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Help with my medical bills

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In 2013 I was diagnosed with a 2.5 cm aneurysm in my brain. At the time I was experiencing blurred and double vision and terrible headaches. After numerous evenings at the emergency room they found the aneurysm but unfortunately there was nothing that could be done because the aneurysm was too small. I was put on medication for the headaches and after a few months and lots of prayer my vision improved and I was able to return to my life again. My vision never fully returned to 100% and the headaches were never fully gone but I was able to return to life again. The aneurysm needed to be monitored once a year and as long as there was no change I did not have to worry about it. Once a year I would go for a CT scan to check and make sure everything was the same. In December I went for a scan as usual thinking nothing different. My vision had started to change and I started to experience headaches a little more often than I liked. I was under a lot of stress so I thought that was causing the headaches and of course I just chalked up the vision changes to the headaches. In January my brother passed away and I traveled up to New York to be with my family. Upon returning from New York I kicked into gear of packing up and starting to get ready for transitioning my life into the next phase of my journey in Daytona. The plan was for me to leave my job and move to Daytona. I was going to be training someone new at work and moving to Daytona. I was under a lot of stress so when my vision was getting worse and my head was hurting more I just assumed that everything was due to the stress. The first weekend in March I moved all of my stuff out of my place and moved it all down to Daytona for the most part. I still was going to be staying at work to train my replacement for the month. This was a challenging time for me but I believed that I was doing the right thing and that I was doing what I was called to do. Although I wasn't feeling perfect, my head was hurting tremendously, and my eyes continued to get worse I kept pushing forward. As the days went on I realized that my vision was getting so bad that I could no longer drive. I was not only putting myself at risk but I was putting other people's lives at risk and I could not do that. I stopped driving and was having a co-worker drive me back and forth to work. I also had started wearing an eye patch on left eye to alleviate the double vision. I was learning to live with the pain and compensate for the side effects of what was going on. On Wednesday March 21st I was sitting at my desk at work and all of a sudden, out of nowhere my head went numb. It was the strangest thing I had ever experienced. It was like someone gave me some kind of medication to numb me. Within about 10 minutes my feet and my hands were all tingly. I got in touch with my Godmother and we discussed it for a moment and she said I think it's time to go to the emergency room. My co-worker took me to the ER and when I gave them my symptoms within minutes they had me in the back. I think they believed that I was having a stroke or had a stroke. The rest of that night is kind of hazy to me. I had many episodes of extreme pain in my head. The pain would come in very, very sharp pains that would cause me to scream out in pain and I didn't think I could take it. They would not give me anything for the pain because they weren't sure where it was coming from. My vision was almost not there. My hands and my feet would go numb. Eventually the feeling on the left side of my body was totally gone. The right side of my body seemed to stay intact but I couldn't feel the left side so much to the point that I had to ask my loved ones where they were because I couldn't feel them. My speech slowed down and I could not find my words. My memory was also gone I didn't know where I was or what year it was or what was going on. It was very scary for me. Thank God for my Godsister (Sarah) . She was my Advocate that night and fought for me when I could not fight for myself. She made the doctors continue to look for what was wrong with me. They ran many tests: blood tests, MRI'S, CT scans, x-rays. Many tests.. but still no answers. The pain was not getting better, my memory was not getting better, my speech was not getting better but yet they were going to send me home. Thankfully after some persistence they decided to admit me and keep me to see if they could figure this out. I spent 6 days in the hospital and went through even more testing. I saw numerous doctors and they were unable to resolve the mystery that is me. The inevitable diagnosis was migraines. They said that migraines can sometimes cause paralysis and can cause all of these problems with speech and vision. I personally had a lot of trouble believing this but they are the doctors and I am just the patient, so who was I? There was really nothing that I could do. I spent all the time that I could there trying to figure out what was going on. Mentally and emotionally my capacity was not where it needed to be to do much of the thought processing. The neurologist there was ready to discharge me to a rehab and said that I needed to get a referral from my doctor with the Mayo Clinic because they can do more in-depth testing and could probably get to the bottom of it. They said that they just do not have the ability to do all of the testing that needs to be done and Mayo Clinic does. I cannot go to the Mayo Clinic because I have an outstanding balance that I owe them from about 7 years ago and they will not even allow me to walk through their doors until I pay that balance. That is where I need to go for a resolution to this but unfortunately right now I cannot do that. On March 26th the hospital discharged me to a rehabilitation center. I need to relearn how to walk, talk, and use my left side. The rehabilitation center estimates I will be here for six to eight weeks. My insurance company will cover 100% of the expenses for 20 days, after the 20 days I am responsible for 80% of that. I need to be here for as long as I have to be so that I can get better. but I do not know how I'm going to be able to afford to pay for it this. The aneurysm still has not been settled. I went to a vascular surgeon and he is now not even sure it is an aneurysm and wants to do an angiogram to find out what it is and how big it is. Unfortunately, he will not do anything until he knows what is causing this left side paralysis. I am also still having to go to specialists to get everything sorted out and try to find out what is really wrong with me. I am trying to come up with the money to pay the Mayo Clinic so that I can get in there and see their doctors. Right now the financial burden is really causing me a lot of stress and that is not helping my recovery. I just need to know that I can recover and not be in debt for the rest of my life or have to worry about being thrown out of the rehabilitation center because I do not have the finances to pay for it once my insurance stops paying. I also really need to know what is going on with me and my body. My greatest hope right now is Mayo Clinic. I just want to get better and get my life back on track and I am willing to fight for it as hard as I can and I am afraid that my finances are going to keep me from doing that.
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Donations 

  • chi phan
    • $100 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Donna DiMelfi
Organizer
Jacksonville, FL

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