Help Rich Smith Get Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) Surgery!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS A BUSINESS PLAN FOR THIS CAMPAIGN: Rich Smith GoFundMe Business Plan

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Tale of The Tape: Total Days Since Launching Fundraiser: 109. Total Donors: 48 Total $$$ Raised: $6,655

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This is a fund to restore my physical health, and solve the new health symptoms that have plagued my life since late February of 2023. I was, before the mysterious cause of these new ailments, in my absolute prime, physically, spiritually, and psychologically. Less than one year later, I began pursuing SSI & SSDI, and since May of 2024 Deep Brain Stimulation for chronic pain syndrome, and migraines. (for more, click the link above). To summarize, Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is often explained as a "pacemaker for your brain." Following this surgery, my plan is simple: to IMMEDIATELY return to full-time work. To remarry. And, to raise a family.

My specific symptoms remain the same. I get daily, debilitating migraines, a shrill, “tennitus” like beeping in my ears, painful, electric-shock sensations all throughout my body, and extremities, nausea at strange times of the day, and piercing new pain in my elbows and knees. Most importantly, I have tried to work full-time on 4 occasions since July of 2023. Each time I experienced such severe migraines and electric shock sensations that I arrived at the following conclusion: health first, then full-time work. In other words, these symptoms needed to be solved, or at least massively mitigated, prior to working in my industry, which is teaching history at the undergraduate level, and working in US History more broadly.

So what's happened since February of 2023? Sought the highest-quality health care available to me. Since that date, I have been hospitalized 7 times, 3 times in Maryland, and 4 times in Chicago. Attempts at finding a diagnosis began in May 2023. My initial diagnosis was a Chiari I Malformation. This is a small swelling where the brain enters the spinal canal. 4 Neurologists, at UAB, Emory, and Kaiser Permanente, however, have all stated that my headaches do not come from the Chiari 1 Malformation.

Since September of 2023, KP Doctors/Neurologists in DC & Georgia, as well as Northwestern Neurologists and my Chicago PCP, have prescribed the following headache medications: Verapamil, Imitrex, Topamax, Duloxetine, Ubrelvy, Propranolol, and Botox injections for migraine prevention. All have been abject failures. I was prescribed Meloxicam in May of 2024 for general pain. The results ran parallel to all the migraine medications. In June of 2024, I was diagnosed with Chronic Pain Syndrome by my Chicago PCP. This is a placeholder, in a sense. No health care provider has been able to properly diagnose my electric shock sensations, or the shrill beeping in my ears. You may access all of my medical records as of July 10, 2024, in the links at the end of this introduction.

Thus concludes Chapter 1 of my Medical Mystery! As I begin Chapter 2, my goals have narrowed, and the restoration of my health is in full sight! Such begins the road to DBS. I am pursuing DBS surgery for chronic/intractable pain at elite American medical institutions, including Northwestern, UC-San Francisco, UCLA, Emory, and UC-Davis. This method, of pursuing the best possible outcome by cultivating multiple options, has always served me well. I also want to get DBS scheduled as soon as possible. Multiple options ensure that one will yield a fast timeframe. My insurance, however, will only cover 50-70% of the surgery.

As such, I am asking for donations to cover the costs of only two specific medical expenses. 1) a DBS war chest, so to speak. It is an expensive, powerful technology. Blue Cross of Illinois told me that they will cover 70% of the cost of DBS, which nationally ranges between $35,000-$40,000. 2) Finally, I ask that my health insurance premiums be paid until December.

Your donations will GO EXCLUSIVELY to cover these two several purposes: DBS and Health Insurance. This is a much more focused, and more narrow ask! The overall number, likewise, has come down significantly. I am enormously grateful to the 47 total donors, from all phases of my life, who have stepped up and made a large difference in my life!

I am better than when I started this fundraiser, on March 28, 104 days ago! I do hope that many will donate again to get me healthy enough to work in my industry again, and most of all, bring back to the kind, hard-working, and charismatic Rich Smith that you, yes YOU, have had the misfortune of knowing :) All donations, of course, will also be met with enormous, and humble, gratitude.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to me directly via phone (same since grad school), emails (also same since grad school), or my IG or FB pages. I’d love to hear from you!

-Rich

Prices:

Blue Cross HC Premium x 6 (see screenshot): $1644.84

DBS Costs: $40,000-$28,000=$12000

Grand Total: $13,644.84

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Complete Northwestern Medical Record to July 10, 2024

Complete KP Mid-Atlantic Medical Record To April 20, 2024. Password: 02021981