Please donate to help me afford necessary medical treatment.

I have hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which causes daily subluxations and dislocations of my joints, along with many other symptoms. This has caused a tear in my rotator cuffs on both sides. I have been in physical therapy and OT for 4 years, but still suffer daily dislocations of both of my shoulders.

There is a treatment that has a large body of evidence and good results in my patient population called PRP. It is much safer than surgery for my patient population. I found a doctor at Johns Hopkins who will do it for cheaper than other providers, however insurance denied the treatment despite his belief it is medically necessary and the most appropriate option for me considering my disabilities. It costs $850 for each shoulder, and he can't do both at once. I will need to be off work for a week after each shoulder and will run out of paid sick leave by the second shoulder procedure.

I know this is a time of struggle for everyone. I am hoping if you can spare it, you could spread the word or contribute a little so that I can afford PRP to heal my shoulders. Insurance would be willing to cover procedures that would cause great harm to me such as surgery or steroid shots, but my insurance is unwilling to follow the evidence-based recommendations of multiple physicians, PTs, and OTs who all think this is the best course of treatment for me.

In this period of inflation, we have also seen an unprecedented rate hike in Baltimore for gas and electric. We turned off the heat during the winter but still face an energy bill of $2000 for only three months, an exponential increase from our similar usage from last year. Blue cross blue shield plans also stopped covering my migraine medication, which relates to overall central sensitization to pain, and it would be $450 out of pocket at Costco.

Due to recovering from long COVID and being the primary breadwinner in a household where my partner's disabilities prevent him from working full-time, I am financially without a safety net.

I have done my best to manage the daily shoulder subluxations and pain for 3-4 years, but my doctor fears if we do not heal the rotator cuff tears with PRP, that the tears will get bigger and harder to heal. I had hoped to put it off until I could afford it, but it turns out due to my hypermobility I also need a dental crown since my hypermobile jaw has cracked a tooth for the 4th time in 5 years, which will cost me well into $2000. My partner is only able to do DoorDash and part-time jobs, which has made it difficult to make ends meet much less cover our healthcare costs.

Please consider helping us through this time.