Hello,

My name is Daryl, I am a Part Time Professor in Boston at Boston University, and an Adjunct at both Bunker Hill Community College, and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences University. I have been a Professor in the Boston area the last 20 years. As you may know about Adjuncts, even teaching 9-11 classes per semester, which is a norm for me, we still don’t have the pay or benefits as Full Time faculty unless we grind.

in 2018 I developed a rare disease, polymyositis, combined with chronic fatigue syndrome, lymphademia, and fibromyalgia, I lost my health. I went from a strong and healthy yogi and martial artist to struggling for my health, fighting for my life. The grind caught up to me. I went from one hospital to another, getting dismissed and belittled on a regular basis (St Elizabeth’s, Boston Medical, Beth Is Hospital, My Auburn, and Brigham and Women’s-the worst), the toll of being constantly sick, but not being able to take time off from work, eroded not only my health, but my marriage, and my wife abandoned me in 2022 because she no longer wanted a sick husband.

in 2024 I felt a severe pain in my chest and discovered a large lump. 16 months of medical specialists, doctors, getting gaslit by my PCP, multiple ER visits, and the necessity of surgery become a reality. One specialist after another gave me different timelines, usually putting off the surgery because of my weight gain the last four years (I couldn’t exercise, I was heart broken, and I was still working myself to death).

Recently the right doctors entered my life and I was told I needed surgery immediately. I will be having abdominal reconstructive surgery, two hernia repaired (one the size of a basketball), lymphatic tumors removed.

The big problem with this, outside of being high risk (I’m told it has a 47% chance of success, and then months with lots of possibilities for complications, if I survive the surgery), are:

1. I am all alone in this world. I don’t have a wife, girlfriend, partner, no kids, no family, the only friends I have life far away. I have no one to take care of me like many people do, during the 2-3 weeks where I need constant care. I will have to pay for this out of pocket, I don’t have a savings, I didn’t get enough summer work to even pay rent, I haven’t paid rent in two months, I barely have money for food and meetings with specialists.

2. My insurance doesn’t cover the entire procedure, plus all the other little things that go with medical recovery (uber rides, medical supplies, food, PT visits) plus the home care.

The procedure will be happening at Newton-Wellesley Hospital on August 8th and I will need 2-3 weeks of at home care, two months of PT minimum (the teaching semester starts 3 weeks after my surgery!).

I need to cover:

1. Uber to and from hospital: $75 each way

2. In-home Care: $2000 to pay someone to take care of me for two weeks

3. I have to pay the surgeon $1500 up front

4. My PT costs are $35 per session for what will be 16-20 sessions

5. My insurance will cover all but 12% of the surgery ($16000-$20000 for the surgery) so $1800-$2200

6. I suspect about $120 for food and home supplies for three weeks and another $200 for medical supplies, plus it would be good to eat away at the $22,000 I currently have in medical debt.

Due to reasons of transparency and fairness, current students please don’t not support this, grading must be seen as fair at all times.