My name is Tamara, and I am a married working mother of 2 teenage boys. 2025 and 2026 have been difficult. Like everyone else, we are struggling with rising costs but also special circumstances.

I spent a week in the hospital because I was dizzy and blacking out, and they couldn’t figure out why until I had an episode while talking to the doctor. Turns out both chambers of my heart have nerve function issues, so I had to have a dual chamber pacemaker installed and I missed 3 weeks of work. I do have insurance and FMLA, but it only paid out 60% of my pay, which unfortunately didn’t cover my normal bills, much less the medical bills that have started poring in.

After recovering from that I started having other unrelated symptoms that I am currently trying to find an answer to leading to 2 more hospital visits.

I had been trying to find a second job prior to all this to try to get some stuff paid down and have some savings without any luck finding one. I have applied to approximately 45 different positions without even an interview or an email saying they went a different direction.

To add insult to injury I just received my new student loan repayment under the new Trump IBR plan and my payments went from $50 under the SAVE plan to $586. That is almost as much as our mortgage and unaffordable.

I hate asking for help but I am out of options and physically unable to go the extra mile I would normally go.

If I can raise enough to at least cover my medical bills it would take a huge weight off and hopefully keep us from starving or loosing our home.