Help Joy with medical costs.
Donation protected
Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to click on this. I've put off making this post for as long as I could, hoping things would get better, but unfortunately they have not.
As most of you are aware, the last few months have not been kind. Back in November of 2018 I wound up needing an emergency MRI to determine whether I was at risk of a stroke or brain bleed, following a severe trauma to my neck that left me in profound and debilitating pain for several weeks, on top of my other chronic long term conditions and disabilities. It was extremely scary and worrying, but thankfully I had a good support base, and look good in scrubs.
Fortunately the scan came back in the clear, and the pain and other symptoms were attributed to a severe muscle tear that spanned from the base of my skull, all the way around the entire right side of my head. I am now 9ish weeks into the estimated 12 week healing process and doing well, and while we are truly grateful my brain was okay, unfortunately our finances have taken a major hit as a result of the MRI, as it was also during this emergency visit to the hospital that we found out our health insurance had wrongly dropped me due to a change in my immigration status, meaning I was completely without coverage without any idea of having been dropped. We contacted our insurance provider (Blue Cross) immediately about this and were told they would look into it, but nothing has come of it and I have been left to pay the MRI bill.
The initial cost of the MRI was estimated to be $2-3k, but following some complications and needing a more complex scan, the bill wound up at $5,731.33. This does not include the cost of pain management or physical rehab.
As you can see, the hospital has already removed $2,636.41 from this total, (though an additional $800 was tacked on from a separate radiology department where my results were sent to for processing) leaving us with a bill of roughly $3,094.92 which we could have managed in monthly installments...if my partner, known affectionately to most of you as ETD and on occasion "Mothman" hadn't been told he needed wisdom tooth surgery as a matter of some urgency or risk major infection.
We took out a loan to cover the cost of his surgery and he's scheduled to go in for the procedure this month, and while we could have managed to juggle things for a bit, we also found out at Christmas that my mother has cancer, and I will likely need to fly home to the UK (on my own) pretty soon to try and help deal with that. Even still we had hoped to muddle through for a while, but as of today February 4th 2019, my desktop computer has died, taking with it my ability to work. It's my sole source of income and needless to say I'm lost without it.
Worse yet Patreon announced this last week that they are suffering from delayed payment processing again, meaning I will not get paid in time, and the month of February and beyond has finally gotten too much for us and we need help.
I know times are hard for everyone, and I always hoped I would never have to do this again, but anything you could do to help would be greatly appreciated. In reality we need somewhere around $4-5k, but I am hoping to get just enough to take my monthly bills to the hospital down to a manageable amount. Doing so would allow us to pay it off gradually over time, and afford us time to breathe.
If we somehow manage to meet and go over the target goal, all extra funds will go toward clearing off the medical debt in full, and also possibly PC repairs to get me back to work asap.
Thank you for your support and kind words over these last few months, it means the world to both of us and we're beyond humbled that you allow us to be part of your lives. Take care, and thank you again. With all our love and gratitude,
Joy & ETD.
As most of you are aware, the last few months have not been kind. Back in November of 2018 I wound up needing an emergency MRI to determine whether I was at risk of a stroke or brain bleed, following a severe trauma to my neck that left me in profound and debilitating pain for several weeks, on top of my other chronic long term conditions and disabilities. It was extremely scary and worrying, but thankfully I had a good support base, and look good in scrubs.
Fortunately the scan came back in the clear, and the pain and other symptoms were attributed to a severe muscle tear that spanned from the base of my skull, all the way around the entire right side of my head. I am now 9ish weeks into the estimated 12 week healing process and doing well, and while we are truly grateful my brain was okay, unfortunately our finances have taken a major hit as a result of the MRI, as it was also during this emergency visit to the hospital that we found out our health insurance had wrongly dropped me due to a change in my immigration status, meaning I was completely without coverage without any idea of having been dropped. We contacted our insurance provider (Blue Cross) immediately about this and were told they would look into it, but nothing has come of it and I have been left to pay the MRI bill.
The initial cost of the MRI was estimated to be $2-3k, but following some complications and needing a more complex scan, the bill wound up at $5,731.33. This does not include the cost of pain management or physical rehab.
As you can see, the hospital has already removed $2,636.41 from this total, (though an additional $800 was tacked on from a separate radiology department where my results were sent to for processing) leaving us with a bill of roughly $3,094.92 which we could have managed in monthly installments...if my partner, known affectionately to most of you as ETD and on occasion "Mothman" hadn't been told he needed wisdom tooth surgery as a matter of some urgency or risk major infection.
We took out a loan to cover the cost of his surgery and he's scheduled to go in for the procedure this month, and while we could have managed to juggle things for a bit, we also found out at Christmas that my mother has cancer, and I will likely need to fly home to the UK (on my own) pretty soon to try and help deal with that. Even still we had hoped to muddle through for a while, but as of today February 4th 2019, my desktop computer has died, taking with it my ability to work. It's my sole source of income and needless to say I'm lost without it.
Worse yet Patreon announced this last week that they are suffering from delayed payment processing again, meaning I will not get paid in time, and the month of February and beyond has finally gotten too much for us and we need help.
I know times are hard for everyone, and I always hoped I would never have to do this again, but anything you could do to help would be greatly appreciated. In reality we need somewhere around $4-5k, but I am hoping to get just enough to take my monthly bills to the hospital down to a manageable amount. Doing so would allow us to pay it off gradually over time, and afford us time to breathe.
If we somehow manage to meet and go over the target goal, all extra funds will go toward clearing off the medical debt in full, and also possibly PC repairs to get me back to work asap.
Thank you for your support and kind words over these last few months, it means the world to both of us and we're beyond humbled that you allow us to be part of your lives. Take care, and thank you again. With all our love and gratitude,
Joy & ETD.
Organizer
Joy Demorra
Organizer
St. Paul, MN