Hi. My name’s Arthur. I’m a typical healthy 28-year-old guy who fixes cars for a living. In my spare time, I like to hang out with friends, exercise, and enjoy the local scenery.
 


A few weeks ago, I woke up on Sunday feeling more nauseated than I’ve ever felt in my life. I felt like I had chugged an entire bottle of vodka right before I woke up. The room was spinning, I couldn’t even sit up straight, and I barely made it to the restroom to vomit (because I hadn't eaten yet, I was dry heaving). All I had done the day prior was move furniture from my old place to my new one. 

I was taken to the emergency room of my local hospital, where I underwent a series of tests, including a CT scan, to figure out what the heck was wrong with me.


See that giant white lump at the top of my head? That's a bone tumor. But, shockingly, that wasn’t my problem at all. The doctors say the tumor is benign. My symptoms were caused by a stroke. 


After a buncha tests (including two more CT scans, an echocardiogram of the heart, and an MRI that cost like four times more than my car) the doctors had an idea of what had caused me to have this stroke, something that normally happens to much older, unhealthier people.



My vertebral artery on the left side was “dissected,” or split open. This happens to young people most often when they visit a chiropractor and have their neck cracked. The quick, twisting motion can cause a sudden torsional strain on the vessel, which will then tear. But, I’d never been to a chiropractor. The closest thing I could think of to a twisting neck motion was when I got a crick in my neck getting out of bed funny one morning (right???).

So when this vertebral artery dissection started healing, the scab forming on the inside of my vessel started to break off clots, that then traveled into my brain and cut off blood flow to sections of my cerebellum. However, this theory only explains the stroke showing up on my left side—I had strokes on both sides of my head, and the doctors have yet to discover why. 

I had a heparin drip to thin my blood and break up any more clots in my bloodstream, and am now taking blood thinning pills to make sure this doesn’t happen again.  I also wear a heart monitor so the doctors can see if my heart starts spasming abnormally (Atrial Fibrillation). Most of my symptoms resolved, though I still have trouble with balance when getting out of bed in the morning.


Thankfully, I had health insurance (thanks Obama), which covered the majority of my bill for my three-night hospital stay... which added up to more than I make in two years. To my relief, I was cleared to go back to work, so I don’t have to go on disability—though I have some restrictions on how much I can lift and what activities I can do. However, even after my insurance covered most of my hospital expenses, I still owe over $9,000. And, if you remember, this happened the day after I moved into my new apartment, so I had used most of my savings on the security deposit, first and last month’s, and furniture for my new place.


So, despite the fact that it’s completely against my nature to ask for help, urged by friends I come to ask if you can spare 5 cents, 5 dollars, or anything you deem appropriate to help out a guy who really doesn’t know what to do to pay these bills. To say this was unexpected is the understatement of the year, especially since I exercised four times a week, ate healthy, and abstained from drinking and drugs. All I can say is that I’m beyond thankful for my family and friends who have helped me so much this far and the insurance I did have. While I don’t expect too much from this page, any amount will help me get out of debt. And if you’re in the greater bay area, I would be happy to fix your car for cash.

 
 

TL;DR: Healthy 28-year-old guy has a freak stroke and, despite having health insurance, is in the hole $9,000.