My name is Jesse Michael, and I am setting up this fundraiser to cover the medical bills that have accrued over the last eight months of difficulties. The past eight months have been a rollercoaster of medical adventures for my wife and me. Starting in August I contracted a virus in my vestibular system (the part of the ear that controls balance) and couldn't even roll over in bed without the world feeling as if it was spinning so much I was going to fall over. For four months I had to do physical therapy while my wife took care of everything, including working extra to cover my inability to bring in any income and the bills starting to come in. Right before Christmas, I was able to go back to work, then right at the beginning of January I started experiencing gallstone symptoms and missed work for two weeks while trying to take care of this new problem. Back at work once again, a tooth broke so badly that the only option was to get an implant. In the middle of this months-long process, I developed a kidney stone. Rather than passing on its own, it became lodged and needed to be surgically removed. After another three weeks of missing work and sick leave long gone, my wife lost her job of seven years that she loved. We have been doing our best to cover all our bills, but it has become increasingly difficult to cover all my medical bills between the surgery and my wife losing her job.

Update: After my surgery I was able to get back to work when, while unloading a trailer, an unsecured 1000 lbs crate started falling on top of me. Thankfully I managed to get out of the way enough that only my arm was injured. An ER trip showed that although I'd escaped without breaking anything, there was deep tissue damage. For three weeks I went to physical therapy and was unable to perform my normal work duties as I had difficulty moving my hand.

Finally back at work, for about two months things seemed to be getting back to normal and I was missing minimal work days. Then I unexpectedly had an adverse reaction to some medication and seemed to be having a stroke. My wife drove me to the ER and they rushed me back into testing. A CT scan, MRI, and blood work later showed that it wasn't a stroke. The doctor's best guess is it was a migraine putting pressure on nerves and causing paralysis on one side of my body. Since that ER trip I have continued to have recuring paralysis anytime I have a headache. My job has been very understanding as we are trying to get into a neurologist in order to figure out what is going on.