My name is Amy. I'm setting this up for my friend Pam. She recently had a surgery that has left her out of work until March at the earliest.

In early November, she saw her doctor about some numbness in her arm and hands. After tests and imaging, the doctors told her that she has a condition that narrows the spine and had caused compression that could lead to instant paralysis or death (provider report notes, 3 nerve roots compressed, 4 discs pushing into the spinal cord, T3 was lodged forward into the spinal cord). A lot of questions finally resulted in her doctor recommending she have the surgery to fix this as soon as possible.

December 4, 2025 - Pam underwent surgery for a laminectomy with fusion. Basically, they took all her vertebrae from C2 - T6 out of her spine, ground it up, and used it in the molds to create new vertebrae. They rebuilt her spine (12 vertebrae) and put rods in to hold it all in place.

Now that this surgery is done, she has learned that she needs to have surgery on her shoulder. She is at risk for her bicep detaching. Having this surgery while she is already out of work is the best course of action; however, it is just one more recovery that she will have to go through.

While she has insurance and is hopeful her short-term disability will be approved shortly, after her insurance is taken out, and she will only be receiving approx. 40% of her actual pay and will have a hard time meeting her basic needs during this time of recovery.