Hello. My name is Nicole and I am a 36-year-old mother of 2. I hate doing this, but I have no options. I’ve been suffering from back problems since I was in a car accident when I was 16 years old. It’s always been manageable until 3 weeks ago. I was at my son’s football game and my daughter (3 years old) fell asleep in her car seat on the way home. Instead of waking her up to switch cars, I picked her up while in her car seat. Immediately felt a pop and have not been able to walk without pain for weeks. Over time, the pain worsened and now weakness and numbness have set in. Two MRIs later showed severe cord compression in my L5 and S1 with a severely herniated disc and a bulging disc at L4 L5. There are concerns now for my thoracic spine for demyelinating disease. It’s been decided to do a cervical MRI and then a hemilaminectomy and discectomy today, 11/3, at 3 pm. This will require a 2-4 day hospital stay with a 4-week downtime for recovery. My husband now has to work overtime to cover my income loss. We will have to have someone come help with the kids, laundry, transporting me to appointments, and school and daycare. Any little bit helps, and if you can’t donate money but can help in any other way, we will be so appreciative. Thank you and love you all!