If you've been listening to Sludge: An American Healthcare Story, you may already know the deal. If not... several months ago, I suffered a very painful and scary gallbladder attack. I was eventually diagnosed with gallstones and acute cholecystitis, and after many frustrating steps in my pursuit to get the medical care I need, I was finally scheduled for gallbladder removal surgery. It's happening October 15th.

However, I just received a phone call from the hospital saying I will owe $2400 for the surgery upon arrival to the hospital on October 15th. Apparently, that's what I still owe on my deductible before my health insurance kicks in.

Like most people, I don't have $2400 spare dollars lying around, so if you are able to donate, I would be so incredibly grateful.

Donations will go directly to paying this hospital bill, covering the cost of pain medications and any other prescriptions, as well as other bills I've incurred along the way (ER visit, ultrasounds and other scans, appointments with my PCP and specialists).  

This has been a very frustrating and overwhelming few months for me, and this surgery will (hopefully) mark the end of it. Please help me get there! Many, many thanks!

If you aren't able to give money, another way you can help is by listening to the podcast Sludge: An American Healthcare Story, in which I chronicle the events of this experience, demonstrating how broken the U.S. healthcare system is. In the upcoming season 2, I will be talking to other people with similar stories and exposing the pervasive and dangerous medical bias that many medical providers are harboring. Our system is broken and needs to be reformed asap!