Keep Eliza and Lucy Housed (and Cover Lucy’s Urgent Surgery)

Have you ever had one of those bad days, that seems to last for about a month? That seems to be the situation where Lucy (my service corgi) and I find ourselves in. But first, a little bit about us. I’m Eliza, and I’m 27, but I’ve managed to have a lifetime worth of serious surgeries. So far I’ve had double knee reconstruction, two heart surgeries (one to put in a pacemaker) and the most serious of those surgeries by far, a spinal surgery. In 2021 I found out a rare spinal injury was slowly killing me. I was lucky, and was able to have an extensive spinal fusion (C0-C4 for my medical nerds out there) which saved my life. Unfortunately, this surgery also forever took from me my ability to turn my head. This new reality has limited my ability to work, and recent changes to DEI have only further removed the already limited disability accommodations I can receive.

In spite of all of this, I am an active member of my community and work with a group to advocate against Medicaid cuts. The grainy cover photo is of me telling my story on the federal Capitol lawn in April in an effort to stop the federal Medicaid cuts.

Luckily, through all of this I have had my service dog, Lucille Ball (or Lucy to her friends) to help me recover and navigate my ailments.

Unfortunately, it seems bad luck has struck us both this time.

I started my July off with some scary new back pain. And shortly after, we found out that Lucy has two teeth with growing cracks in them. (A unfortunate but common ailment for a lady dog of 7 years old)

In the midst of all of this great news, Lucy and I both have been slowly trying to pack our apartment and prepare to downsize to a studio on August 1.

Well, this week the doggie bag has hit the fan. I received MRI results that show a severe back injury which may need surgery, our planned apartment to move to decided to lease the place out from under us, and miss Lucy has developed a hot spot.

To (literally) add insult to our injuries, this all has come as I am pulling us out of a massive financial hole caused by 7 months of unemployment.

At this point, we are down to the wire. Lucy and I need a place to live, I need help/hiring of movers because I cannot afford to further harm my back, and Lucy really needs surgery to remove her broken teeth. We also have no idea how long Lucy’s teeth can wait. At this point we are playing chicken with serious infections which could be deadly.

I have exhausted all other options. Every township trustee, HAND dept, church, loan from friends, credit cards, etc. have been fully tapped. I work 29 hours a week, often from bed and in massive amounts of pain. I have even applied for SSI in January, and might if I am very lucky be awarded it by December.

I know our check books are all very very tight right now. But if any of my community can provide a little mural aid it’d be appreciated more than words can express. If we are friends on Facebook I am also accepting messages for help moving (ground floor unit! No stairs!)

And, in the interest of transparency, here is a list of goals, and what each one will afford Lucy and I:

$300- we stay housed, but my bank account is at $0 for two weeks and I have no idea how I will physically move. Lucy’s surgery must wait and we must move on the day that our apartment must be vacated. (Likely will lose deposit)

$500- we stay housed, and have $0 but I get movers (or if we get people to help us move, then we are less broke and I can take Lucy for initial bloodwork & hotspot treatment)

$1000-housed, movers, but we have 2 days to move so will keep our deposit! Lucy’s treatment is still started and a deposit down for her surgery. (But surgery a month out)

$1500+ all of the above, and Lucy is scheduled immediately. Any extra will go towards paying bills while I’m recovering from surgery because my current job offers no PTO.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for you time. And please, please do not hurt your own wellbeing to give to us.