My name is Meg and I am in desperate need of help right now. Things have compounded and gotten completely out of control in my life. I’d like to tell you a little bit about the last year and how things have escalated.

Last summer at 33 years of age, I started experiencing some odd symptoms. The first time, it was a sudden tinnitus and a vertigo-esque episode at work (I was working as a server) that lasted about 45 minutes. About a month later, I experienced aphasia (about 45-60 seconds of incoherent speech), also at work. This time, I went to the ER. This ER visit and another one a month later, after a fall at work, both resulted in a complete dismissal from the ER doctor. My symptoms though, continued to worsen. Eventually, my job had a meeting with me where they basically set a precedence to be able to fire me if I continued to have any more symptoms at work.

In November, my AC randomly stopped working. I paid $800 to get it fixed, only to find out that it ultimately had to be completely replaced (quoted $12k in the busy season). Right after, my water heater stopped working as well and needed a complete replacement. I had nothing to put towards it. The plumber I’ve worked with for years insisted on installing it on good faith and doing a payment plan that we would figure out together. I was fired the day after it was installed. On April 8, I was notified that they were putting a lean on my house for the nonpayment.

As the beginning of the year approached and I had been applying for dozens of jobs and still experiencing worsening symptoms, I contacted my mortgage company to let them know that I wasn’t going to be able to make my payment on January 1st. Since then, I have been on a forbearance plan; as of right now, that ends on June 30th.

Though I was incredibly reluctant to apply to any service industry jobs because of my health, I was finally offered a job position as a manager in training at a fast food chain. On March 10th, I went in and did my paperwork, and as we went to the back and they explained we would be on the line the entire shift, no sitting, and working a minimum of 52/hours a week, I felt in my gut that it was too high risk. My next training shift was supposed to be Wednesday, March 12th at 6:30am.

Wednesday, March 12th at 6:32am I was woken up by my cat Sandwich to feed him. On my way back to my room, I got this sudden wave that I had experienced a handful of times before and even said out loud, “oh no, oh no, oh no.” At that moment, I looked to my right arm and just saw it dangling there, unbelonging to me. And in that same instance, I collapsed hard. It was nearly 45 minutes before I was able to drag myself onto my bed and call for help. When I eventually made it to the hospital and got a brain MRI, we found that I had a stroke in my left temporal lobe and that it had been acute. While in the hospital, I requested to speak with social services to help me figure out what to do as far as paying my bills/housing/feeding my animals/general living/work/etc, and they never came.

Since then, I have been struggling with mobility and deep cognitive strain. For the first month and a half afterwards, it truly felt like I was getting worse every day. I was finally able to get in with a neurologist who wanted to start with a plan of ruling out seizures, but the ambulatory EEG cost was $4200 out of pocket. Eventually, we decided I would be hospitalized again at the end of April so I could get another brain MRI and the EEG completed. I again requested help with social services but they said they would not be able to help me (point me to resources, fill out paperwork, suggest who to call, etc). Ultimately, no obvious cause for my strokes has been found, so they released me and my neurologist did as well. They did send a referral to the Mayo Clinic per my request, however they do not take my insurance.

In all this time, it has been nearly 7 months since I have had any income. I’ve sold a tiny bit of artwork and did a little yard sale in March after my hospitalization. Truthfully, I already struggle with executive functioning; but especially so while under such enormous stress, compounding problems, and an injured brain. I’m doing so much everyday, but it feels like I’m running in place (with my walker). I just feel encased in concrete with the tiniest bent straw to breathe out of and I need some people willing to pick up some hammers and help me fight my way out of this.

I need to find a job. I need to pay my bills. I want to keep my home. I want to pay back the plumber that was good to me by putting in the water heater, I never meant to leave them hanging dry. I need to do what’s right towards my animals and keep them fed and housed and stable. I want to be able to financially support myself in finding a team of physicians that are willing to help me figure out what is going on with my health. At a certain point, we all may need to ask for help and right now is my chance.

Thank you.

I’m not sure if this is allowed, but if you want to donate directly, outside of GoFundMe, you can by:

Venmo: @Meg-Poland

Cashapp: $MegPoland