Hi, my name is Ben Wright, and I am fundraising to try and get surgery to get use of my hands and arms back.

In the second half of 2022 I had 3 health issues arise. A diagnosis of high-level hypertension in July was alarming if somewhat expected, given family history. My blood pressure was 175/120 for those that are curious and it's now down to 115/75 with medication. At the same time, a combination bacterial and fungal ear infections that took over 2 months to get in to see a specialist to properly treat wasn't pleasant. It meant 3 months without music, and the great irony there is music calms me more than anything else, reducing tension and stress. I then broke a toe on my left foot in September, and almost re-broke it working too much on it half-healed in October.

Unfortunately, all 3 of these conditions combined to create a perfect storm, so to speak. The blood pressure medication knocked me out for the first few months, making me far less active. The ear infections both forced me to sleep on my left-hand side and prevented me from swimming. And the fractured toe made me walk unevenly and dropped my activity levels. This all combined and impacted an old injury in my neck between C6 and C7 vertebrae and has led to a severely pinched nerve, which has been getting worse over the last 4 months.

So, what do I mean by worse?

Over the last 4 months I have rapidly lost my grip strength and mobility, primarily in my right hand, and to a slightly lesser degree in my left. Gripping even light items like cutlery is a challenge, and turning keys requires both hands. Typing is difficult (this campaign took 5 days, on and off, to write) and I can only use my index fingers to type, trying to bend other fingers causes all of them to bend. The fingers on my right hand cannot be straightened and are now almost permanently bent by the nerves.

Even with a rigorous regime of stretches and exercises from my physiotherapist, the loss continues unabated. I have constant pressure and pain on my right shoulder blade that hurts with every breath, 24/7. I need strong sedatives to sleep through the pain. I can only hold our cat George, pictured above, for about 10 seconds before he gets too heavy to hold. Getting dressed takes about 3 times longer and that’s wearing older clothes too big for me, to make buttoning them easier. I’ve gone from full strength to barely having the use of my hands and arms in less than 6 months.

The neurosurgeon I saw privately for a consultation in late November looked at the MRI I had done in October and said the nerve is likely already sustained some damage and I require very urgent major surgical intervention, namely removal of the disc between the vertebrae and a prosthetic put in place if I want any chance of recovering any strength. He also said if left untreated I will lose all use of my arms within less than 12 months. In his own words he said if my insurance covered it, he would have had me on the table within 72 hours, it is that severe.

Unfortunately, my insurance level does not cover neurosurgery and upgrading it to include it has a 12-month, non-negotiable cooling-off period. I am on the public waitlist and have been since October, but was only deemed category 2 in severity, even though prevention of permanent disability should be deemed category 1. My GP has attempted to escalate it every way they can but speaking with the patient liaison at Fiona Stanley I’ve been informed the earliest I can even get an initial consultation, let alone surgery, will be in the latter half of this year.

All this means my only option left is to self-fund the surgery. I’ve been told the average cost for this is around $35,000 but can range anywhere between $25,000 and $45,000 for this surgery. I have a consult with a very highly regarded neurosurgeon on the 28th of February. He also works in both the private and public systems, so there is a very slim chance he may be able to escalate my public referral, but either way I need to be on the table as soon as possible.

I’ve managed to save $7,500 so far towards it, and I plan on selling my car for another $10,000. But that only gets me halfway there. And I also have no idea how long recovery may be and how much leave I’ll need to take from work for it. I have around 4 weeks of paid leave accrued, but that might not be enough. I’ll be in the hospital for around a week post-surgery.

I'll be honest and say that this is all utterly terrifying. If I cannot get this fixed in time I face the very real chance of losing a job I love and a house I've worked very hard to buy.

Any amount no matter how small is greatly appreciated.

Even just sharing the campaign helps, and I’ll take all the help I can get.

All my very best.

Ben Wright