Help Lindsay File recover and achieve her dreams

Hi everyone!  My name is Lindsay File.  I am starting this Gofundme page because I need help.  Our insurance company is denying me coverage for returning to Mercy Rehabilitation St Louis.  The exciting news is that I finally get to go home. After four months, I will be able to sleep in my own bed, and cuddle with my husband and my dog.  I am so unbelievably thrilled about this! However, going home is going to cost a lot more than I realized  

Over the last 15 years I’ve pretty much been able to handle my medical debt.  Or, I have been able to stay a float by getting a little bit of help from my family. And, once I met Doug, he supported me through so much! However, I likely will not be able to return to work until sometime next year.  My medical bills from the last 4 months of being in the hospital / rehab are starting to come in—they are adding up quick! There are also  so many different  medical assistive devices that I’m having to purchase in order to go home.  I never imagined the cost going in to making a home accessible!

I know everyone’s lives have changed this year.  However, mine has changed drastically.  My goals for this year where to pass in NCLEX and start my new nursing job. I wanted to start traveling more with my husband, and work on paying off huge chunks of my nursing school debt. However, my body and the medical world had other plans for me.

On March 11, I was admitted to Barnes Jewish hospital with adverse  effects from the clinical trial I was on. I had acquired a new disease process very similar to Guillian Barre syndrome / Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. The neurologists started me on plasma apheresis to remove the antibodies that were attacking my body’s nerves.  After 5 sessions, I also received IV IG.  Within two weeks I could no longer walk.  My body was continuing to lose function, strength and movement.

On April 9, I was intubated and was completely paralyzed except for my right eye. I spent over a month in the ICU and suffered a few complications including a blood clot in my lung. I was finally transferred to inpatient rehab on June 4 after spending almost 3 months in a hospital bed. I worked hard and spent a chunk of everyday doing physical and occupational therapy.  

I AM NOW WALKING.... with the assistance of a walker and someone helping to keep me steady .  However, I still have a long road of physical and occupational therapy ahead of me.  Luckily, my insurance was willing to cover that!

I would like to express my thanks now for your donations.  No matter how much or how little you are able to give, every bit helps tremendously!  I would also like to thank everyone for all of your thoughts, texts, phone calls, and visits! I know I wouldn’t have made it to this point without all of the love from my massive support system and without God behind me. I am so unbelievably blessed!  

I also wanted to give my whole story to those of you that would like to read it:

In June 2005 I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I went through the traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatment that ended in November  2005. At that point my pet scan showed no active disease. However, in June 2006 my pet scan once again showed active disease. At that point, I was told I would need more, and stronger, chemotherapy and would then have an autologous stem cell transplant. 

Unfortunately, my stem cell transplant failed. Since my transplant, I have been on numerous clinical trials that would keep my disease stable for a while or slightly reduce it in size. However I’ve never gone back into remission.

Fast forward to 2018.  With the help of my husband, while still on a clinical trial, I went to nursing school at Graceland University.  During school, my disease started progressing and I had to change to a new clinical trial that required me to Travel from Kansas City to St. Louis every other week for treatment. Even with this setback, I managed to finish the accelerated BSN  program with honors.  I also landed my dream job at a local hospital in Kansas City in their cardiac transplant unit.

After graduating in December 2019, I just knew that 2020 would be my year!I have had some tremendous setbacks in my health and my financial situation. However, I have grown even stronger and truly realize the power of never giving up. I have also learned that I have some of the most amazing friends who have become family to me. And, I truly have some of the most amazing family as well.  Without all of you I don’t know where I would be!