Help Sarah with Her Medical Expenses

Hello! My best friend, Sarah, has undergone some extensive medical issues.

She almost passed away in December due to sepsis and poor hospital care, and has a lot of medical bills and upcoming medical procedures/surgery to help her continue to get better. Every little bit helps!

Her story is below- in her own words:

“December 14, 2021. I was admitted to Parkwest hospital with congestive heart failure. My left ventricle was weakened by an unknown cause and caused my body to retain over 100lbs of fluid.

June 9th, 2023. After over a decade of trying every weightloss program under the sun, I finally decided bariatric surgery might be my only option for sustainable weightloss. The program at the University of Tennessee baricatric surgery not only changed my life but probably saved it.

November 18th, 2023. I woke up to acute and excruciating pain in my right hip. One week later I was taken by ambulance to an ER. After 5 days laying in a bed in that ER, my mom and sister finally found someone willing to help transfer me to Parkwest. I was diagnosed with a septic staph infection in my right hip and bloodstream. I was immobile, delusional and dying from multi system failure.

December 21, 2023. The first day I was able to take a step since the hip pain started.

February 20th, 2024. I was told I had advanced arthritis in my right hip caused by the staph infection. My hip was now bone on bone and I would need a hip replacement.

April 14, 2024. I took my dog for a walk on a trail for the first time in years. 2 miles. No cane. No back pain. No heavy breathing or breathlessness. Minimal hip pain.

Both times I went to the ER fatphobia nearly killed me. Doctors treated me sub human. Nurses laughed thinking I couldn’t hear them. Hospital administrators told my family no hospital wanted to admit me because of my size. No one believed something was actually wrong with me. They just thought I was out of shape and lazy. If it weren’t for a select few doctors, I would be dead. “