July of 2010 I took a fall and though nothing of it, a few
days later my hands began to tingle and go numb. I went to the emergency room
where they informed me it was the medication I was currently on and I needed to
be switched. I did that, but a few days later I went numb from my elbows down.
I went back to the emergency room where they informed me I should make an
appointment with my primary care physician, but I had made an appointment with
my primary care physician who, by the way, couldn’t see me for 2 weeks. A few
days later I went numb from my shoulder down. I had no use of my arms by this
point. I went back to the emergency room where they did a cat scan and found
nothing and dismissed me. I went straight to another hospital where I told them
I was a threat to myself because I wanted to kill myself because I had no use
of my arms, that way the hospital had to baker act me and hold me for 72 hours,
so I could finally make them listen, and once I was admitted they could finally
test me to see what was wrong. They poked me with needles and different objects
to see if I could feel, then they did blood work, then another cat scan. Next
thing I know I’m being rushed into emergency surgery, but by this time I was
numb all the way down to my waist and because my hands were numb I couldn’t
sign for the surgery so they recorded my oral acceptance. When the surgeon came
in, I was surprised to find that it was the surgeon who had operated on my neck
in 1995; he told me I had an abscess on my spine from c2 to c4. The surgery
from 1995 was from c4 to c7; I took a tumble down the stairs and broke my neck
so they put a titanium plate on my spine in that spot. Back to the present, the
surgeon then informed me he had to clean out the abscess to save my life. The
next thing I knew I woke up in the ICU with tubes down my throat, tied down to
the bed, a huge brace on my neck and all I could here in whispers was, “We
don’t know if she’s going to make it”. At that moment I made a decision about
whether I wanted to live or die, I chose to live. Thirty days later, I woke up,
I was in an induced coma and had pneumonia and was paralyzed. They told me at
this point that I would be paralyzed for the rest of my life. I remember
thinking in my head, “No, you have the wrong person”. They took the tubes out,
and I could finally breathe. So I was transferred to a room and at this point
they came in and talked to me about the procedure where they informed me I
would were a neck brace for the rest of my life. Then they told me I would be
put in a nursing home /rehabilitation center. I was transferred there
immediately. I laid there every day staring down at my feet telling them to
move. Every day for 6 months. Then suddenly, my right foot started to move, it
was a miracle. At this point they transferred me to the rehab side of the
facility, where they would come in everyday, and move my body parts for me. I
started to move more; my feet to my knees to my hips, and then my right arm
flew up one day, scared me too! I screamed, “MY ARM”! So then we started
working my upper body. After many appointments with the surgeon they decided to
take out the old plates and because my vertebrae had collapsed from c2 to c4
they needed to restore that too. So I went in for surgery again, but when they
took out the old plate they found more abscesses and the plate was corroded,
they had to stop to clean the infections so my surgery was never finished. I
went back to rehabilitation. After 12 weeks of toxic antibiotics to clean out
the infection, I was sent home to get strong enough to continue the previous
surgery to repair my spine. After many many months of waiting and having my
surgery postponed and rescheduled and postponed and rescheduled, and pain and
suffering and rehab and therapy and disappointment and depression, I finally stood
up on my own, and that was a miracle, and then surprise surprise, my surgery
was scheduled. On march 21 2012, I went in for surgery, a plate was to be put
on the base of my skull, with a rod descending past c1 down to t2. They used
stem cells, and growth hormones to straighten the spine and unblock the fluid. All
this meant I would never turn my head from side to side again. I would have to wear
a full body harness, which I was fitted for and harnessed to, that could not be
removed at all for 3 to 5 months. The surgery had left me numb, and so it began
again. After surgery they transferred me
once again to another rehab facility, where I stayed until about a week ago, I’m
now home in a new surrounding, not equipped for me, I can’t afford my
medication or my equipment or even the co-pay for my doctor, let alone a ride
to get there. I have physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy,
nurses, and CNA’s who each visit me twice a week for an hour. I really need
around the clock care, but my insurance won’t cover it. My husband was in a car
accident on his way to visit me once, where he injured his back, as a
passenger, he has a fracture and two herniated disks and is waiting for
surgery, he was my main caregiver. I have a daughter who is now 16 and I’ve
missed 2 of her birthdays, and many more of the new and exciting things she
experienced in starting high school.
I’m ready to heal, I’m ready to get over this and start living
the best that I can, but I can’t do that without help. I need more medical
care, I need simple things like an extended hairbrush so I can at least brush
my own hair, but all the money I would use for things like this goes into
keeping my daughter fed and protected, I barely eat so that she’ll have food.
I’m asking for help, in this day and age, insurance can only cover so much, and
anyone who is disabled under 50 is shit out of luck. I don’t want to lose my
home, or my family, or my life, but these things are all at risk. Every day is
like a roulette game, what I can give up so we have a home, what I can give up
so my daughter can eat, what I can give up to relieve my husband’s anxiety,
what I can give up so I can manage my pain. I have been stripped bare and left
with barely anything.
I’ll try and provide weekly updates, but any little thing
you can do will help. I have set up this PayPal account to accept donations to
go towards the medical necessities I need to live on a daily basis. Just the
minimum will do, I’m just looking to get by. Please open up your heart and give
what you can. This is very difficult for me to ask because I have always worked
for what I wanted, I never asked for anything.
Here is where you can donate
