My disability was denied due to not getting a diagnosis soon enough. They deny people based on arbitrary dates. I also found out I am only eligible for $382.50. per month. They take money out for Medicare after 2 years, which would leave me with almost nothing. My husband starts a better job in March, but I need to pay these debts before we spend the entire next year behind and drowning again. This fundraiser ends soon.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped so far. I appreciate it and it has all gone toward copays, medical bills, massage, supplements, and meds.

I have accumulated around $4800 in medical bills.

Please help if you can, or share my fundraiser. My family has sacrificed so much for me. We're genuinely struggling financially to make copays and buy meds. My disability medical investigation is slated to take 6 months. It will be a long wait for a likely no. I need money for out of pocket medical expenses or else treatment and diagnostics will stop.

Things I have stopped: weekly therapy for me and a family member (now bi-weekly), weekly acupuncture for mood and brain, monthly PT massage.

Things I'm pressured to pay for to help my disability case: physical therapy (really can't afford the $40 copay every week for $160 per month), and psychiatrist.

I have multiple appointments scheduled this coming week (Aug 9), including a myelogram.

I sent off 200+pages of disability paperwork. My doctor wrote a pretty convincing letter. My application is 67% processed, but the medical investigation takes at least 6 months (October).

My gastric emptying study was positive for borderline severe gastroparesis. So my stomach isn't working correctly. I had to add more (hysterical laughing and crying) dietary restrictions.

April 2022: At the end of 2019, I had a series of illnesses, likely covid (I repeatedly asked to be tested due to having the symptoms but they did not have tests available), then the flu. These illnesses led to a year-plus-long health crisis and undiagnosed toxic encephalopathy. I have had a host of symptoms, like debilitating fatigue, personality changes, phantom smells, facial spasms, constant state of fight or flight, changes in cognition, difficulty swallowing and balancing, loss of spatial awareness, time blindness, daily headaches, severe sleeping issues, breathing problems, executive dysfunction, recurring infections, GI symptoms, and more.

I had an MRI which showed areas of atrophy and inflammation in my brain. My brain health is about 74% out of 100%. Some of the areas that show damage include my language centers. As a writer, this part crushes me. I've grieved my old self a lot.

I haven't been able to write professionally since I left work in April 2020. I've filed for disability, but the process can be lengthy.

I have to travel 80 miles each way to see my medical team in Asheville, as well as pay copays for them and other specialists.

This fundraiser is for my ongoing medical expenses. We've spent a lot already this year, and there are things I need to maintain for my well being that aren't financially sustainable right now. I'm not too proud to ask for help. One reason I'm in such rough shape now, is from living many years uninsured and in poverty in the past, medical neglect, and medical gaslighting in many instances. When I went to my doctor for the first time, he had me write out my medical history; it's 16 pages of horror and misery. There were so many times I was not believed or was ignored when I had a severe reaction to a med (once even in the emergency room).

I plan to get well again so I can help other people who the healthcare industry ignores, vilifies, or actively harms.

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By Christina Xiong

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Ongoing Medical Expenses While waiting for Disability Decision