Goodbye Glenn Fundraiser

Hello! I am Charlie Quinn! I am raising funds to help cover medical expenses not covered by insurance.

 

When I was born, the doctors were afraid I would not survive. When I did, then they were worried that I would not develop or function fully as I grew up. I was diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism and was put on medication to help me regulate as I grew up. When I was little, my parents were given the choice to remove my thryoid (as it didn't work anyways). At the time, the doctors advised them against removing my thyroid that young because the surgery is invasive and risky. Everyone thought there was no harm in keeping my thyroid, as long as there were no complications in getting the medication or other things that came up. Fast forward 34 years and "other things" came up.

 

Throughout my childhood and adolescence, the medication appeared to do its job. Aside from the hormone fluctuations of puberty, I grew up with none of the things my doctors were so worried about. Then I left for college and experienced quite a few.....challenges. I was trafficked. I was without my medication while I was being trafficked and my body was not taken care of well. I was not allowed to take the medications, unless I was able to sneak it. Almost all of my medical appointments were monitored. When I got out of the game, I managed to find some stability with my physical health. However, much of the damage was done and it became difficult to keep the thyroid levels manageable without the working thyroid to help. Through all of these fluxuations and difficulties, the thyroid muscle began growing two masses I didn't know were growing.

 

Over the years, I have had multiple hospitalizations, procedures, and saw doctor after doctor to try to get me back into working order. Each time I was met with, "You need to lose weight." (weight gain is a hallmark for hypothyroidism); OR "Just take your medicine." The most recent doctor before my hospital told me that she questioned my judgement due to being a nonbinary individual, and lowered my medication dosage by 200 mg. I lived with that for almost a year until I felt my neck swelling up, and realized that I had been living with horrible pain for 5 out of 7 days in a week. In February 2022, I noticed that it was becoming much more difficult to breathe if I exerted myself even slightly. It was hard for me to stay awake, to focus, and to do activities without difficulty (from pain, exhaution, or otherwise). On April 15, 2022, I woke up and was barely able to breathe. My neck had swollen about twice its size. I attempted to work and then decided it was best for me to go to the Emergency Room. When I got to the ER, I was rushed inside and the ER staff began running tests and scans. Before I found out what was wrong, one of the ER doctors came in with a look of frustrated concern on his face and stated, "I hope you know that your condition is life threatening. You need to take it more seriously." Aus and I looked at each other and back at him, asking him for more information. He stated that my TSH was 129, which is the highest it had ever been (normal is 0). Feel free to google what happens when your TSH gets up to that. This doctor told us that he was going to give me a large dose of thyroxine medication and send me home if the swelling went down. He then had me sign a paper because my thyroid was one of the biggest he had ever seen and he wanted his students to be able to learn from it.

 

Then another doctor came in with more bad news. He stated that I have at least one mass (possibly a second) located on my thyroid and that was causing the thyroid to goiter. In addition, one of the masses is located on the left side of the thyroid and is so large that it is pushing my windpipe as far to the right as possible, and is slightly compressed. This mass was so big that we've named him Glenn the Gland. Part of my airway is closed off. The CT showed that there is nothing where my airway should be. He stated that I may be rushed into emergency surgery and that I could be admitted to the hospital. Then another doctor (a resident) came in and sternly gave me crap for "not taking my medicine" and told me that I was not going home for a few days because they could not trust me to take my medicine. I was admitted into the hospital and I had to wait until Monday for more information. During that time, I was visited by an endocrinologist who stated that the nodules (nodes, or mass) are what caused the issues, not me. She told me repeatedly that it wasn't my fault. I cried. She said that my doctors were supposed to be doing routine exams and sonograms, and even then, nodules can be missed. A speech pathologist came in to talk about swallowing and talking, assessing whether or not I can eat. She also talked a little bit about doing some therapy after my surgery so that I can talk. The cardiologist came in to tell me that I didn't have to have my sternum cracked during surgery (accidentally confirming that I was, in fact, going to have a surgery). I didn't hear from the ENTs until late Monday about my surgery and they told me that they were going to do it outpatient with a specialist, instead of completing it in the main hospital.

 

I stayed in that hospital for 3 nights and found out that a pretty big chunk of that didn't get covered. This raised some concerns on covering the rest of my surgery and recovery. I am still working full time, and I have health insurance, but we all know that it only goes so far in this economy. I am a Missing Youth Specialist for a foster care organization in KS and MO, and I do a LOT of local, state, and national consulting and community service. I also have a small art business that helps a little bit. If you feel like you don't want to contribute with direct funding, consider buying a painting from me. We thank you in advance for donating to our cause, any amount is helpful! The funds will be utilized in the following ways:

 

1) To cover surgery expenses to get rid of Glenn

2) To help pay for Speech Pathology Physical Therapy, so that I don't lose my voice completely

3) To help pay for recovery and pain management medications

Insurance will be covering a majority of the procedures and the hospital stay.

Will you help me say goodbye to Glenn?

 

Follow my journey on Instagram and Tiktok @charlieqzard

 

THANK YOU