Help Brittney "itsbririvers"
Donation protected
Brittney "itsbririvers" is my wonderful girlfriend and is a budding producer in film & television. The only thing that could rival that passion is her love of gaming and the gaming community.
A few weeks ago, following a normal gym workout, she started to experience some back pain. As of a week ago, she started to have extreme and excruciating sciatic pain that rendered her unable to move and has since been bedridden. It got so bad that we had to rush to the ER at 3 am on Monday (17th) to find a way to get things under control. After 6mg of morphine through IV as well as anti-inflammatories, she was still experiencing extreme levels of pain.
Brittney is a freelancer and uninsured. We are still trying to diagnose this issue although we suspect that it's a herniated disc pressing on the sciatic nerve. We're hoping that the MRI we did yesterday will shed some light on what exactly we're up against and how to move forward with treatments. We are hoping that if we're able to get the right medication or procedure that it'll get us to the point that we can rehabilitate her and her normal life can resume. Currently, she's unable to do anything but lay on her front and sometimes her back-- this is the only relief she really has from the intense pain. She is unable to game, unable to write, unable to work or think or sleep or function in any of the ways that truly make her happy.
The $5000 requested will offset her various bills for the: ER, Chiropractor, Prescriptions, Primary care doctor, Diagnostics (MRI), Ubers, and any other procedure as it becomes necessary.
Watching someone you love in unbearable pain and feeling helpless and uncertain is so difficult. To relieve the added problem of money would make things so much easier for Brittney, and hopefully, allow us to explore options that will take better care of her.
Thank you so much <3
Update 20/12/2018: We've done the MRI and it showed L5-S1 herniated disc (5mm). We were referred to a specialist and got Brittney a steroid injection in her lumbar. It's unclear at the moment if it's a fragment, part of the disc, or just purely the inflammation that's pressing and pinching on her sciatic nerve. We got some additional oral steroids to try and help with the inflammation, we also picked up more oxycodone. Unfortunately the pain meds don't seem to really do much for the pain as it's nerve based, and Brittney can't really find any positions to lay or sit or stand that provide any relief. On the pain scale she's constantly at a 5 and often an 8-10. The steroid injection will take 1-3 days to kick in, so we don't know yet if it will work. If it works then we'll follow up with another one. If it doesn't provide any relief, then they need to do an epidural injection. If that doesn't work then surgery will be the final option. I'm with her all the time doing for her whatever I can. I know that all the support means so much to her, so thank you again for your kindness, I hope the shot works and she can finally get some relief and get back to the things she loves.
A few weeks ago, following a normal gym workout, she started to experience some back pain. As of a week ago, she started to have extreme and excruciating sciatic pain that rendered her unable to move and has since been bedridden. It got so bad that we had to rush to the ER at 3 am on Monday (17th) to find a way to get things under control. After 6mg of morphine through IV as well as anti-inflammatories, she was still experiencing extreme levels of pain.
Brittney is a freelancer and uninsured. We are still trying to diagnose this issue although we suspect that it's a herniated disc pressing on the sciatic nerve. We're hoping that the MRI we did yesterday will shed some light on what exactly we're up against and how to move forward with treatments. We are hoping that if we're able to get the right medication or procedure that it'll get us to the point that we can rehabilitate her and her normal life can resume. Currently, she's unable to do anything but lay on her front and sometimes her back-- this is the only relief she really has from the intense pain. She is unable to game, unable to write, unable to work or think or sleep or function in any of the ways that truly make her happy.
The $5000 requested will offset her various bills for the: ER, Chiropractor, Prescriptions, Primary care doctor, Diagnostics (MRI), Ubers, and any other procedure as it becomes necessary.
Watching someone you love in unbearable pain and feeling helpless and uncertain is so difficult. To relieve the added problem of money would make things so much easier for Brittney, and hopefully, allow us to explore options that will take better care of her.
Thank you so much <3
Update 20/12/2018: We've done the MRI and it showed L5-S1 herniated disc (5mm). We were referred to a specialist and got Brittney a steroid injection in her lumbar. It's unclear at the moment if it's a fragment, part of the disc, or just purely the inflammation that's pressing and pinching on her sciatic nerve. We got some additional oral steroids to try and help with the inflammation, we also picked up more oxycodone. Unfortunately the pain meds don't seem to really do much for the pain as it's nerve based, and Brittney can't really find any positions to lay or sit or stand that provide any relief. On the pain scale she's constantly at a 5 and often an 8-10. The steroid injection will take 1-3 days to kick in, so we don't know yet if it will work. If it works then we'll follow up with another one. If it doesn't provide any relief, then they need to do an epidural injection. If that doesn't work then surgery will be the final option. I'm with her all the time doing for her whatever I can. I know that all the support means so much to her, so thank you again for your kindness, I hope the shot works and she can finally get some relief and get back to the things she loves.
Fundraising team (2)
Daniel Kapadia
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
BRITTNEY RIVERA
Team member
