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Hi! We are Steven and Alicia, and our sister Ginny needs help. She's undergoing spinal surgery on her neck to fix the chronic numbness and sharp pain she's been dealing with for months. Ginny is a recently single mother of two beautiful girls, so while navigating those new waters, she naturally put off her own care to ensure her family is taken care of. When it became chronic shooting pain down her left arm with numb fingers, Ginny conceded to see her doctor. It turns out she has foraminal stenosis on the left at c4-5 and c5-6, which can be treated with an anterior cervical disc replacement, where they basically open up her neck and move over her esophagus and windpipes to replace the discs anteriorly. The surgery is for 3 hours. Here’s more info on it.
Here is where you come in. We all know that medical insurance in this country can leave a patient under a mountain of debt, and we, her family, don't want to see that happen to our sweet Ginny. Ginny's looking at a minimum of 4 weeks of recovery and a soft return to light-duty once she can work again. The upfront cost for the surgery alone is $800, plus the $2,200 facility fee, the $1,500 anesthesia and undisclosed fees for the surgeon and the neuromonitoring. Add her rent and monthly bills; we've got our debt mountain! Thankfully Ginny is receiving assistance on some of these fees so we don't have to rely solely on crowdfunding. MetLife will also cover some of her bills, but with only 60% wage replacement, that could be spent on gasoline ALONE (am I right or am I right?).
Ginny's rent is $2,025, and the minimum she needs to get this surgery started is $800 out of pocket. So, $3,000 is really just a basic, bottom-line goal. If we can raise enough to also cover some bills, it would give her and her girls (and let’s face it, her ex husband) some peace of mind. And it’s much easier to heal when one can relax and focus on mending.
Thank you for taking the time to read. Please donate and spread the word so we can change this surgery from a worry to a memory.
Organizer and beneficiary
Virginia Schmierer
Beneficiary