Support for Lupus Warrior's Medical Expenses

UPDATE: I just wanted everyone to know that I got my therapist to fill out my FMLA paperwork so that I could take intermittent leave of absence at my work. It doesn't necessarily mean a leave of absence because I will still be working full time. It just gives me protection from losing my job - so I can call out sick or go to doctor's appointments and they would be excused absences. That's all that means. I've had to take a bunch of days off in the past few weeks and two days off this week already. It's really hitting me financially and I don't even know how I'm going to pay my phone bill on Friday because my car insurance is going to come up next week for almost $200. I just feel like I'm drowning.

Hello friends. As many of you know, I've been struggling with Lupus, which is an autoimmune disease that affects my entire body - and now it's affecting my mental health. I have been in agonizing pain, since the middle of February. I ended up contracting a virus, which made me sick with the worst case of the flu, I've had in decades. This caused my immune system to become compromised and I woke up one morning, unable to straighten my fingers - which were all bent. I didn't know what was wrong with me so I went to the emergency room and they tested me for all kinds of things but they said that it was probably Lupus arthritis. I went to see my primary care doctor on February 21st and it cost me $174 for a copay. I was utterly confused because I have never paid such a high copay in my life. I currently have the Aetna silver plan through my work at Macy's. I pay $62.50 per week out of my paycheck for my medical insurance. But my deductible is $1,500. I've had to pay over $300 in emergency room fees, as well as several hundred dollars for medications including asthma inhaler, antibiotics, prednisone, naproxen sodium, 600 mg of ibuprofen, as well as my maintenance meds for my hypertension including three different medications for my heart conditions. I had to call out sick from work for 10 days, due to the flu. And then, it flared up my Lupus so I had to take additional days off. It's been a struggle to just get out of bed, take a shower, as well as a struggle to even open up my shampoo bottle, get dressed, put makeup on or even open up a bottle of water because my hands just won't work. My hands are stiff and my knuckles are swollen and I've had to wear special gloves to try to help me. I am putting ice packs and heat packs on my hands and wrists but now I'm getting paresthesia's which are nerve-like pain shooting up my arm into my elbow. I've been getting migraines and other issues such as muscle pain. And now for the past 2 days, I've been struggling with my mental health and feeling depressed and anxious about my work. My work threatened to fire me the other day, for having too many unexcused absences. I had a meeting with the director and she urged me to file for an intermittent leave through FMLA which means that I'm allowed to take sick days without getting punished. But now I've come across a huge problem. My work gave me 2 weeks to have my doctor fill out my FMLA paperwork. I called my doctor's office 2 days ago and they finally called me back today. The doctor stated that she is not actively treating me for my Lupus, therefore she cannot fill out the paperwork for my FMLA. In addition, she told me I should get a rheumatologist but I told her that I can't even afford the $174 copay to see a rheumatologist. In addition to having Lupus, I have a rare connective tissue disease that makes Lupus worse and it's called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type 3, which is the hypermobility type which means I'm double jointed. So this is affecting my joints even worse in my fingers and causing horrific pain. On top of that, I have high blood pressure and other heart issues such as a mitral valve prolapse and a heart murmur. My previous cardiologist said that I would need a heart valve replacement sometime in the near future. I just feel like I can't keep up with my bills. I have a car insurance payment coming up next week for $188. I have a phone bill payment of $85. I have two credit cards that I have to make minimum payments on of at least $25 each. I have to pay for gas for my car - as well as groceries. I had to miss another day of work the other day but I have to go back to work today and for the next few days. If I don't work, I won't have any money to live on. So now I'm worried that I can't get my FMLA paperwork filled out within the next 12 days because there's a deadline that my work gave me. With my doctor refusing to fill out the forms, I had to contact my therapist that I haven't seen since December because the domestic violence organization I'm working with only paid for my therapy for 6 months. I just reached out to her and I'm waiting for her to see if she could fill out the paperwork for me - but I'm worried that my work is going to say it has to be from a doctor and not a therapist. My doctor's office said that maybe a therapist could fill out a form and I could use the PTSD as a reason for my FMLA instead of my Lupus. But the problem is is that I'm sure they're going to require that it's from a doctor but I don't have a specialist. In order for me to get a specialist, I have to pay $174 copay. And even if I get a specialist, they might say that it's going to take 2 months to get an appointment. So I just feel hopeless. I have till April 6th to get the paperwork in from FMLA and I don't think I can get it done. I am so stressed out right now. I don't know what else to do. I can't even find another job and I've applied for 237 jobs since Thanksgiving. It's like people are posting jobs but not hiring. Many of my friends are looking for work and none of them can find jobs either. I don't know what's going on in this country but I've never had a hard time finding a job. I currently work at Macy's but I'm not getting paid that much money. And because I'm barely working, I'm only bringing home a couple hundred dollars a week and I can't afford to live on that. Yes Rob has helped me out a few times here and there but I can't expect him to pay all my bills since we only met recently. I'm very humiliated that I even have to ask people for money. I don't know what to do. A good friend of mine said I should do a GoFundMe and that I shouldn't feel bad to ask others for help. Thank you for your help in advance. I just don't even know what to do at this point cuz I can't even think straight.