Endometriosis Laparoscopy
Donation protected
THE STORY:
Many of you may know that I had hip surgery in October of last year. What I haven't shared is that the hip surgery was not successful.
For many years I have struggled with debilitating pelvic and leg/thigh pain. Last year, the doctors were certain that my thigh pain was caused by a hip impingement and told me that a hip arthroscopy would cure my pain. The pain had gotten so bad that I was no longer running, hiking, even walking somedays. Most of you know that those things (running, hiking, etc.) are who I am. They are my everything.
I have been exercising since I was a teenager and it has been my coping mechanism for all the hard times in life. That has been taken away from me.
A few months after the surgery, at a standard checkup, Zac and I told the surgeon that I was still have pain in my thigh. What happened next completely destroyed me. The surgeon said, "Pain in your thigh? We wouldn't do hip surgery for pain in your thigh." We were baffled, angry, confused, sad...
Ever since that misdiagnosis and feeling of hopelessness, things have only gotten worse. The doctors backpedaled and tried to cover up what they had done. There were errors in my medical records and voicemails with the sound of regret and sorrow without admitting fault to the huge mistake they made.
I began searching for answers (again), as the surgery rendored my pain worse. The muscles in my thigh now misfire and malfunction and I am also struggling with the original pain. Exercise is a distant memory for me at this point. Happiness is way back there with it. When I do run, I am plagued by the constant, nagging pain and have to stop. Most days, I simply don't have it in me to even try.
Jumping forward to a few months later, a ton of tears, and thousands of dollars more in medical bills, I finally found what I believe to be the answer.
I have known for years that I have Endometriosis. For those that don't know, Endometriosis (en-doe-me-tree-O-sis) is a painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus. Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis. Rarely, endometrial tissue may spread beyond pelvic organs. Since I'm one of the lucky ones (sarcasm), it is believed that I have Endometriosis near my lungs as well as in my bowels. Last week, I began coughing up blood, and yet I still couldn't find a doctor who would help me. Endometriosis has also been known to cause leg pain.
Unfortunately there is a tremendous lack of awareness about Endometriosis and it often takes women 10 years of living in pain and misery to receive a diagnosis.
In speaking to a specialist last week, we believe that I have been struggling with this disease for going on 20 years. There is a good chance that Endometriosis is destroying my organs, causing me pain, and affecting my fertility.
Zac and I can't even try to have children with the shape that my body is in. This saddens us deeply and we are tired of waiting to receive the help we need. Our life is passing us by and every single day is a struggle for both of us.
Through a series of small miracles, I stumbled across a fabulous resource that lists Endometriosis Specialists all around the country that are known for diagnosing and excising (removing) the tricky cases of Endometriosis. Most doctors open you open, close you up, and tell you, "Everything looks great, it's all in your head."
I don't know if any of y'all have experienced this, but being dismissed when you know something wrong is like being beaten down with a bat slowly until you just crumble and fall. We are at a point of collapse and we cannot take any more of the mental and physical strain that this disease is causing our little family.
Through the resources I discovered, I found a fantastic surgeon who has been doing strictly Endometriosis surgeries for the last 35 years. He is the best of the best and only uses gold standard procedures for excising endometrial lesions. There are no specialists Montana, let alone in Bozeman.
Zac and I will need to drive to Texas to have this surgery done. We don't have any choice. The life we are living today is no life at all and we need ourselves back. We fear I will lose everything if we do not pursue this (job, health, opportunity to have children, etc.)
I do have very good insurance through my employer, but this is still a very expensive surgery and we are still paying for the hip surgery that I had last year. Simply because we got the short end of the stick on that last surgery does not mean that we don't still have to pay for it. It is very unfortunate that the previous surgeons put us through this, but that is in the past and all we can do is look forward
To have the Endometriosis removed via the surgery that I need, Zac and I will have to be in Texas for at least a week.
The surgery itself will cost $5,500 and the additional hospital bills will likely max out at $4,800. This means that overall we are looking at $10,000 in medical bills as well as the cost of travel, lodging, missed work, etc.
I will likely not be able to work for at least a few weeks after the surgery and because of the pain and suffering that I have been enduring, I do not have any paid sick time left to use. I will have to take unpaid time off and Montana does not offer short term disability benefits.
WHY GOFUND ME?
Help is something hard for us to ask for, as we are hardworking people and consider ourselves fortunate; but this unexpected disease has taken a toll on us. I am still trying to put in hours at work (as much as I am able without overexerting myself) and Zac continues to work while still caring for me, and showing up to every treatment and appointment right by my side. Our family is very supportive, but as you all know, our family is on opposite sides of the country from us
We are the type of people that will return good deeds in any way that we can. I hope more than anything else, that if we get through this, that we will be able to help someone else down the line. We believe very much in paying it forward.
We have learned via the blessings that we have already received that it is okay to ask for help. This is an instance where we need help. We are already in over our heads in medical expensives and it would mean the world to us to have even a penny of help to make this surgery possible for Laura.
We are now at a point where we know what we need to do and we need to find a way to do it. We are very grateful for all the help that we are already receiving and even taking the time to read all the way through this shows us that you care. Thank you so very much.
Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. Thank you for supporting Laura in regaining her health.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
-Share our story on social media with a personal message
-Donate what you can to this GoFundMe page
-Send positive thoughts, vibes, and prayers for successful surgery and a speedy recovery.
Together, we can make this happen.
Many of you may know that I had hip surgery in October of last year. What I haven't shared is that the hip surgery was not successful.
For many years I have struggled with debilitating pelvic and leg/thigh pain. Last year, the doctors were certain that my thigh pain was caused by a hip impingement and told me that a hip arthroscopy would cure my pain. The pain had gotten so bad that I was no longer running, hiking, even walking somedays. Most of you know that those things (running, hiking, etc.) are who I am. They are my everything.
I have been exercising since I was a teenager and it has been my coping mechanism for all the hard times in life. That has been taken away from me.
A few months after the surgery, at a standard checkup, Zac and I told the surgeon that I was still have pain in my thigh. What happened next completely destroyed me. The surgeon said, "Pain in your thigh? We wouldn't do hip surgery for pain in your thigh." We were baffled, angry, confused, sad...
Ever since that misdiagnosis and feeling of hopelessness, things have only gotten worse. The doctors backpedaled and tried to cover up what they had done. There were errors in my medical records and voicemails with the sound of regret and sorrow without admitting fault to the huge mistake they made.
I began searching for answers (again), as the surgery rendored my pain worse. The muscles in my thigh now misfire and malfunction and I am also struggling with the original pain. Exercise is a distant memory for me at this point. Happiness is way back there with it. When I do run, I am plagued by the constant, nagging pain and have to stop. Most days, I simply don't have it in me to even try.
Jumping forward to a few months later, a ton of tears, and thousands of dollars more in medical bills, I finally found what I believe to be the answer.
I have known for years that I have Endometriosis. For those that don't know, Endometriosis (en-doe-me-tree-O-sis) is a painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus — the endometrium — grows outside your uterus. Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and the tissue lining your pelvis. Rarely, endometrial tissue may spread beyond pelvic organs. Since I'm one of the lucky ones (sarcasm), it is believed that I have Endometriosis near my lungs as well as in my bowels. Last week, I began coughing up blood, and yet I still couldn't find a doctor who would help me. Endometriosis has also been known to cause leg pain.
Unfortunately there is a tremendous lack of awareness about Endometriosis and it often takes women 10 years of living in pain and misery to receive a diagnosis.
In speaking to a specialist last week, we believe that I have been struggling with this disease for going on 20 years. There is a good chance that Endometriosis is destroying my organs, causing me pain, and affecting my fertility.
Zac and I can't even try to have children with the shape that my body is in. This saddens us deeply and we are tired of waiting to receive the help we need. Our life is passing us by and every single day is a struggle for both of us.
Through a series of small miracles, I stumbled across a fabulous resource that lists Endometriosis Specialists all around the country that are known for diagnosing and excising (removing) the tricky cases of Endometriosis. Most doctors open you open, close you up, and tell you, "Everything looks great, it's all in your head."
I don't know if any of y'all have experienced this, but being dismissed when you know something wrong is like being beaten down with a bat slowly until you just crumble and fall. We are at a point of collapse and we cannot take any more of the mental and physical strain that this disease is causing our little family.
Through the resources I discovered, I found a fantastic surgeon who has been doing strictly Endometriosis surgeries for the last 35 years. He is the best of the best and only uses gold standard procedures for excising endometrial lesions. There are no specialists Montana, let alone in Bozeman.
Zac and I will need to drive to Texas to have this surgery done. We don't have any choice. The life we are living today is no life at all and we need ourselves back. We fear I will lose everything if we do not pursue this (job, health, opportunity to have children, etc.)
I do have very good insurance through my employer, but this is still a very expensive surgery and we are still paying for the hip surgery that I had last year. Simply because we got the short end of the stick on that last surgery does not mean that we don't still have to pay for it. It is very unfortunate that the previous surgeons put us through this, but that is in the past and all we can do is look forward
To have the Endometriosis removed via the surgery that I need, Zac and I will have to be in Texas for at least a week.
The surgery itself will cost $5,500 and the additional hospital bills will likely max out at $4,800. This means that overall we are looking at $10,000 in medical bills as well as the cost of travel, lodging, missed work, etc.
I will likely not be able to work for at least a few weeks after the surgery and because of the pain and suffering that I have been enduring, I do not have any paid sick time left to use. I will have to take unpaid time off and Montana does not offer short term disability benefits.
WHY GOFUND ME?
Help is something hard for us to ask for, as we are hardworking people and consider ourselves fortunate; but this unexpected disease has taken a toll on us. I am still trying to put in hours at work (as much as I am able without overexerting myself) and Zac continues to work while still caring for me, and showing up to every treatment and appointment right by my side. Our family is very supportive, but as you all know, our family is on opposite sides of the country from us
We are the type of people that will return good deeds in any way that we can. I hope more than anything else, that if we get through this, that we will be able to help someone else down the line. We believe very much in paying it forward.
We have learned via the blessings that we have already received that it is okay to ask for help. This is an instance where we need help. We are already in over our heads in medical expensives and it would mean the world to us to have even a penny of help to make this surgery possible for Laura.
We are now at a point where we know what we need to do and we need to find a way to do it. We are very grateful for all the help that we are already receiving and even taking the time to read all the way through this shows us that you care. Thank you so very much.
Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. Thank you for supporting Laura in regaining her health.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
-Share our story on social media with a personal message
-Donate what you can to this GoFundMe page
-Send positive thoughts, vibes, and prayers for successful surgery and a speedy recovery.
Together, we can make this happen.
Organizer
Laura Finley
Organizer
Bozeman, MT
