For those who don't know me, my name is Tanya Marten.

A little over two years ago, while I was recovering from rotator cuff surgery, my husband, Jonathan, was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left wrist. At the time, we were both insured through my job as a legal assistant, so it was no problem sending him to an orthopedic hand-wrist specialist.

Unfortunately, my employer decided my own recovery was taking longer than they liked. In a frightening act of "corporate charity", they terminated my employment and cancelled our insurance on 24 hours notice. Aside from the difficult position this put me in because of my shoulder rehab, the day they fired me and cancelled our insurance was also the day Jonathan had an appointment with the orthopedist to schedule his surgery.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we were able to go on Medicaid, which allowed me to finish my physical therapy. Unfortunately, no hand-wrist specialists would take Medicaid, so Jonathan was left with no access to the medical system for his continuously weakening left wrist (my husband is an independent filmmaker; thus, by definition, he has no insurance of his own).

Moving from Maryland to New York City (where we hoped it would be easier for me to find a decent position in my field), it took me more than six months to find a job. I had never had a difficult time finding employment in the past, but we live in a different economy these days. As soon as I went back to work, our new insurance kicked in, and Jonathan consulted an orthopdeic surgeon who would finally take care of his hand.

Last week, the surgeon, looking at the MRI and X-rays, told Jonathan the condition of his wrist had — no surprise — deteriorated during the two years he'd had to put off surgery. In addition to the torn tendon, which the doctor said had now "shredded," he now also has a cyst on the bone of his wrist. Immediate surgery is necessary, or Jonathan stands a good chance of losing much of the use of his left hand, which means losing the ability to play drums or guitar, two of the things he most loves doing.

Here's the problem in a nutshell: Our insurance deductible for this surgery is $4000. Given the amount of time I was out of work, even with the money Jonathan brought in through his work, we accrued massive debt. Just surviving and paying our bills is a month-to-month challenge. We simple don't have the co-pay for this essential surgery. This puts Jonathan and I in the position of having to do something incredibly difficult for us — asking our friends, family and strangers for help. We need this money now, as even the pre-surgical expenses are already adding up (a second MRI Jonathan has to have tomorrow morning is going to cost us $454.11, even with insurance).

If you can chip in any amount, we will be eternally grateful. Aside from giving Jonathan the gift of what we're hoping will be full use of his left hand again, more importantly, you'll be giving him the hope he'll once again be able to pick up his drumsticks, or play the guitar that's been sitting gathering dust for two years — you'll give him his music back. That gift would be priceless, and a miracle.

Again, thank you for anything you can do to help. It means the world to both of us.

—Tanya Marten