Dental Despair and Dismay
Donation protected
Wow, where do I start? This is difficult to write.
Many years ago, I lost my job and I had to back off from one of the nearest, dearest, and most major endeavors of my life due to a health issue. I was told that lowering stress in my daily life would help keep the issue at bay. So far, it has.
What to do with my life at that point? I decided to pursue another lifelong dream: writing music for a living. For games, for commissions, for myself, for others, to explore musical ideas I've had, to attempt tributes that have been swimming in my head, and to do research within my scene. I released a few things and they seemed to do well.
Eventually I got some gigs. I've taken on exciting music projects for game creators. I put out a tribute to Nine Inch Nails, quite possibly my favorite band, which was in turn recognised by the band. I've become a part of multiple underground digital art scenes, and I'm about to break ground on some of that research. I'm even building a synthesizer from scratch. I'm pretty excited about all of it.
Health problems returned, however, in another form. Last year I had a scary maxillofacial infection; I was told if I didn't get it taken care of, the infection could spread to my brain and that'd be the end of me. I received some helpful loans from friends for medical bills. I was able to defer some of my rent. My family has helped a bit. I was able to fight the infection. However, amidst checkups, dental work was suggested so the infection didn't return.
I'm on a musician's budget, so I applied for cost-reduced care with the full gamut of discounts that were offered. I did some legwork and I managed to drop what could have been $20+k of medical bills down to roughly $5k. Pretty good, I'd say. Even though I couldn't afford it, I went through with it, and again, thanks to the help from family and friends, I'm roughly back to where I was as far as health goes.
The problem is, now I'm way behind on the bills. I've spent a lot of time trying to optimize my revenue streams for my music, even making a few hard decisions in signing up for things that affect the rights to my work. I've eliminated several monthly expenditures. I also still need more care, but I stopped receiving it because I simply can't afford to go back and get more behind on living expenses.
It's time I stopped for just one second and asked for help. I don't know who will see this and I don't know where it will spread, but I can't do it alone anymore. I'm finally getting somewhere with my career but it isn't enough to regularly keep me out of the red. It would mean so much to me if I could just take care of my remaining issues and expenses and not spend time wrapped up in how I will do it.
I want to take care of this as soon as possible. All proceeds will go directly to my expenses.
Please let me know if there are any questions, expenses, or you would like a reward. I can offer my time, my music, and my gratitude. Thank you for reading.
Many years ago, I lost my job and I had to back off from one of the nearest, dearest, and most major endeavors of my life due to a health issue. I was told that lowering stress in my daily life would help keep the issue at bay. So far, it has.
What to do with my life at that point? I decided to pursue another lifelong dream: writing music for a living. For games, for commissions, for myself, for others, to explore musical ideas I've had, to attempt tributes that have been swimming in my head, and to do research within my scene. I released a few things and they seemed to do well.
Eventually I got some gigs. I've taken on exciting music projects for game creators. I put out a tribute to Nine Inch Nails, quite possibly my favorite band, which was in turn recognised by the band. I've become a part of multiple underground digital art scenes, and I'm about to break ground on some of that research. I'm even building a synthesizer from scratch. I'm pretty excited about all of it.
Health problems returned, however, in another form. Last year I had a scary maxillofacial infection; I was told if I didn't get it taken care of, the infection could spread to my brain and that'd be the end of me. I received some helpful loans from friends for medical bills. I was able to defer some of my rent. My family has helped a bit. I was able to fight the infection. However, amidst checkups, dental work was suggested so the infection didn't return.
I'm on a musician's budget, so I applied for cost-reduced care with the full gamut of discounts that were offered. I did some legwork and I managed to drop what could have been $20+k of medical bills down to roughly $5k. Pretty good, I'd say. Even though I couldn't afford it, I went through with it, and again, thanks to the help from family and friends, I'm roughly back to where I was as far as health goes.
The problem is, now I'm way behind on the bills. I've spent a lot of time trying to optimize my revenue streams for my music, even making a few hard decisions in signing up for things that affect the rights to my work. I've eliminated several monthly expenditures. I also still need more care, but I stopped receiving it because I simply can't afford to go back and get more behind on living expenses.
It's time I stopped for just one second and asked for help. I don't know who will see this and I don't know where it will spread, but I can't do it alone anymore. I'm finally getting somewhere with my career but it isn't enough to regularly keep me out of the red. It would mean so much to me if I could just take care of my remaining issues and expenses and not spend time wrapped up in how I will do it.
I want to take care of this as soon as possible. All proceeds will go directly to my expenses.
Please let me know if there are any questions, expenses, or you would like a reward. I can offer my time, my music, and my gratitude. Thank you for reading.
Organizer
Brendan Becker
Organizer
Arbutus, MD