Hello Everyone,

Life has thrown myself and my family into a storm we never saw coming. I guess I'll start here. It started with a sharp pain in my left shoulder and lower abdomen on 4/23/25. Hoping it would go away, I took ibuprofen, but that wasn't helping. Unfortunately, it kept getting worse, with the pain eventually becoming unbearable. I finally went into emergency on 4/27/25. They found there was a blood flow blockage to my spleen, which resulted in an enlarged spleen and liver along with very low red and white blood cell counts. At that point, I was admitted to Mercy General Hospital, and after more tests, they decided they would do a bone marrow biopsy to rule out cancer or infections. They finally diagnosed me with Hairy Cell Leukemia, which is pretty rare, and I had never heard of it.

To add insult to this life-changing event, I originally went out on disability back on 10/29/24 for what I thought was a sciatic nerve issue, which later turned into pneumonia. The Kaiser doctor at the time kept me off work to recover from this chain of health illnesses. Unfortunately, my employer used a third-party claims administrator, to handle my disability, and they were not communicating with me or collecting medical records or doctor notes provided by Kaiser. In turn, they denied my disability claim as of 1/27/25. I filed an appeal, and the third party hired a medical examiner felt the Kaiser doctor records did not support me being out longer than 1/27/25. Please tell me how or why I was never notified that I lost my Kaiser benefits as of 3/23/25 no (benefit's) only notified when going in for appointment stating no longer a member. I was unable to get Medi-Cal due to my wife's income. Fast forward to a long hospital stay with ongoing chemo treatments and blood work, with no job or income, and no benefits. Never thought this would happen to me or I'd be in this spot or place. My wife has been as supportive emotionally and financially as possible. But all things come to a crux eventually. This is ours. I am now forced to look for outside help and support to help get me through this life-impacting event and illness.

We could use any help or assistance for the next 8 chemo treatments, the three-week hospital stay, household mortgage and bills, marketplace benefits, food, transportation, etc. I know my family and I are in for a tough, long journey in this difficult, stressful, and mentally and physically draining crisis. Just trying to be a part of a solution or contributor to make ends meet. Feeling helpless, although applying for assistance and benefits - knowing anything helps. If you are not in a position to help, thank you for taking the time to read my story.