Help Val's Medical Bill & Journey Back to Health

Hi, I'm Valev, a New York-based web, graphic and content designer (also, now, more of a hobby violinist and contemporary folk music enthusiast/composer), as for many, this past year has been rough. Never did I imagine that the beginning of 2021 would present itself in such a severe way with surprising and unexpected health challenges. So let's stay by providing some background and then explain what happened in 2021 and why I'm asking for your help to continue this journey towards full health.

In the summer of 2019, I started to experience severe and absolutely debilitating chest pains, which impacted my personal as well as professional life. Thankfully, at that time I had medical insurance, which helped me to begin seeking answers. Unfortunately, after visiting 4 different doctors and a total of 8 visits they couldn't come up with a clear solution, my blood tests seem to be normal, not issues with heart or lung yet the chest tightness continued, this led my doctor to think that it might be something to do with anxiety which was a complete surprise to me. In the past I have been on anti-depressants (2017-2018) and I have been diagnosed with mild migraines but after a year of various treatments anti-depressants didn't work for me, they usually made me lose any excitement in life and made me feel completely numb so after trying Paxil-based medications (worst of them all for me), we decided to stop. Anxiety was a completely new diagnose for me and I had never thought that a mental condition could lead to a physical outcome. Now, fast-forward to the end of 2020, I've managed to beat my chest pains with natural supplements, mild anti-anxiety medications, therapy, and meditation, everything seemed normal until the beginning of 2021. At this point, I wasn't covered by insurance anymore (ended in mid-2020) and I was surprised by a medical bill of over $4,000 which completely took me by surprise. Apparently, the previous medical insurance company classified my treatment of anxiety as a "pre-condition" which was covered previously (aforementioned 2017-2018 treatment) and was not related to my debilitating medical energy of having severe chest pains for hours every day... so I've been in contact with them numerous times providing explanations and proof that this is a separate situation and that the chest pains were so severe that I couldn't do work, go out for a walk, or even spend time with people outside of my own home. At home, I could barely move since each movement would trigger a feeling that the pain is going to get worse. I am still fighting to get this sorted out but there seems to be no consensus in sight even after my doctor providing a long explanation, seems like the medical insurance things that my previous insurance should cover this, my doctor thinks the current insurance should cover it and by mistake (and completely against the law) my doctor's finance department sent the invoice to collectors which is not legal unless I've been informed about the amount due beforehand (I didn't even receive the invoice until the debt collectors contacted me).

So this is the background, now to the beginning of 2021... On January 19, I wake up as per usual, preparing myself a cup of coffee answering emails, and getting ready for a Zoom meeting, a pretty regular day. The meeting goes well and my close friend and I decide to stay on the call a little later, after everyone had left, to just catch up on life and progress on some collaborations until I quietly shout at her "wait"! Out of nowhere, I was hit with the most intense headache, something that's sometimes characterized as Thunderclap Headache but honestly, it was the most severe pain I've felt in my life. I immediately stood up, went to the kitchen to get some water, opened all my windows, and tried to breathe while my friend is hopelessly there asking what happened, I could barely talk and just kept holding my head. It felt like my head was going to split into two and simply break over, I felt like I was gonna pass out if it didn't go away. Thankfully it lasted maybe about 2-3 minutes after which I told my friend that I was fine since out of nervousness and panic I didn't want any eyes on me at this point. I was decided to go and lay down when I realized that I had lost my sense of balance and basically crawled into bed, the nervousness made me immediately think of Stroke or mini-strokes but I was able to move my hands, they just felt numb but with enough effort, I could move them up and down. Now the severe head pressure (didn't feel like a headache, more like stuffy pain) continued for a good 2 hours after which I was able to sleep a little... while sleeping I felt fine but whenever I woke up the nightmare continued, occasionally having visual auras, or barely being able to see, extreme weakness. Now I wrote down my friend's phone number on a piece of paper in case my condition would get worse and I had to call the ambulance, just in case, but I didn't have health insurance at this point so I was extremely reluctant. The next day I went to an urgent care clinic only 2 blocks from my apartment, I could barely talk, any little bit of noise or speaking myself would make the pain worse.

At the urgent care clinic, they said that officially they have to instruct me to go to an ER immediately but they understand if, for financial reasons I choose to see a neurologist instead, so they found me immediately an appointment in Midtown Manhattan, I got 100mg of Tylenol, 40mg of Prednisone, Excedrin in me and hopped into an Uber. I had no idea what medications I was taking but I remember telling them to read from my phone what had happened to me since I was too weak and in tears I asked them to turn off the lights in the room and just help me, so they did, forever grateful for all their help! Now at the neurologist office, I was made appointments for MRI/CT scans and was given a shot in my arm (which I don't remember what it was called since I didn't ask her to write things down to a sticky note the way that doctors at the urgent care clinic did). Unfortunately, the MRI/CT scans and further investigations took time but finally, I got on treatment, and finished my prescribed steroidal treatment, all coming out of my pocket. It was a full month-long recovery with no ability to work or move, even though my work involves very little movement, but I just couldn't do almost anything until maybe the second or third week. Thankfully I had friends who sent me food and help when needed! Until recently I was still struggling with the fear of it happening again, even in June I experience two panic attacks merely out of the fear that a milder headache could turn into the same pain I experienced before, often these feelings of elevated anxiety have led to missing out or postponing work-related calls, using email communication instead of video calls, or not even leaving my apartment for a week just because of the fear that something like this could happen in public and I wouldn't know what to do.

So why am I writing all this? I know that many people have experienced similar symptoms or gone through similar experiences and from those awful situations have developed or maybe uncovered a hidden source of anxiety that is debilitating and at times feels like we've lost control over our own lives, this is how I felt and I'm fighting on a daily basis to build up my confidence once again, to gain back this control and power and make my own decisions without these physical injuries dictating my life, but the mental healing from these injuries take much much longer and a lot of work. This 2021 journey has put in my tremendous debt and while I'm fighting to work 60h/w to make ends meet and pay back to the incredible doctors who saved me and hopefully soon start therapy to get professional help overcoming the fears that I face on a daily basis, I ask for help... it took me a long long time to even be fully comfortable sharing this story and admitting that I need help, please if you can contribute please do, it would not only help me come out of this huge hole that's been left from the 2021 injury but also would hopefully help me start with therapy to not only overcome the post-traumatic experience of 2021 but also begin a healing process to overcome the anxiety I've been struggling with for the past almost 3 years... and if you aren't able to help now, still thank you for reading and share the word about the importance of mental health and how mental & physical health go hand-in-hand, so that if something would to happen to a person close to you, you could be there to help.

What are the next steps for me? I will continue with my recovery routine that was laid out by my doctor, keep moving and gain back physical strength. First, we simply started with slow walk goals just to get moving again, which worked successfully, for the first month it was a struggle to even go outside or spend time in a slightly social environment without constantly carrying my medications, migraine pen with me (or painkillers), glad that this is over now. I've also cut out triggering food items completely or limited their usage, mostly coffee since it usually leads to a panic attack that tends to last about 2-3h, but I've started identifying and understanding my body better to identity early signs. The next step would be to get on a regular schedule with a therapist which is complicated due to the lack of medical insurance, so all suggestions are welcome!

Lots of health to everyone reading,
Val