sometimes you have to ask for help

Hi, my name is AJ. Earlier this year I moved from Pacific Beach to Old Town. I thought it would be just another simple move. I work in the dental field but it has not always paid the best. To help with income, I started to do Doordash to try to get ahead of bills. After I finished moving in earlier this year, I was rearranging boxes in my apartment. I bent down to lift a box, and my lower back went into a spasm. Needless to say, it was pretty painful. I thought I could sleep it off no problem. When I woke in the morning I could not move and was in a lot of pain. I had to miss work, and struggled to do simple things like even going to the bathroom. I had hoped the situation would improve on its own. I eventually was able to slowly walk, but had limited range of motion. I could not bend over, or pick things up. I tried things like Icy Hot, lidocaine patches, 800mg ibuprofen and nothing helped. I eventually made an appt with my doctor.

At first, we tried steroids. These did not help at all. But I took the weeks worth of medicine anyways. The doctor perscribed 800mg Ibuprofen, and Tramadol. Taking the tramadol scared me because it was an opiate and I was warned it was addicting. The next step was physical therapy. Now my insurance has a $2000 deductible before it covers anything so I have to pay everything completely out of pocket until I reach that point. At this time I was still working, but I was in a great deal of pain while there. Eventually my regional manager put me on Medical Leave. Unpaid. By this time it was march 3rd. The doctor took xrays, perscribed pain medication, and gave me referrals to physical therapy. Despite these being $350 visits, I had no choice because I needed help with my back. I would go, and they would do deep tissue massages which helped with pain, would apply suction cups to my lower back, and assign me stretches to do while at home. After 8 visits, nothing seemed to be working.

I continued accumulating bill after bill not only for seeing the doctor, but also for the continued physical therapy visits. The doctor became concerned something more serious was going on and told me we needed to step things up and get an MRI. He warned me the MRI cost alone would be around $1000 but it would show us everything going on with the nerves, the muscle tissue, the bones, and he would be able to treat me better rather then going in continuous circles. I now owe $2800 as I write this. I returned to work 7/10/23 but have limitations with what I'm allowed to do but Im thankful for some kind of income. I dont get all my hours but I'll take what I can get after not working for several months.

I applied for Medi-CAL, however the office does not accept this insurance so my bills will not be covered. I was approved for CAL-fresh which has helped significantly with eating. People have suggested over and over I start a gofundme to help raise money for my medical costs the past several months. Even today, I am scheduled to see the doctor, again, and am going to request the MRI even knowing it will be just another bill I cant pay. I live off of 800mg Ibuprofen, Tramadol, Excedrine migraine, and dont see an end to it. I'm hoping the results of the MRI will finally tell me what is going on with my back and allow me some kind of avenue towards healing. I finally gave in and decided to make a gofundme in hopes of getting some help to get out of the hole I'm in. Anything is appreciated.