Hi, I'm Alonso. A few days ago, I started feeling sick. I had a headache and back pain. I felt sick for a few days and decided to take OTC pain meds like ibuprofen and later Aleve. I kept going through my days waiting for the pain to go away. Instead, it got worse.

When I developed nausea, vomiting, and insomnia, I went to an ER and was given medication for back muscle pain and gastritis. I went home and started taking the meds. I didn't feel better and kept vomiting, unable to keep food down. I had trouble walking and was unable to drive. When I didn't feel better, a friend helped, and I went to a doctor in Mexico, but they said the same thing: muscle pain and high blood pressure, and sent me home.

A couple of days later, I went to another ER at Doctors Hospital in Laredo, and they said it was just muscular issues with my back and sent me home with muscle relaxers and pain meds. The next day, I returned to the same ER because I kept feeling worse. This time, one of the doctors said I have symptoms of meningitis and they would run some tests just in case. They put me in isolation while they determined whether it was and if it was contagious. Turns out to be meningitis. One doctor said I would be dead if I had not kept looking to get help. Now I'm on day 12 of being hospitalized for a three-week IV treatment at Doctors Hospital.

While all this is terrible enough, it was made worse by the fact I don't have insurance at the time. I had received my cosmetology license and was looking forward to having my own salon in the future. At the end of last year, I finally started working as a hairstylist. I was already getting a clientele and things were looking bright. So I kept trying to get myself out there, looking for clients and learning as much as I could to make a living doing hairstyling.

Now I'm going to be out of work for about a month and will have to figure out how I'm going to pay for my hospitalization. One doctor had said they were trying to find a way to send me home and continue the medical treatment at home with oral medication. Then another said they wouldn't be able to do so because the particular medication I'm taking is only through IV.

I was told I'd probably end up worse if the treatment wasn't completed. Everyone understands that when medical emergencies like this come up, things are thrown into chaos, even with insurance. Bills still have to be paid, work goes on, people continue with their daily lives and that's just the way it is. But I just want to make sure I can give a payment so they continue the rest of the IV treatment I need. I don't want to get sent home to die if I don't finish the treatment. I already gave the hospital a deposit, but it's not enough.