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Help Melanie with life changing surgery

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I find myself in a space of a humble ask. I am facing a complex and challenging surgery that brings the hope of radically changing my quality of life.

For the past 13 years I have been living with an irreversible esophageal condition wherein the lower muscle in my esophagus fails to close properly, allowing food, acid and liquids to come up from the stomach. As a result of this condition I choke regularly on retrograding food, liquids and acid reflux and suffer from advanced erosive GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease ). For the past 13 years, I have been using conservative treatments (daily medicine and regular endoscopies) to manage my conditions. Unfortunately, these treatments are no longer sufficient to manage the problem. Furthermore, the side effects of the medications have exacerbated other health conditions including iron deficiency and pneumonia. As many of you know, I have had several severe bouts of both iron deficiency and pneumonia.

In 2018 I was referred by my gastroenterologist to discuss options for continued management of my condition. With continued daily medication and regular endoscopies no longer being a viable option, my gastroenterologist recommended I be evaluated for a surgery called fundoplication. Unfortunately, the surgeon who evaluated me made it clear that I am not a good candidate for the fundoplication. For anyone above a certain BMI a fundoplication must also be accompanied by a gastric sleeve. Gastric sleeve surgery significantly increases GERD symptoms for people who already suffer from GERD. Therefore, this combination of surgeries is not an option for me. My surgeon recommended gastric bypass surgery as the only procedure remaining to treat my GERD and malfunctioning esophagus. My digestive system will be re-routed, and what and how I eat will change for the rest of my life. This is a radical surgery and my initial response was fear, but after a few more bouts of choking I have made peace with the necessity of this surgery and recognized the positive changes that it could bring. My malfunctioning esophagus is immediately remedied by re-routing how food is digested and 95% of the people who have gastric bypass surgery to treat GERD come off of this medicine for good. The remaining 5% are able to drastically reduce the dosage. I have weighed the risks and benefits and though the risks and challenges are daunting they are far outweighed by the benefits.

There is a lot of hope here, however, one major complication is that individual insurance plans do not cover any form of perceived “weight loss surgery,” even if it is being done for medically necessary reasons and not for weight loss. The cost will be 100% out-of-pocket. The cost for this surgery is $35,000, which covers my surgery, hospital stay and the first year of follow-up appointments. It does not include my time off for recovery. I have researched supplemental insurance, medishare programs, as well as the appeal process and unfortunately none of these are viable options.

This journey is layered. The first stage is having the necessary surgery and the initial healing period. Much of the road after that will be learning to navigate familiar situations in new ways. So much of our lives are centered around the table. Social gatherings, holidays, and day-to-day habits will need to be re-learned. Many of the foods and drinks I have enjoyed over the years I will no longer be able to have. And while I have great hope for the quality of life that lies ahead, there is also immense loss and grief that I will need to walk out the rest of my life.

Surgery is proposed for August pending the results from the screening process I am currently going through and will complete on July 5th. The full cost for the surgery is due up front in order to schedule surgery. Thank you for considering joining me on this life changing journey. Your thoughts, prayers and financial support are deeply appreciated.
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Donations 

  • sherry colomb
    • $100 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer

Melanie Lindell
Organizer
Bainbridge Island, WA

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