Medical Expenses

Hey, everybody! A lot of you know me and I hope you feel the same way about me that I do myself lol I have always tried to be there for anyone that has ever needed me in any way and I have given 110% to life in just about everything I do!

On April 26th, Dustin stopped by the donut store in Soddy Daisy and picked up a few treats for us. We made dinner and followed that with a donut on the back porch. The evening was relaxing and enjoyable. Apparently, around midnight, I got out of bed and wound up in the kitchen floor. Maybe I was thirsty, maybe I had to potty, or maybe my body knew something was about to go terribly wrong. Which one....I shall never know. I woke up in the hospital, in the Neuro-Surgery Trauma Unit. Dustin heard me fall and thought someone had broken in, and went to investigate after realizing that I was not in the bed. He found me in the kitchen floor, my glasses over yonder and my phone at my side (which is weird bc I never grab those things when I get up in the middle of the night...). He screamed for Sara and together they got an ambulance on the way. I have no recollection of any of it.

Upon waking in the hospital, I found that my girl Sara was there with her daddy, as well as my mom and her husband. I guess I was worried they were going to have to do brain surgery bc that is what they are telling me I kept asking lol I am pretty stoked that they didn't have to!! I do have some bleeding on the brain as well as a blood clot in one of my jugulars. They are saying that it is a "Traumatic Brain Injury" and I can believe it! They are definitely not for the faint of heart because the PAIN IS REAL! My head has never hurt or throbbed or agonized me like it has for the last week and a half and I am not sure that there is peace in sight. It is simply one day at a time and I find myself struggling quite a bit. I have heard from the numerous doctors that I hit so hard that I gave myself a trauma induced stroke. I feel it. I can tell that there are issues going on in my body that are going to most likely take a good deal of time to heal, most of which are on the left side, which makes sense I guess. I am trying to sleep propped up at night, waiting on the pain medicine to kick in, which tends to take forever.

The best anyone can figure out is that it stems from being an undiagnosed diabetic. I had no idea, WE had no idea. We are seeing doctors and making plans and trying medicines all in an effort to figure out an entirely new lifestyle. All while trying to decide if what I am feeling is the head injury, or blood sugar, or am I simply losing my mind because I am not capable of being who I was before this disaster :(

It has been said to me by a few that the cost incurred during my hospital escapade should be no problem for us to handle. While I do think of myself as fiscally smart, there are several issues with being self employed at the moment. The largest one being that the out of pocket costs associated with carrying self employed health insurance are astronomical. Not only do we have to meet that expense that has occurred with the days spent in the trauma ICU but the additional costs of post ICU dr visits, medicine, treatments, etc. I have several appointments set for this week as well as starting physical therapy next week.

I know that we shared the building of our home on facebook and it looks as though we should have money oozing out of our ears, but that is not the case. We have debt, even more now. Debt that we will no doubt pay as we can, but some of which was definitely unplanned. Between the doctor visits, the numerous phone calls to different specialists, and the need to have someone here with me at all times, there has been little to no work getting done within our business, which is our livelihood. Dustin has had to be here with me 24/7 and will continue to have to do the same for at least the next several weeks. I am currently unable to care for myself as I should, Sara works, and Sally is a couple hours away. I am so very fortunate to be married to such an amazing human, and I battle with knowing what this is doing to his position. He loves me, he wants only the best for me, and its a beautiful thing! In order for our lives to begin to return to normal, we can only do what we can do, and that is to take things one step at a time.

There have been several that have shown me exactly how I have touched your lives and you have graciously sent money my way. I want you to know that I have kept up with it as best as my brain will let me and that we truly appreciate it from the top to the bottom of our hearts! If you feel led to help us out, feel free to donate any amount you would like, and know that it will all go towards helping us out with the piling up medical costs, I promise. I am not typically one to ask for help, and I wouldn't now, but we could truly use all the help we can get!

May the Good Lord shine His merciful Love upon each and every one of you! God Bless <3