Hi everyone! As you may know, I have been off work since October due to medical issues. I have no income and do not qualify for unemployment because I am not released to go back to work.

In December of 2023, I was in the hospital for my second open-heart surgery. I was very sick and had lots of complications and was forced to take the full 12 weeks off of work, depleting my FMLA. In July of 2024, I started to have gallbladder issues, but they weren’t severe, and I didn’t do anything because I knew my FMLA hadn’t reset (an employer is required to give 12 weeks off per rolling year). I knew I was unable to seek surgical consultation until I had time to take off so I wouldn’t lose my job. In October, I woke up with severe abdominal pain and was very sick. I went to my local ER in Mt. Carmel and was sent to St. Louis. I was septic, my kidneys and liver functions were declining, and I needed surgery. Because I had to be off work, I had to be terminated from my position because my employer was unable to hold my job, and I didn’t qualify for FMLA.

My gallbladder was so bad that the surgeon couldn’t identify it. She said it looked like a water balloon. Because of this, she was only able to remove part of it and place a drain in the remainder to keep it decompressed. This drain was supposed to be in for a short time, but the amount draining didn’t decrease; in fact, it increased. Because of this, they are going to have to remove the remainder of the gallbladder.

My surgery is scheduled for mid-March, as I have to have an MRI and they cannot get me in until March 12th, and they have to have the MRI images to do the surgery. This puts me off work for even longer with a recovery time of 4-6 weeks. By the time I’m able to go back to work, I will be without any income for 6 months.

I’ve been relying on my mom and my husband’s parents to help us with paying bills, and we had been staying at my husband’s parents' house because we had no way to pay rent. On January 28th, my husband and I separated and are divorcing, so I am staying on my mom’s couch right now because I’m technically homeless and have no money to rent a place.

I'm looking to build funds so I have the money needed to go back and forth to St. Louis for all these medical procedures that I need prior to surgery. If you can help, thank you so much, and if you can’t, it’s ok, just please share my campaign.

I really hate asking for help, but at this point, I’m desperate. Thank you all!