My name is Lynne McFarland and I am raising $3500 for vein surgery for my friend, Y. Y is a loving and beloved 40 year old woman who helps to support her family by working as a housekeeper. She and her husband do not have health insurance, and though they are hard workers (he works in a trade), they lack the funds to pay out-of-pocket to complete the surgery needed. Y developed varicosities in the veins of both legs during her last pregnancy. When she stands for more than a few minutes she has pain, throbbing, and burning. The family recently used their savings to pay for surgery on a vein in her left foot, which was successful, but the money for vein surgery in her right leg is beyond their reach. Her left foot is now on the mend, thanks to the surgery, but surgery on the right leg is more expensive as the vein involved is the large vein that runs up the back of her leg to return blood to the heart (the saphenous vein).

The board-certified vascular surgeon who did the surgery on the left foot performed ultra-sound assessments on both legs as part of his thorough evaluation and his office offers a lowered rate for the procedure since Y is paying out of pocket. I checked with another surgeon who affirmed that the charges are appropriate for the procedure, which will be done on an outpatient basis in the doctor’s clinic.

Y has been unable to work recently due to pain, and this has put a burden on the family’s finances. Being on her feet working as a housekeeper will not be possible until she has the surgery. Friends and church members have helped her family out recently, and everyone who knows Y is saddened to realize that she was hiding the pain and burning as long as she could and just living and working through it until she could not bear it any longer. We are happy for her with the success of the surgery on her left foot and this encourages her (and us) to believe that she will be well and able to work again when the second surgery is completed. Please help this to happen by donating to Y’s surgery fund.