Hi everyone. My name is Alyssa, most call me Ally and like most of us, this year has proven especially challenging. To preface this entire saga, I do not have medical insurance. After everything that has gone down, I am working on it but finances are a big problem.

Anyway, starting at the beginning of July, I was hospitalized for extreme back pain. They told me at that time, that I had a soft ball sized abscess between my uterus and my rectum. They could not determine what caused it, but the antibiotics they'd been giving me were working so I was sent home with a 10-day course of oral antibiotics and a follow up appointment with the OBGYN who'd seen me in the hospital. The initial round of antibiotics made me so sick I couldn't keep down even the most basic of foods; I lost almost 15 lbs before I contacted the doctor I was to follow up with and was advised to stop taking the one making me sick. I completed the rest of the antibiotics, but was still in pain. At the follow up appt, the Gyn advised me to go back to the ER. At the ER, they told me the abscess was back already and was slightly larger. This time they drained it and installed a JP Drain catheter. After 4 days, they removed the drain, sent me home with a 14 day course of antibiotics. It seemed like that had finally fixed it, but then at the end of September, the back pain started again. I went back to the ER, confirmed the abscess was back, now for the 3rd time. They did surgery this time, manually drained and packed it. Antibiotics again and sent me home. Without insurance, the bills I've received towards these stays, are already over 75k.

At the beginning of November, the back pain came back. I went to Mayo Clinic this time, they confirmed the abscess is back and they located a fistula on the MRI. So they installed another JP Drain catheter. This time the order is to keep the drain, and stay on oral antibiotics for 5 months. At that time, they're going to asses the abscess and see if the infection has gone down. If it has, they're going to go in and do surgery to repair the fistula. The real kicker, is there's a good chance that the surgery won't fix it. It can still come back, and if it does, the next level of surgery could result in an ostomy bag which is absolutely terrifying. They still dont know how it all started.

Now, I'm working on getting insurance. I dont have the monthly income to afford a high insurance premium, and most of the plans I have access to now don't start until the new year. I also know that the ER will continue to treat me as necessary. However, Mayo is insisting that the majority of the rest of my treatment be outpatient, and must be paid for up front. The follow up appointment in February for the drain removal, is being estimated at 5k. On top of that, I haven't been able to work consistently for the last several months. Especially the month of November. With this catheter, I won't be able to work as much as I need to to pay my bills. I'm probably going to lose my car unless I can get some assistance.

What I'm asking for is help getting the 5k I need for the appointment in February, and extra money towards living expenses. My car payment is $269 a month, my car insurance is $180. My roommates are helping me with rent and food, but there's only so much they can do. I do have a part time job I will be getting as many hours as possible at, but it's not going to be enough. Any extra money I happened to receive would go towards paying my car note ahead so that I dont have to stress about it, and trying to take the strain off of my household towards rent and other expenses.

I know times are tough for everyone right now, especially with the holiday season in full swing. Any help that anyone can give would make a huge difference and I'd really be eternally grateful for everything.