Hello! My name is Matthew. If you're seeing this, you may know me as Matty from the Tired podcast, Shrimper Matthew from the Best Show, or as the admin of music archival site Claremont Cometh. As you can see from the Insta stories in my fundraiser photo, I try to have a good attitude in a bad situation, but I have to admit the math right now has me scared. I have had some bad luck this month.

On the 2nd I felt sick. On the 5th I went to the urgent care and tested positive for strep, but they told me if amoxicillin didn't knock out the specific one-sided pain in my throat after 48 hours, that would suggest a peritonsillar abscess, and I should go to the ER. So, on the 7th I went to the ER for the first time in my adult life, something I've always avoided because 1) I'm a transgender man and hospital settings aren't always cool about this stuff, and 2) I'm usually under-insured, and right now completely uninsured. I've always just treated stuff at home.

Well, good thing I went in this time. They immediately gave me IV antibiotics, ordered blood cultures, and did a CT scan, and they had to phone a local ENT to drain the abscess once they found it. I didn't go septic, I'm okay—but I have a growing bill with the hospital system, radiology, and more, about $5,500 and counting. I've been trying to talk to the financial aid office to see if I'm eligible for help based on last year's income. If not, it adds those bills onto a debt burden of about $1,500/month in minimum payments, that I've been carrying since COVID time. That was all the first week of January.

...And then on the 14th, the day I printed my financial assistance forms, I also fractured a toe. I'm taping it at home and taking Advil, no big expenses, but it hurts and I have to be careful with it for another 4-6 weeks. The problem there is, I've also been job-hunting out of state for 3 months trying to move out of New Jersey. I've been following up with temp agencies every 2 weeks offering to take any assignment they can give me, and I'm willing+able to sleep in my car during the work week until I can find a local apartment, I've done it before. But starting a job and moving my stuff will require some mobility and a lot of weight-bearing, which may or may not be 100% fine, depending on how I heal. I'll be toughing it out as best I can, but I've always needed to capably stand/walk/lift to get paying work, and the thought of longer-term pain + mobility issues is nerve-wracking.

It's been one thing after another, and I'm at the mercy of a lot of other people picking up their phones and giving me good or bad news. All in all, I just need help to get from point A to point B. I've had some setbacks, but I really just want to find a job, get settled, and keep up my obligations.