I’m reaching out because I’ve reached the point where I can’t go on without asking for help.

I’ve struggled over the last year since finding my friend and strongest support when she had succumbed to her own depression. I reached a really dark spot in my own head after, as I’d just recovered from my own attempted suicide when I found her.

During the months that followed, I struggled with my mental health and had a brief period of agoraphobia and catatonic states. I struggled to make ends meet and pushed through with the help of my roommates and friends, and through perseverance, I found full-time employment.

Shortly after my employment with a local brewery, I was hospitalized with an infection in my hand from a piece of wire brush that had lodged in my thumb, causing my thumb to swell nearly three times its normal size. After recovering from this, I returned to work and eventually was in the process of opening my own studio with Blitz Salon Suites.

I was so happy to start working again and doing hair full-time and was set to open in January when I once again found myself dealing with an injury to my hand. I went to the hospital, and an X-ray showed fractures to most of the joints on my middle forefinger and thumb, but they assured me the swelling was just from the trauma. Within two days, my thumb had returned to an enormous swollen state, and my joints had become septic. The X-ray had not shown splinters from the initial injury that had festered and now requires surgery to debride.

I underwent the debridement and was warned to care for the wound well to prevent further spread of the infection, as amputation of the hand was a possibility if the infection traveled any lower.

I took the antibiotics, changed the bandages, and cleaned the wound as I was taught in the hospital. The swelling and infection began to subside, and I awaited news from insurance that I had thought was going to help in situations like this. It seemed lucky at the time that I signed up for it.

At the end of January, the wound was still open, and part of my thumb had turned black. Insurance had assessed the accident and deemed that the payout should total $150. I found myself back in the emergency room and was informed that the bandages were not staying in place, and the lifted bandages were creating the perfect environment for the infection to continue growing. I had a large piece of necrotic tissue that needed to come off.

I left the hospital and spent the last of the money I had in my account to buy enough bandages and pay for the next round of antibiotics I needed.

I’m asking for your help because the bills have kept coming while I haven’t been able to work for almost three months. I’ve done what I can to keep myself going and to earn a little bit of money where I can, but I’ve reached a dire point, and I don’t know what other options I have to take. I am still in a lease for the salon studio along with my monthly bills and medical bills piling up. I thank you in advance just for reading my story and I hope that you’ll find it in your heart to help.

edit: with outside donations I’ve reached the first and most important milestone which is catching up the mortgage payment. The biggest cloud looming over my head is lifted thanks to your support.

my next two goals are to catch up on the studio rental to reopen and to get reliable access to transportation. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that I can get the truck out of repo unless I satisfy the entirety of the loan which is too lofty a goal. If anyone has any suggestions about transportation please let me know !