Support Melody through her Hysterectomy

Hi everyone, I’m fundraising because I am currently on unpaid medical leave from my full time job due to my vastly complex medical situation. I have medical bills, regular bills, basic groceries & gasoline necessities all piling up with no income to go towards any of these expenses. I am 26 years old, I have been working restaurant and retail jobs since I was 16. I have been with my current employer for 2 years. I have exhausted my paid leave benefits as I’ve been struggling with my health for quite awhile now and only seem to be getting sicker. I was first diagnosed in March of 2020 just mere days before our world shut down due to the pandemic. I had major surgery where they were able to diagnose me with endometriosis, pelvic congestion syndrome, pelvic inflammatory disease, pelvic floor dysfunction and vaginal nerve damage from past sexual trauma experienced in college. They performed numerous procedures on me at this time to try to treat my conditions. In the following months, my pain increased to the highest levels I had ever experienced. I was taking my medications and going to physical therapy, I was doing everything I was instructed to by my medical care providers. Medical care access was tricky during Covid. They assumed that my endometriosis had progressed to endometrial cancer and placed me on an experimental chemotherapy pill. I had severe side effects from this medication and was ultimately taken off of it due to heightened suicidal thoughts. Just six short months after my first major surgery, I had a second surgery. In this surgery they discovered that my endometriosis had spread from my uterus to my ovaries, bladder and appendix causing my appendix to rupture. They had to remove my appendix and said if we hadn’t done that procedure when we did, I very well could of died. My doctors and physical therapists were stunned by my strength and resilience. They were truly puzzled how I was able to withstand appendicitis pain. I explained to them that it is the level of pain that I feel on a daily basis from my uterus. It was only then that they begun to understand the severity of the pain I feel from my chronic pain illness. My pelvic pain specialist ran out of ideas for treatment. We had tried everything he knew to do. I was still in pain preventing me from a proper quality of life where I can function and contribute to society. He suggested I move to Virginia to start seeing a doctor outside the DC area. This doctor was the president of the international pelvic pain society. So my dad and I packed up and moved during a pandemic, leaving behind the only home I’d ever known in search of a solution for my situation. I started seeing that doctor and he changed my medications around a lot which triggered a 31 day menstruation. I was losing so much blood that I fainted down the steps at the ski resort I was working at and was fired. This was my new sickest I’d ever been level. Putting on a fresh pad and bleeding through my pad, underwear and pants within 30 minutes. Then one day I just stopped menstruating and never menstruated again, it’s been 3 years. I started researching states with the best reproductive rights and healthcare for women and Maine came up as number one. So dad and I moved again, this time to Maine. In the two years we lived there, I never made it off of a waiting list to see a gynecologist. Much less a specialist, like I truly need. My pain was increasing and we were out of ideas. So dad and I moved back home to Alabama. I went back to see my pelvic pain specialist surgeon and he performed a third major surgery on me, this time in February of 2024, he did what he could to treat the endometriosis. He found and removed a benign tumor from my right ovary. I took the doctor's recommended amount of time off of work for recovery and then went back to work. Everyday I was going home early in tears from the extreme pain or calling out because my pain was so severe that I couldn’t make it out of bed. I went back on leave to finish recovering. In April, I was drugged and sexually assaulted. He caused severe internal bruising, pelvic inflammatory disease, a sexually transmitted parasite, further vaginal nerve damage and inhalation anthrax was found in my system. I spent the next month in bed, in tears. My depression was the worse it had ever been. I drove myself to a nearby ER and begged them to admit me to psych because I was concerned I was a danger to myself. They informed me that psych was full but they admitted me to the hospital for the day. Increased my antidepressants dosage. Had me make an appointment with a therapist before I could be discharged. They helped me a lot. My mental health has improved significantly through my new dosage of my medication and several therapy sessions down with my new therapist. My pelvic pain specialist informed me that I now need steroid pain medication injections in my vaginal opening as well as my pelvic floor every 3 months for the rest of my life. I tried to go back to work the day after my first round of injections on June 17, with my next injections scheduled for September 16 and December 6. I lasted 5 minutes at work before I was in tears from the pain. I struggled through for 2 weeks, leaving early in tears in pain or calling out. The day before my birthday was my last shift worked. I was there one hour before my uterus seized in pain so badly that I could not move or walk. They had to wheelchair me to my dad’s car. They asked me not to come back to work until I was truly better. I am extremely grateful for my employer. They value me as a human being and an employee. They genuinely care about my health and well being. Unfortunately, throughout my struggles the last several years, I have already exhausted all paid leave benefits available to me. So this leave of absence is unpaid meaning I have absolutely no income. The scariest part of all of this is that I don’t know when I will be well enough to return to work. My doctors are just about out of ideas. I’m doing everything instructed of me and my health is continuing to decline on the daily. I have a surgery consultation on Wednesday July 17 to discuss an elective hysterectomy. It is an extremely heavy and heartbreaking decision to have to make at the young age of 26, as a woman with no children. It is not a decision I make lightly. A hysterectomy is not considered a cure for my condition, rather it is considered the most aggressive form of pain management. I have exhausted all other treatments and remedies. I have moved states multiple times. I’ve seen the top doctors in my field of need. I’ve spent years as a patient in physical therapy. I’ve tried experimental medications. Nothing seems to help. I’m hoping a hysterectomy is my answer. I had been asking for signs from God on what the right call is here. On my last day at work, I encountered a customer who unfortunately saw me sobbing in pain. She was an incredibly kind and sweet elderly woman who expressed to me that she too had health issues with her uterus in her youth. She confided in me that she made the difficult decision to have a hysterectomy around my age and that it saved her life. Her doctors told her that if she had kept her uterus, she would have been deceased in a mere matter of weeks. She was much sicker than her doctors realized and her hysterectomy was necessary and life saving. Then my job asked me to go on unpaid leave and take care of my health. Then I found a doctor in the area who does elective hysterectomies. Meaning, if you want one and have a need for one, they will perform it. This feels like my sign. This feels like what I need to do. I am asking for donations to help me financially during this extremely difficult time with my health. Before this next round of surgeries even begins, I have a stack of past due medical bills amounting to $4,746.61. My monthly income when working full time amounted to $2,400. I expect to be out of work and without pay for approximately 3 months. Any amount of monetary assistance given would be exponentially appreciated. I will also gladly accept any prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes for strength during this time and well wishes that my hysterectomy brings me enough pain relief that I am able to return back to my life. Thank you.