Help Leigha Cover Costs After Surgery

Hi, my name is Leigha. Why am I fundraising? The short answer: revision spine surgery. Unfortunately, the reality isn't as simple. I began having lower back pain at the young age of 12. I was dancing seriously 6 days a week so, at the time, it kind of made sense. I remember the day like it was yesterday - I came home from dance class and laid on my kitchen floor, on top of an ice pack for an hour in excruciating pain. I saw an orthopedist and was diagnosed with your run-of-the-mill low back spasm, so they sent me to physical therapy for a standard course of treatment. Little did I know, this was the start of my lifelong battle. Fast forward a few years, I was no longer dancing (ironically due to a different injury) yet my back pain was getting worse. By the end of high school, I was having what I dubbed as "flare ups". Every so often, my back would lock up, decreasing my range of movement and increasing pain. 2016 rolled around and I was in my first year at Penn State having what was supposed to be the time of my life. In December of that year I suffered another flare up, but this one was drastically worse. I was stuck in bed for days, unable to move or go anywhere. When I came home for winter break, I decided it was time to get checked out again intuitivally knowing the condition had worsened. An MRI was done and showed a disc bulge at the L4/5 level. Doctors told me that this was common, "half the population have them", "they're not that serious". They asked me if the problem was affecting my daily life, and when I told them it wasn't I was sent back to PT and told to take some Advil as needed. Some more time passed and it was no longer just an every-so-often problem. Every time I tried to exercise, I ended up in a flare up. If I walked too far in a day, flare up. My symptoms went from just low back pain to full radiculopathy. My right foot and leg were always tingling, occasionally go numb, and hurt on top of the back pain itself. Another MRI was done in 2018 and showed a slight worsening in the bulge, but again was told it wasn't serious enough. What doctors weren't considering at this point was that I was 19 years old. This problem was hindering me from living a fulfilling, college-kid life. I stopped working out, I stopped dancing. I started living my life in fear that at any moment, I could do the simplest of thing and end up in agonzing pain. But at the same time, I started living my life hoping that something worse would happen so that a doctor would finally take my pain seriously. In December 2020, two weeks before graduating from Penn State, that fear became real. I bent down to pick up the swiffer pad after cleaning my apartment and before I even got all the way down, I was on the floor in pain. I expected this to go just like all my other flare ups: couch-ridden for 3-4 days and pain subsides by day 6 or 7. By day 10 with no change, I knew this time was different. I graduated, moved back to CT, and immediately got an appointment with a new doctor. In January 2021 another MRI was done, this time showing how much the condition had worsened. My bulging disc had become a full foraminal herniation, compressing my nerves completely. For those that don't know, which is likely many of you reading, a foraminal herniation is not your typical disc herniation. It is rare, no one knows why they happen, and mine was LARGE. I was presented with two options: go back on the conservative route (which I had been on for over 5 years at that point), or get surgery. When surgery was offered, it felt like the relief I had been waiting for for so long...little did I know the road I had ahead of me. I went in for a laminectomy and fusion with bone graft. The laminectomy removes the disc material, and the fusion with bone graft locks your vertebra in place to aid in the bone regrowth/healing process. It's an intense surgery not typically done on someone so young, but in my case it seemed like my best option. I had my surgery on February 16, 2021 and I haven't been the same since. I did everything right - stayed in the hospital for 3 days post-op, waited 10 weeks to be cleared to start PT (the proper time for a fusion to take), maintained my PT protocol, saw a massage therapist regularly, got a job that was accommodating to my situation, went to all my follow up appointments. My back pain never subsided. I brought my concerns to my surgeon, and all he ever had to say was that my scans were good, my leg symptoms were fixed which (in his mind) meant the surgery worked. I saw a pain management specialist who administered multiple different steroid injections. I saw a rheumatologist to rule out autoimmune issues as a factor. I got multiple CT scans and a sacral MRI. Nothing checked out. Fed up with my surgeon, I finally found someone new to take a look at my case. It wasn't until a month ago that it was finally confirmed my fusion never healed fully. After ruling out literally everything else, it seems like this must be the source of my pain. It's a last-ditch effort, but I've decided to go thru with getting a revision surgery. The surgery entails removing the current rods and screws, replacing them with bigger hardware, and using an external agent to help the bone regrow to ensure a complete fusion. If you've read this far, I appreciate you and I promise I'm almost done. There is no guarantee that this surgery will fix my pain, that's terrifying and offputting for most. But for me, this is my last shot at a pain-free future. I'm 25 and all I know is pain. I can't picture a life without it and that's incredibly tough to deal with. This hasn't just been a physical battle, but a mental and emotional one as well. The surgery and recovery are long and intense, but after extreme consideration and conversations with multiple people I'm willing to take the chance. But this is where I need help. Surgery is expensive. Living expenses and being unable to work for at least 2 months will be expensive. Weeks of PT will be expensive. If you know me, you know I work my butt off just to make ends meet on a regular day. I work on my feet as a hostess in a busy restaurant and as a dance teacher at the amazing studio I grew up dancing at. It takes a lot for me to ask for help but this time, I have to put that aside and put my health and wellness first. No matter what you're able or willing to donate, it'll help me more than you know. All money donated will be going directly to my medical bills and helping to cover living expenses while I'm unable to work. As of writing this, it's been 814 days since my surgery. For 814 days, I've done everything right. For 814 days, I've been fighting and advocating for my body; fighting insurance companies on what they think is "medically necessary" because doctor's opinions don't matter to them. For 814 days (and then some), I've been told that my pain isn't real or serious. For 814 days, I've suffered more than you could ever imagine all while having to put on a brave, happy face like nothing is wrong. Chronic pain is so common and so real, but for some reason it's still not being studied enough. Medical professionals aren't equipped or fully educated on the matter and they need to be. I'm ready to end this agonizing chapter of my life and am remaining hopeful that this revision surgery will finally be my solution. Times are tough for us all, so if you aren't able to donate, I understand and I hope you can still help me reach my goal by sharing this with anyone you know. If I've done anything here, I've shared my story. A story that no one really knows the full extent of (and believe it or not, I still spared you some details). I appreciate anyone who's taken time out of their day to stop and read this, and hopefully donate to help alleviate some of this immense financial stress I'm facing.