Josh's Road to Recovery: Spinal Tumor and Financial Relief

As my 20’s conclude, I am confronted with the fact that the past year has been the most difficult of my life. I’ve had to face more challenges over the last 10 months than even I am accustomed to dealing with, having grown up in foster care and navigating adulthood on my own. Some of the transitions have been positive, such as completing my BA at Pepperdine University after 10 years in undergraduate and then landing major career opportunities, but nonetheless, managing the negatives has proved overwhelming, and is why I’m here today, asking for your help.

• 10 months ago, my mother passed away. Before this, there were several months of hospital stays and managing hospice while I was still in school. (I am grateful to all who donated to my former GoFundMe, helping alleviate some of the financial burden of her funeral expenses).

• 7 months ago, I had major upheavals financially with multiple jobs ending unexpectedly for various reasons, but all abrupt.

• 5 months ago, my long-term housing lease came to an end and unexpectedly was not renewed, forcing a move (which I’m still in the process of).

• 4 months ago, I had a major hit-and-run accident that totaled my car and left me in the hospital with a concussion / herniated eye (which I’m still in litigation for).

• And a bunch of other little things here which are all mixing together to create the “storm”-like feeling I experience daily. The beginning of this year brought a bit of a lull, but all of the progress I made has been wiped away by the last 3 weeks, only further ingraining the lack of balance and restoration in my life, with the foreseeable future holding much of the same.

• NOW…

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Beginning earlier this year, my consistent, regular, dull, achy pain in my lower back turned into sharp, shooting, debilitating pain radiating from my lower spine. Considering the severity of symptoms (to the point of disrupting sleep and crying from pain), I sought out medical attention and was given multifaceted testing. The MRI results showed that there is an unknown tumor inside the dura of my spine, taking up my entire spinal canal at the L5 vertebra, splaying all the nerve endings (i.e., the excruciating pain I’ve been experiencing). The tumor has now also begun to bother me when I sit or walk, and I’m barely getting any sleep at all from having bouts of numbness and cramping in both my legs and arms. I can truly say that this is by far the worst level of pain I’ve ever experienced… 10/10.

My neurosurgeon (one of the best in the field) confirmed and reiterated the information previously shared with me by other physicians when I first found out. She also level-set and gave me a reality check. In some ways, I feel like I’ve been trying to “sugar coat” and hope for the best possible scenarios to be my personal surgical outcomes (which I still am), but I don’t believe I had let myself sit with the seriousness of exactly what the road looks like in front of me.

On April 24th, I will be having an Intradural Extramedullary (IDEM) Tumor Resection with an L5 Laminectomy at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. In layman’s terms, they will be cutting off the bony bump part of my spine on my back near my tailbone and not replacing it; then entering the spinal canal/cerebral fluid to take the tumor out while trying not to damage anything else that isn’t already potentially damaged from the tumor itself. My reality check came from the recovery conversation. It’s more clear to me than ever, this is not something I will just bounce back from immediately… and if I try, I can cause additional damage to myself. The surgery will last anywhere between 4-10 hours, barring complications. While I’m under, my surgeon will assess if the tumor is fully removable or not, and if intertwined with sensory nerves, she will intentionally sever them, potentially causing permanent loss of sensation. If the tumor is attached to motor nerves, she will remove the pieces of the tumor she can without causing permanent damage and then address next steps when I wake up in the event the tumor can’t be completely removed. Once I’m awake from surgery, I will have 3 days laying flat in the hospital bed to avoid a cerebral leak, with a catheter, and only eat liquids via straw. Within 24-48 hours, I will know what type of tumor it is (with cancer not being ruled out yet). On the 4th/5th day, they will attempt to assess my motor function by assisted walking and nerve testing. I may never regain full sensation or control of my body, and I will need to learn to walk again. The length of my hospital stay from there can last 7-10 days total, with the possibility of rehab based on progress. After, I will require home care to perform basic daily functions and be on disability for 6-8 months.

All I can honestly say is, I’m at a complete loss of how to process this situation, compounded with everything else I’ve faced this year. I have been, and still am, completely stretched/strapped financially. My bank accounts are drained, credit cards maxed. I have new bills I’ve never had to pay for, such as a car payment and storage fees from the events that have occurred, etc. ALL of this, coming at a time when work is pivotal to keeping me afloat BUT I won’t be able to. At the end of the day, I have no idea what my foreseeable future looks like other than, I won’t be able to do it on my own. I now have less than a two-week buffer to brace for impact, as the clock for surgery day is ticking. And in the meantime, I’m trying to align my life as much as I can to prepare for the weeks and months of recovery to come.

This will be the rest of 2025, the last of my 20’s, and the start of my 30’s. While not how I envisioned it, I can only sit with and believe these successive challenges of the last year have been brought to build me into the person I’m meant to be for the next chapter of my life. My entire life has so far been devoted to contributing to my communities and making the world a better place when I leave it. Not only am I losing the work itself, but I’m losing my life, and the things that give me life. All I can hope for is a quick and speedy recovery, so I can get back to doing just that.

While difficult, I appreciate everyone and their support through these challenging times. Any donation, no matter how small, will help offset the impact of what will be the greatest circumstances I’ve had to face in my life so far. I will continue to update as I learn more, but for now, the path seems quite a bit clearer than before. Thank you in advance for all of the support.

- Josh

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Money will help alleviate the overall financial burdens of the last year and provide a cushion for friends/family to assist me during my time of recovery for things like personal care, groceries, medical expenses, etc. I also have a dog, a cat, other pets, and many, many bills that will need to be taken care of while I’m unable to. I am asking currently for $20,000 to apply towards expenses in my life. This includes but is not limited to:

$400 - Remaining funeral balance for my mom

$2,000 - A gravesite marker for my mom as she is currently unidentified

$14,000 - Car loan ($285/month)

$300 - Annual car registration due in May

$600 - Installation cameras and security system for my car

$1,000/month - Rent & utilities

$185/month - Car insurance

$6,000 - Medical expenses

$Unknown amount - Personal caregiving

$150/month - Pet care

$100/month - Storage fees

$4,000 - Remaining on my school loans

$2,000 - Lost monthly income

$12,000 - For other bills I have racked up through credit card debt paying for all the life events of the last year

THANK YOU AGAIN IN ADVANCE FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT. IT TRULY MEANS THE WORLD.