A Mother's Fight: Mental Health and Medical Bills

First of all I’m not good with words and I don’t ask for help. I pride myself on being a strong independent woman. If there’s a problem I fix it myself. Right now though I am out of options and can not fix this myself. So now is the time for some hard truths to come out. I am struggling with my mental health and physical health. If I’m being honest I have been struggling with my mental health for some time now. Back in November, I spent the last of my savings and went to Utah to a mental health retreat. While the retreat was great and I learned a lot, it has been hard to implement since I came home. I have a notebook full of tools that I learned on how to cope and manage my depression and anxiety, but being back in the thick of things has been really difficult. I have a mental health provider that I see for medication at least once a month. She has been amazing, but due to a surgery that I had for weight loss, I do not absorb medications like I should. Thankfully, there is an injection of one of my medications that we are going to start on Thursday. That will help with my body getting the medication in. Most days, I'm not up to leaving the house. Luckily, when the boys are with me, I am able to push through to get them to school. I was admitted to Mary Lanning a few months ago due to overwhelming depression and suicidal thoughts. While that stay was eye-opening, it didn't help get me back on track. I am still struggling with suicidal thoughts and at this point, I'm not sure what to do.

Physically, I have been having issues with anemia, gallbladder, and other stomach issues. In the beginning of April, I started getting really bad upper right quadrant pain along with vomiting and other stomach issues that you don't really want to hear about. I went to the ER and they did an ultrasound. My gallbladder didn't look great but good enough for them to release me and tell me to come back if it gets worse. Well, the pain did not go away, so I went to my doctor. She ordered a HIDA scan, which I'm still waiting for insurance to approve. Once that's approved, they will take a more extensive look at my gallbladder and make sure that it is the problem, and then we can schedule surgery. I am extremely anemic, so they also want to do an EGD, which is a scope through my mouth down to my stomach and beyond. They want to make sure I don't have any issues from my weight loss surgery or ulcers (among other things). The EGD is scheduled for Monday, May 19th.

I am currently on a leave of absence from my full-time job to work on my physical and mental health. My job has been amazing at accommodating me, but I am not getting paid and that is creating a whole new set of problems, as you can imagine. I have no savings, I have maxed out my credit cards, and I am starting to fall behind. I only tell you this because I need help to get caught up. Not having the burden of finances would help me focus on my health and will help me get to a better place. Once my physical pain is taken care of, I know my mental health will start to improve as well.

Like I said, I’m not good with words but I am struggling and I need some help. If you are able to donate I would appreciate it. Money raised will go towards rent, utilities, groceries, gas, medical bills and credit card payments.