Nik's Surgeries
I don’t exactly know how to start this, mostly because my pride is trying to keep me from asking for any kind of help. It took some encouraging (and maybe a few virtual swats upside the head) to do this so bear with me.
Here's a TLDR for those that want to get straight to the bone: My insurance refused to get rid of a benign tumor in my head because it’s “too small” or do surgery to correct the damage it’s done to my body. I had to get a secondary insurance, which doesn’t cover nearly as much as military insurance does, and I need help covering for what I can’t pay off.
----------
For as long as I could remember I’ve had multiple health issues and, over the years, I’ve been correcting them as much as I can and for those that know anything about the American health system, that pretty much put me into a hole of debt I’ve been trying to dig out of for over a decade now. After multiple surgeries to correct some issues and dozens of doctor visits to figure out the cause of another, it was finally brought to light as to what’s been giving me migraines for well over twenty years and what’s been causing my body to go screwy in multiple ways.
In about mid 2015 the migraines had become so severe that I demanded an MRI in which they found a small mass just behind my eyes playing jump rope with my optical nerves. I was told that it’s a tumor of the pituitary gland and craniopharyngeal duct. Benign, thankfully, but it’s been doing its own kind of damage; chronic migraines, vision blurriness or even loss, screwing with my sense of smell and having an absolute field day with my hormones, which caused body dysphoria due to the rollercoaster of rapid weight loss/gain.
(other ailments blacked out since they're either already taken care of, or inconsequential) 
This thing has been a burden on my physical and mental wellbeing for years, and during that time my insurance absolutely refused to cut it out because it was “too small”. The cabergoline they gave me was to attempt to shrink it further if not get rid of it, but it never went anywhere. The migraines are still very persistent and the thought of driving due to the impaired vision makes me nervous.
I resorted to getting a secondary insurance and had to find a specialist to take care of the surgeries that are needed. That was a headache in itself since I had to fight to do anything but go back on the mediations that weren’t working at all. After four years of battling to get a surgery date, I finally got the first one; October 7th.
I don’t know how much everything is going to cost since they don’t seem to bill you until you’re there or after the procedure so I’m just going to make it for half of what I was quoted before I even got the secondary insurance. If it's more than what I have here, I'll update it. If it's not, anything extra will be donated toward National Pediatric Cancer Foundation and I will be posting the receipt for that here, if necessary. There's also the option to use Paypal () if you prefer.
Even if my pride is grumbling at me, I truly can’t thank you enough for considering a donation. Every little bit helps, be it monetary, sharing the link to the page, or sending me some well wishes toward a speedy recovery. I’m really hoping this is the end of this very long journey toward being comfortable again.
