Hey, y'all! I'm Tannen.

Since 2020, I've been struggling with a handful of health issues after a gallbladder surgery that has culminated into more or less disaster for me. At the beginning of February, I found myself so swollen I was unable to walk, so off to the ER we went. Long story short, it's all wrong: my kidneys have shut down, I've started to have some blood pressure issues, was wracked with pulmonary edema, and could no longer stand or walk under my own power.

So, treatment began, and for a little over two weeks, I was getting dialysis three days a week along with some largely indifferent PT/OT to get me back on my feet. My overall swelling has gone down (still very, very swollen in my legs), PT managed to get me out of bed a couple of times, but walking was out of the question. And then they sent me home. The rehab facility we found said my insurance rejected me. I had no plan in place for assistance for home health. I feel like I was lucky enough that my social worker was able to find an ambulance service to pick me up and take me to my outpatient dialysis.

So here we are, now. Both me and my fiancé are unemployed. We're both looking, but my still three-times-a-week dialysis treatments are going to severely complicate this. We're also stuck in place with a lack of vehicle (my truck was repossessed last year after being laid off from my last job). And there's loads of support I still need coming up that I have no idea how I'm going to handle.

I have applied for disability and SSI. Unfortunately, despite end stage renal disease being a near-instant qualifier, it's still going to take time. That is, if current events will allow for it. I still need to eat, and I can no longer live off cheap, prepackaged foods, due to my new restrictive diet. I still need medications; I haven't stopped being diabetic, technically, so my meds, even under insurance, are generally going to run about $300/month. I still have a load of out-of-pocket costs associated with my ER visit and hospital stay. I still need the supplies to keep my center line and the area around it clean, because an infection there has a direct line to my heart. I still can't walk; best I can do is shuffle just a bit to encourage blood/fluid return in my legs.

It's all overwhelming. The money I had got back from my income taxes is already gone to expenses such as doctor co-pays, food, and meds. We're going to need a lot of help. So in that vein, I am asking for whatever you feel you can spare. Everything adds up in the end. If you find yourself also cash-strapped (let's face it, we're all struggling), please share this around on social media. If you take issue with this particular fundraising platform, let me know, I have other options available.

Either way, thank you for taking the time to check out my story. Updates on my progress and treatments will go up here every Friday around 8PM Central time. I have been so very blessed with help here and there since my unemployment ran out, but never has anything felt worse than dealing with this aftermath.