Hello there, my name is Felix. I have struggled with pain and dysfunction in my hands for a long time and recently my worst suspicions have been confirmed: I have severe carpal tunnel in both of my hands and my doctor recommends surgery *ASAP* to prevent further irreversible damage than what has already occurred.

I am a chef by trade, a tattoo artist on the side, as well as a musician and a visual artist - all of which involve intensive use of my hands. The thought of losing all of those things has absolutely gutted me. I have already been forced to give up tattooing and regularly playing music because of how poorly my hands function these days. I can’t let it get worse - I want to live, not just survive, and I can't lie, not being in excruciating pain all the time sounds like a dream.

To add insult to injury, this year has devastated me financially. I am barely making ends meet as is and I have no safety or security net to lean on during this time. While I am lucky enough to have insurance through my job, they do not do PTO. So I will be without income until I can return to work.

According to my doctor, the quickest the recovery time for a carpal tunnel release could be is about 2 weeks, but because my condition is so severe I should plan for about 4 weeks before I can return to work. My surgery is currently scheduled for October 28th and my goal at this time is to return to work the week of November 24th. Obviously this is all subject to change, but we’ll start there.

I am asking for help in order to be able to pay my bills and live comfortably during my recovery. Missing out on 4 weeks of work means that I am going without 2 paychecks, which totals out to about $2400 on average. My bills generally eat up about $1800 of that, but that does not include money spent on food, transportation, etc. Therefore I am setting my goal at $3500 in order to make sure that I have somewhat of a safety net in case anything goes wrong or my recovery lasts longer than expected. Plus, it would just be nice to be able to breathe for a minute.

I am terrified but grateful to be able to take this step and be able to be held by community. You all have my endless gratitude.

<3 felix