Help MaryBeth Overcome Medical Debt

If you're reading this, you likely know who I am; in case you don't, my name is MaryBeth (Parshall) Stroh. I used to be a public school teacher, and now I am a daycare teacher. I am a cat-mom. I am also chronically ill and disabled. I am not a person who feels comfortable asking for help, though I find myself in circumstances forcing me to.

In the last several years, my health has continued on a steady decline, despite my best efforts to improve and receive necessary diagnoses/treatment. I've struggled through bouts of non-epileptic seizures, chronic pain/dislocations/injuries from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and arthritis, autoimmune & systemic issues from Hashimoto's disease, recurrent kidney stones caused by medications, cyclic vomiting, digestive issues, a growing list of allergies and food sensitivities, regular old asthma, more head injuries than I can count, complications from meds, and unexplained episodes of syncope/fainting (suspected POTS). I lost most of my twenties going to specialist after specialist to run the same tests over and over again, being prescribed medications I didn't want/need, hearing that they didn't know what was wrong with me, and then being sent on to the next doctor who would repeat the same process while I kept getting worse. I wish I could say I've always kept a positive attitude about all of it, but I am just a human with imperfect mental health that has also worsened throughout this never-ending journey. Looking back, I regret even trying to get diagnosed or treated; in the end, I'm just as sick as I would've been without everything, but I'm a lot worse off financially than if I'd just never bothered. I wish I had never bothered.

Throughout these years, my public school teacher income was being funneled fairly directly into insurance payments, copays, testing, procedures, surgeries, prescriptions, supplements, physical therapy, actual therapy, ER visits, hospital stays, etc. Public school teachers already do not get paid fairly for the work they are doing, and it is a job which incurs quite a bit of impact on one's physical and mental health. My health declined worse and worse the longer I remained in the public school system, until I admitted myself to the hospital in October '24 for severe stress, dehydration, and suicidal ideation, and then I made the difficult but necessary choice to quit my job after. No matter how much I love my students, I could not survive the physical and mental toll any longer.

Since quitting the public school system, I became a daycare teacher. The reduction in stress and working hours has helped me drastically with my mental health. The tradeoff, though, is that I receive about 20% of the income I was receiving from the county and obviously I lost the healthcare coverage I used to have. Between running my herbal tea company and delivering on DoorDash/UberEats, I do the best I can on my days off to fill in the financial gap. Unfortunately, my physical health remains the same burden it already was. Around the holidays, I was in and out of the ER for a rough bout of respiratory illness that nearly killed me. Since the new year, I still haven't recovered to the point of being able to make deliveries on all of my days/hours off like I need to be doing again. But the hospital and emergency room bills are steadily rolling in now, of course. On my days off, I find myself barely able to walk around my home without passing out -- when I desperately need to be out making money instead.

My husband works unbelievably hard as a special education teacher, but the burden being placed on him financially is deeply unfair. Our list of bills keeps growing, entirely because of me; the money coming in keeps dwindling, entirely because of me. My health continues to be more of a financial burden than is fair to place on anyone else, and I continue to be an unhelpful burden instead of being a solution to the problems I've caused. Between caring for our pets, owning our home, living in this deeply unaffordable country, paying for insurance, and preparing for his upcoming internship, we are entirely unable to pay for my mountain of medical debt without help.

Medical care is a necessity to live, but, in this country and in this system, it has become an income-based privilege. Dying would be a lot cheaper, but selfishly I keep choosing to live. I do not believe that anyone owes me anything at all; in fact, I am certain that I have relied on help, kindness, and generosity of others too many times already. Regardless, I find myself in a place where I am asking desperately for assistance from others. Please consider contributing a few dollars here or there, if you are currently able to; every little bit adds up more than you could ever know. And please do not worry if you are not able to! All money donated will be used towards emergency room bills, hospital bills, copays, and medical debt that has already gone to collections. Thank you so very much for taking the time to read my whiney ramblings and for your consideration in helping me out of the financial hole I've fallen into.