Kelli Needs Our Help: Saving Her Life

Hello family, friends, and strangers; my name is Kelli Garcia and it took me a long time to gather up the courage to create this and reach out so please be patient if I tell too much or too little of what brought me here. My health has been challenging since I was a child and I have just gotten used to it over the years but in March of 2023, I suffered a stroke and permanent damage to my right eye. In the process of trying to figure out what had caused my stroke, and two different doctors at a more reputable health group, I learned I have Multiple Sclerosis. I have to have 2-hour long MRI's twice a year and 6-hour long infusions twice a year for the rest of my life. For the most part, I was contending with it all quite well but in September of last year, my health really took a turn for the worse. I became very sick, very suddenly and spent the end of September and most of October in the hospital. The frustrating thing is, I still don't have an answer as to what's wrong with me. I have excruciating pain in my lower right abdomen that has not stopped since it started in September. The pain is so severe that I have been almost 100% bedridden. I have not wanted to give up hope trying to find a diagnosis because with a diagnosis, at least I wouldn't be mistreated any more like I have been with doctor after doctor who seems to think this is all in my head. I have been dismissed, passed off over and over again, refused further imaging, and now I am dealing with a new primary care doctor who replaced my long time one that just retired, and he is one of the most cruel and abhorrent doctors I've ever met. He showed no compassion at all while I'm currently living through a literal waking nightmare, and he yelled at both me and my mom that no doctor is going to find anything wrong with me because it's all in my head.

My biggest hope was being able to get an appointment with UCSF who specializes in rare, complicated, complex, and under diagnosed cases with their second opinion program. However, it requires a referral from a doctor to be able to have the appointment and the new doctor just refuses to put in the referral. I have already gone into medical debt since I'm on disability and that put me on Medicare which interfered with my existing insurance coverage for the end of October and all of November. Basically, I had no insurance and I didn't even know. So I received a hospital bill for a four night stay, and four bills for my various post-hospital follow-up appointments, and two sets of imaging. I've submitted my third and final appeal to both Medicare and Tricare in hopes they can fix it but the weight of those bills is almost as heavy as my fear and heartbreak at being sick for this long with no sign of hope for an answer. My even bigger worry though that weighs heaviest on my mind, is the fear that I will continue to decline and even though I've completed my Last Will and Testament and got my affairs in order, I do not want my poor husband to have to take on any medical debt from my passing. God forbid.

It's been an incredibly awful year but thought I had some glimmer of hope when I was able to get an appointment with the second opinion program at UCSF. However, without the referral, I would have to pay for their "written decision" option where I don't meet with any doctors or get to speak to any, and I will get their analysis of my case in a written letter. That is better than nothing but it costs $1,000 to do it that way. I was first referred to The Cleveland Clinic Second Opinion Program which is $1,900 but is considered the best of the second opinion programs there are around the country but I had to cancel that one as well when I received that notice telling me I was uninsured for 6 weeks along with all of the bills.

I HATE asking for help but with me unable to work and my disability payments being less than $900 a month, my husband has taken on the full load of all the bills and the gas required to get me to and from all these appointments. Between rent, cost of gas, utilities, and general cost of living in California is so high, my husband and I have been worried. I want to be able to get the medical bills paid and pay for the second opinion program so that I can finally get back to a place where I'm not ashamed and embarrassed at the shell I've become. I want to keep fighting to get answers and I know a kind and patient doctor is out there, but I just need to make it that far.

I know everyone is struggling right now so I want to say to anyone and everyone who can help in any way, God Bless you from the deepest part of my heart and soul. Hopefully one day things will change where the severely sick people can get the help they need without being dismissed over and over again all while the medical bills pile up and not one bill being paid can be counted towards making me better.

I'm an open book as well if anyone has any questions or just wants updates. And if anyone reading this has also had a similar experience and can share their journey in finding a great doctor and not giving up and finally getting an answer, that will be worth its weight in gold to me as well. Love you all!