical debt or current medical procedures. In the event that I have had everything done and there is money left over, it will go to our local Loaves and Fishes fund that exists to help people in times of need especially when trying to avoid eviction.