BJs Medical Fund: Eviction of Frank

Hello everyone. I am Amber, BJ's roommate and dear friend. In the last year, she has been fighting a pretty hard battle with her body. Last year she had to have surgery on her reproductive area. While striving to recover from that completely, especially financially, something else happened. I will let her explain in a letter she sent to her family a week ago then I will give more info!

Dear family,

I have waited a little while to share this news because I had to get more answers before I was comfortable enough to tell people. I figured most of you will have questions...

As you know I have been having seizures, mini strokes and boughts of distress for a few months now. I've had mood swings, black outs, dizzy spells, gaps in my memory, loss of vision in my left eye, struggles with my motor functons and moments where I slur my words if I can find them. I have been living like this for almost 3 months now.

Over those months I have been to several doctors and had numerous diagnostic tests done. What they found is that I have an aneurysm. It is approximately 1/2 an inch in size and it is located in my temporal lobe. This explains all of the symptoms.

This will require surgical intervention and I spoke with a Neuro surgeon today and got the answers that I needed and a plan of action. As long as my follow up CT and MRI come back (we are running these next Tuesday) with little to no growth in the size of the aneurysm they will be using an arteriovenous coil. Essentially this is taking a long guide wire and catheter through the artery in my groin through my heart and up to my brain to coil into the aneurysm and block it off. There will be a Cardiothorasic surgeon present just in case something for a wrong with my heart while they're doing this. Surgery will be scheduled for the end of November or early December. I will be hospitalized for 24 hours pending complications. After that I will be going home for 2 weeks of strict bed rest and then another 2 weeks of restricted activity and home care. I will essentially be out of work for 4-6 weeks.

This does not go without risk, just as any surgery. For me there is a high risk of infection due to my other medical problems such as my diabetes. Also the possibility for some neurologic deficits: memory loss, personality changes, fine motor functions being lost...

I do not particularly want people there for surgery. That would be a stressor on me but when I come home if anyone would like to visit you are more than welcome to as I will likely be going out of my mind with boredom.

I know this is a lot to take in and I am sorry that I can't speak to everyone individually about this. I am ok for now. But this does need to be handled sooner rather than later. If you have any questions you can call me.

I love you all very much and your Love and support are one of the few things that are keeping me up and going lately.

Love and hugs!
BJ


She cannot drive more than a half hour anywhere at the moment. For a while Thomas and I were her only transportation before she got that approved. She has spent (and we have spent) a significant amount of money($4500) just getting her the tests she needed for the diagnosis, depleting her savings. BJ works two jobs; full time at a vet day practice and part time at an emergency vet clinic. She works super hard but getting money for tests is often a decision between 'test which has to happen' and 'phone bill'. She has medical insurance, but it is a very high deductible plan and she still has medical bills from last year's surgery and the tests from before she got insurance.

We also found out as of her last MRI that Frank, the name she has given to her interloper, has grown 2 mm and surgery needs to happen as soon as she is done with the sinus infection she has. The fact that he is growing so fast is alarming for sure. To be honest this is very life threatening. It is time to evict Frank.

This is where you wonderful people come in. Between the high deductible and the time she will be out of work (barring complications), she is going to need financial help. While Thomas and I will continue to do what we can, we just do not have the kind of funds to take care of this. BJ needs help and I am asking her friends and family (and their friends if you are comfortable sharing) to help her. This surgery needs to happen and very soon. 

What the money will cover:
~The rest of her deductible.
~Surgery costs over the 80% covered.
~Pay to cover time she is not able to work (4-6 weeks) so that she doesnt lose her phone, car and other very important bills that need to be paid on time. 
~Subsequent Doctor visits and tests. 

What other things do you need help with? 
~Food 
~Driving to/from errands
~Help keeping the house clean post surgery
~Friend time for a bored, homebound BJ

If you have any questions, please direct them to me as BJ needs to avoid stress as much as possible and answering 6 of the same question each day can be exhausting no matter how much she loves you all. I will definitely keep the Go Fund Me updated. Please feel free to share. In fact I encourage it. BJ is very loved and we need to keep her around for a long time to come. 

Thank you for your time, 

Amber