Help Hope with Shoulder Replacement Surgery costs

Hi! My name is Hope Alexander . Thank you for taking the time to listen to my story ❤️.

I'm a 50 year old single woman. I've been working hard my whole life. Carpentry, Farming, and Trucking.

This past year I was able to buy a home in South Georgia, living independently and I moved from Wisconsin to escape the cold which was really hard on my body, along with a lifetime of manual labor. My shoulder has been bothering me since 2019. I saw 3 shoulder specialists at that time, that all told me i needed a complete replacement, but they were advising against it due to my young age. So I worked through the pain, by adjusting the way that I move and being careful of my limitations. But over the past 3 months the pain has gotten unbearable, especially at night, when I'm trying to sleep. I generally get 3 to 4 hours of sleep each night, due to the tossing and turning, seeking comfort that never comes.

In November I saw a shoulder surgeon and we did another set of xrays. My shoulder is now bone on bone, the cartilage is all but gone, the socket is worn out of shape, I have a large bone spur and the arm bone has dropped 50%+ out of the socket.

Normal shoulder:

My shoulder now:

My occupation as a flatbed truck driver aggravates this, as I work up to and above 70 hours per week, involving heavy chains and tarps, climbing, lifting and reaching. But i keep pushing on, knowing I have to work to pay my bills.

I have health insurance, but my deductible is $6500. In to of that I'll be out of work for a minimum of 6 months, and many people I've talked to have said they were out of work nearly a year after shoulder replacement. My mortgage is over $1500, car payment is over $600, a personal loan with a $4500 balance i used to pay down credit cards about 2 years ago, and of course all the basic living expenses including electric water, food, phone, insurance etc. I also need to keep paying my health insurance costs while I'm out of work. If they force me into cobra this could be several hundred a month.

I've managed to save up about $9000, so I'm really trying but the reality is this will only last a couple months and then I'm at zero. My anxiety of the gravity of the financial ruin this will cause is overwhelming. I've worked so hard to achieve the modest home I have and I feel I'm going to lose everything... again.

In addition to the help with bills, I do need to proactively ready my home with a few assistance accessories, such as a bidet in my bathroom.

As someone that's never taken a dime of public assistance, has given back to others in need and in the community in general, and worked every day of my life since I was 16 years old, this had been so hard to bring myself to ask for help from others, but I just don't know what else to do. I know everyone has there own problems, so I understand if you can't help, but if you can spare even a little... anything will help. My goal is to raise an additional $6500 but that amount will just barely get me by the minimum and won't cover my medical expenses... the hospital bills I'll just have to work with them on a repayment plan.

Also, if you feel compelled to do so, please share my story to your social pages.

Thank you so much for reading all of this!

Much Love ❤️

Hope Elle Alexander