Robertson Family Medical Bills
Donation protected
Hi friends, it's hard to ask for help sometimes, but we could really use it. We'd primarily like help toward clearing out all the medical bills.
Our Story:
We began our journey to expand our family just after purchasing our home in the summer of 2013. Within a month, we discovered we were expecting. This brought us great joy... until we discovered that the baby had stopped growing and wasn't passing. We had a hard road ahead of us to heal emotionally from this unexpected turn of events. Though devistated, our hope for the future and faith in God never waivered.
In 2014, we found out that again we were expecting. This time surely it would work out. We proceeded with as much hope as we could gather, but ultimately faced the same exact situation as our first pregnancy. It was only during the scary urgent ultrasound to check on the baby's vitals that the ultrasound technician could even faintly detect that something esle was wrong in my womb. This time is was a harder struggle to choose to have hope and faith when we'd been here before. Yet, we must because we knew this was not our final answer.
Fall of 2014 was spent emotionally healing from our second loss and going through more tests than I clearly remember to determine what could be done. Finally we reached the results that I would need surgery to remove a uterine septum, basically an uncessary internal wall that couldn't sustain life but seemed to be where my babies had attached.
Recovering from surgery was easy when compared to knowing that our babies still could never be held in our arms. My schedule became to complicated with medical appointments to take on large client projects or part-time work. We trudged on.
No sooner had we gone through the losses, surgery, exams, and other testing than we discovered we were pregnant for the third time. The race is on to some extent, given my age. Our hope was reserved until we saw that successful ultrasound where the baby measured in older than the others had reached. Celebration and exhaustion best describe the first trimester.
Where We Are Now:
We still have a lot of medical bills that are outstanding from our first miscarriage, added to the bills for our second miscarriage, and a lot of expensive tests and surgery from our fertility testing time. All that can be consolidated to a payment plan are, but many of these are unique things that cannot be put onto a payment plan. The current plan is $60/mo, but soon that will go up at least $30 more monthly with our third pregnancy.
While we are doing better in those regards, we're now doing all we can to pay off our debt and still barely able to keep the basic utilities paid. We're now several months behind in all utilities and have medical expenses that are in collection. Truly, clearing this off will be a bigger blessing to us than baby gifts.
So - here's a list of what we still owe and to where:
Medical Bills
$260 - Shady Grove Fertility
$30 - Womens Health Spec
$145 - LabCorp Blood
$200 - Chambersburg Hospital
$900 - Holy Cross Hospital (surgery)
$120 - Holy Cross Hospital (meds for surgery)
$68 - Summit Health 2015
$1550 - Summit Health 2014
$390 - Summit Health 2013
Totals: $3,663
Living Expenses Past Due
Totals: $3,020
Combined Total: $6,683
Our goal is to pay off the overdue utilities first, then medical dues that are in collection, pay off bills that are on a payment plan, and then put anything extra toward the upcoming delivery bills.
For some, these numbers may look big, and for others, they are very small. For us - they are just numbers that we're working to eliminate.
We are also open to odd jobs around our dayjobs. I am also equally open to web development and digital marketing work. Since entering my 2nd trimester, my energy levels are up and my deep dive into productivity is in full swing.
Due to my higher risk state, I will have extra appointments to keep watch on our health moving forward, thus additional expenses beyond normal pregnancies.
Our faith is renewed, and our hope is strong. These temporary struggles are teaching us valuable lessons, like not to avoid stress but confront the stressful situations and to be humble enough to ask for help. It's also creating a positive type of urgency as we prepare for our expanding family.
Timeline:
July 27 2013 – On our first anniversary I had my first positive pregnancy test
August 2013 – at an 8 week ultrasound we discovered the baby stopped developing at 6.5 weeks
September 3, 2013 – induced miscarriage (mini-labor) via Cytotec after waiting 2 weeks since development ended. He was named Ezekiel (God strengthens).
March 2014 – first baby would’ve been born
May 11 2014 – Mother’s Day. I was entirely unprepared for how this day would hit me.
May 2014 – after many months of irregular schedules and no successful pregnancy yet, we are tested for preliminary fertility concerns
July 4 2014 – second positive pregnancy test
July 27 2014 – pregnant again during our anniversary. No adult beverages while out to supper. Noticing a trend here.
August 8 2014 – second baby shown to stop developing at 6.5 weeks (stopped growing a week prior to the ultrasound). Cytotec taken immediately. The ultrasound technician notices that I might have a heart-shaped uterus. This is a big breakthrough that was painful to discover. I know the drill and am numb while going through this violent process again. He was named Jehoahaz (whom God holds fast or seized by God).
September 2014 – so many blood tests and special exams. Diagnosed with a split-uterus. I had an extra wall in there causing the babies to basically die on the vine. The wall was a thin tissue that couldn’t sustain nutrients needed to live.
October 9 2014 – Hysteroscopic Transcervical Resection of Uterine Septum – wall removed. I hardly remember the surgery day but remember vaguely a long ride to Holy Cross Hospital just inside the DC beltway. The worst of this was a cold that I got a few days before that came back with a vengeance in the week following surgery. We went for ramen soup afterward before driving home.
October 29 2014 – after seeing urgent care about that nasty unrelenting cough, I was issued a stat xray script to ensure I didn’t have pneumonia. Thankfully, I didn’t. More prescriptions to relieve my breathing. Cough gone by November 2.
December 11 2014 – Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) at Chambersburg Hospital to ensure fallopian tubes were not blocked. All looked good except that the local OB and radiologist interpreted the results as bicornuate uterus vs. split and cautioned about breach birth. Bicornuate means the roof of the uterus looks collapsed and cannot be moved back into place. It looks a lot like a Y. Split uterus means there’s just a wall in there that had to be cut back as close as possible to the lining on the roof. The xray/HSG isn’t as accurate in determining which is which compared to the best ultrasound machines that Shady Grove Fertility could see into me with.
December 18 2014 – another super high-def ultrasound in Frederick, MD to review how much of the septum remains. 4mm, which is a safe range (and not the 1cm+ thought by the local OB & radiologist at the HSG)
December 21 2014 – my daily ovulation test said today would be a good day to work on a baby.
December 22 2014 – doctor reviewed HSG results with us and ordered another ultrasound
December 28 2014 – The doctor reviewed my ultrasound and latest bloodwork. Apparently I have high AMH (follicle count) and bilirubins (bile that is related to liver issues and causes jaundice). At 35, they usually see people with too low of an AMH. She wanted me to start Metformin/Glucophage because my technical diagnosis means that I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). But the high bilirubin count is weird and not advised for that prescription. We do a retest of my blood the next day to see if results are lower. Results do come back lower but still elevated. Sent to family doctor.
January 9 2015 – Third positive pregnancy test. (Shrug)
January 13 2015 – Meet with general care physician’s nurse practitioner. Review the full scope of medical history. She needs to research further before clearing me for Metformin.
January 21 2015 – Nurse practitioner returns results. High bilirubin levels are associated with high AMH. Cleared for prescription.
January 21 2015 – I tell my fertility specialist OB about the pregnancy. I didn’t want to see another healthy baby at less than 6.5 weeks on the ultrasound again. Blood tests ordered.
January 23 2015 – bloodwork shows an HSG (the pregnancy hormone) of 7,000+. The same day, a dear friend shares that she has just had a miscarriage. Happiness for our news and waves of mourning her loss toss my mind about for the day. I know her pain far too well.
January 28 2015 – saw this baby on the screen. Measured in at 6.5 weeks. This is a week off going by my last period and ovulation. Doctor is hopeful and shares most PCOS patients are usually a bit later. I am happy but reserved. Go back next week for another ultrasound.
February 4 2015 – 7 weeks 1 day on ultrasound. Based upon my last period (Dec 6) I am nearly 10 days off the math to figure out due dates, but the baby measured in at 7 weeks 1 day and has a heartbeat of 126. This is relieving, but still I feel I should be roughly 8.5 weeks. PCOS patients frequently are a week behind schedule. I must choose to believe that this time the baby is still strong and all will be well. It is a relief, but yet still more of a challenge than I anticipated.
March 11 & 30 2015 – Jehoahaz would’ve been born. Ezekiel would be turning 2. I will still think on them and wait to meet them.
May 10 2015 – I will be more hopeful this Mother’s Day and starting to look pregnant.
August 1 2015 – Mark your calendars now for a baby shower.
September 22 2015 – Baby Robertson will be in my arms.
Our Story:
We began our journey to expand our family just after purchasing our home in the summer of 2013. Within a month, we discovered we were expecting. This brought us great joy... until we discovered that the baby had stopped growing and wasn't passing. We had a hard road ahead of us to heal emotionally from this unexpected turn of events. Though devistated, our hope for the future and faith in God never waivered.
In 2014, we found out that again we were expecting. This time surely it would work out. We proceeded with as much hope as we could gather, but ultimately faced the same exact situation as our first pregnancy. It was only during the scary urgent ultrasound to check on the baby's vitals that the ultrasound technician could even faintly detect that something esle was wrong in my womb. This time is was a harder struggle to choose to have hope and faith when we'd been here before. Yet, we must because we knew this was not our final answer.
Fall of 2014 was spent emotionally healing from our second loss and going through more tests than I clearly remember to determine what could be done. Finally we reached the results that I would need surgery to remove a uterine septum, basically an uncessary internal wall that couldn't sustain life but seemed to be where my babies had attached.
Recovering from surgery was easy when compared to knowing that our babies still could never be held in our arms. My schedule became to complicated with medical appointments to take on large client projects or part-time work. We trudged on.
No sooner had we gone through the losses, surgery, exams, and other testing than we discovered we were pregnant for the third time. The race is on to some extent, given my age. Our hope was reserved until we saw that successful ultrasound where the baby measured in older than the others had reached. Celebration and exhaustion best describe the first trimester.
Where We Are Now:
We still have a lot of medical bills that are outstanding from our first miscarriage, added to the bills for our second miscarriage, and a lot of expensive tests and surgery from our fertility testing time. All that can be consolidated to a payment plan are, but many of these are unique things that cannot be put onto a payment plan. The current plan is $60/mo, but soon that will go up at least $30 more monthly with our third pregnancy.
While we are doing better in those regards, we're now doing all we can to pay off our debt and still barely able to keep the basic utilities paid. We're now several months behind in all utilities and have medical expenses that are in collection. Truly, clearing this off will be a bigger blessing to us than baby gifts.
So - here's a list of what we still owe and to where:
Medical Bills
$260 - Shady Grove Fertility
$30 - Womens Health Spec
$145 - LabCorp Blood
$200 - Chambersburg Hospital
$900 - Holy Cross Hospital (surgery)
$120 - Holy Cross Hospital (meds for surgery)
$68 - Summit Health 2015
$1550 - Summit Health 2014
$390 - Summit Health 2013
Totals: $3,663
Living Expenses Past Due
Totals: $3,020
Combined Total: $6,683
Our goal is to pay off the overdue utilities first, then medical dues that are in collection, pay off bills that are on a payment plan, and then put anything extra toward the upcoming delivery bills.
For some, these numbers may look big, and for others, they are very small. For us - they are just numbers that we're working to eliminate.
We are also open to odd jobs around our dayjobs. I am also equally open to web development and digital marketing work. Since entering my 2nd trimester, my energy levels are up and my deep dive into productivity is in full swing.
Due to my higher risk state, I will have extra appointments to keep watch on our health moving forward, thus additional expenses beyond normal pregnancies.
Our faith is renewed, and our hope is strong. These temporary struggles are teaching us valuable lessons, like not to avoid stress but confront the stressful situations and to be humble enough to ask for help. It's also creating a positive type of urgency as we prepare for our expanding family.
Timeline:
July 27 2013 – On our first anniversary I had my first positive pregnancy test
August 2013 – at an 8 week ultrasound we discovered the baby stopped developing at 6.5 weeks
September 3, 2013 – induced miscarriage (mini-labor) via Cytotec after waiting 2 weeks since development ended. He was named Ezekiel (God strengthens).
March 2014 – first baby would’ve been born
May 11 2014 – Mother’s Day. I was entirely unprepared for how this day would hit me.
May 2014 – after many months of irregular schedules and no successful pregnancy yet, we are tested for preliminary fertility concerns
July 4 2014 – second positive pregnancy test
July 27 2014 – pregnant again during our anniversary. No adult beverages while out to supper. Noticing a trend here.
August 8 2014 – second baby shown to stop developing at 6.5 weeks (stopped growing a week prior to the ultrasound). Cytotec taken immediately. The ultrasound technician notices that I might have a heart-shaped uterus. This is a big breakthrough that was painful to discover. I know the drill and am numb while going through this violent process again. He was named Jehoahaz (whom God holds fast or seized by God).
September 2014 – so many blood tests and special exams. Diagnosed with a split-uterus. I had an extra wall in there causing the babies to basically die on the vine. The wall was a thin tissue that couldn’t sustain nutrients needed to live.
October 9 2014 – Hysteroscopic Transcervical Resection of Uterine Septum – wall removed. I hardly remember the surgery day but remember vaguely a long ride to Holy Cross Hospital just inside the DC beltway. The worst of this was a cold that I got a few days before that came back with a vengeance in the week following surgery. We went for ramen soup afterward before driving home.
October 29 2014 – after seeing urgent care about that nasty unrelenting cough, I was issued a stat xray script to ensure I didn’t have pneumonia. Thankfully, I didn’t. More prescriptions to relieve my breathing. Cough gone by November 2.
December 11 2014 – Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) at Chambersburg Hospital to ensure fallopian tubes were not blocked. All looked good except that the local OB and radiologist interpreted the results as bicornuate uterus vs. split and cautioned about breach birth. Bicornuate means the roof of the uterus looks collapsed and cannot be moved back into place. It looks a lot like a Y. Split uterus means there’s just a wall in there that had to be cut back as close as possible to the lining on the roof. The xray/HSG isn’t as accurate in determining which is which compared to the best ultrasound machines that Shady Grove Fertility could see into me with.
December 18 2014 – another super high-def ultrasound in Frederick, MD to review how much of the septum remains. 4mm, which is a safe range (and not the 1cm+ thought by the local OB & radiologist at the HSG)
December 21 2014 – my daily ovulation test said today would be a good day to work on a baby.
December 22 2014 – doctor reviewed HSG results with us and ordered another ultrasound
December 28 2014 – The doctor reviewed my ultrasound and latest bloodwork. Apparently I have high AMH (follicle count) and bilirubins (bile that is related to liver issues and causes jaundice). At 35, they usually see people with too low of an AMH. She wanted me to start Metformin/Glucophage because my technical diagnosis means that I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). But the high bilirubin count is weird and not advised for that prescription. We do a retest of my blood the next day to see if results are lower. Results do come back lower but still elevated. Sent to family doctor.
January 9 2015 – Third positive pregnancy test. (Shrug)
January 13 2015 – Meet with general care physician’s nurse practitioner. Review the full scope of medical history. She needs to research further before clearing me for Metformin.
January 21 2015 – Nurse practitioner returns results. High bilirubin levels are associated with high AMH. Cleared for prescription.
January 21 2015 – I tell my fertility specialist OB about the pregnancy. I didn’t want to see another healthy baby at less than 6.5 weeks on the ultrasound again. Blood tests ordered.
January 23 2015 – bloodwork shows an HSG (the pregnancy hormone) of 7,000+. The same day, a dear friend shares that she has just had a miscarriage. Happiness for our news and waves of mourning her loss toss my mind about for the day. I know her pain far too well.
January 28 2015 – saw this baby on the screen. Measured in at 6.5 weeks. This is a week off going by my last period and ovulation. Doctor is hopeful and shares most PCOS patients are usually a bit later. I am happy but reserved. Go back next week for another ultrasound.
February 4 2015 – 7 weeks 1 day on ultrasound. Based upon my last period (Dec 6) I am nearly 10 days off the math to figure out due dates, but the baby measured in at 7 weeks 1 day and has a heartbeat of 126. This is relieving, but still I feel I should be roughly 8.5 weeks. PCOS patients frequently are a week behind schedule. I must choose to believe that this time the baby is still strong and all will be well. It is a relief, but yet still more of a challenge than I anticipated.
March 11 & 30 2015 – Jehoahaz would’ve been born. Ezekiel would be turning 2. I will still think on them and wait to meet them.
May 10 2015 – I will be more hopeful this Mother’s Day and starting to look pregnant.
August 1 2015 – Mark your calendars now for a baby shower.
September 22 2015 – Baby Robertson will be in my arms.
Organizer
Courtney Robertson
Organizer
Chambersburg, PA
