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Help Make Living with MS Easier

Short version: I'm asking for help with past medical bills that are in collections which we cannot afford to pay. I'm also asking for help for about a year's worth of my medicine/supplements (after insurance).

Long version:

The last three to four years have been very hard because my health has deteriorated so much. In the last two years I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia  - manageable on its own for the most part - and now multiple sclerosis . My migraines have also become significantly worse, sometimes lasting more than a day. This is on top of my more "common" problems like multiple food allergies, pollen allergies, and asthma.  

My health started to decline my last semester of college but I still managed to graduate on time. (December 2011). I tried working for awhile but my health made it so difficult that the only thing I could do was go to work, sleep, and go to doctor appointments. (My husband even does most of the cooking!) I also could not take enough time off work to see all the doctors I needed to see. (I couldn't make it to the dentist in 2013.)

The person I am now, at the end of 2014, is very different from the person I was when I graduated from college in 2011. Some things are better but some things are much worse. 

Because of undiagnosed problems I've had multiple trips to the ER for abdominal pain, unexplained fevers and pain, horrible migraines, and allergic reactions to new medications. These ER visits have occurred multiple times a year from 2012, 2013, and this year. Thankfully the last two ER visits this year were completely covered by insurance because I met my "out of pocket" requirements.

Because of changes to my husband's employer (and also my employer while I was still able to work) our insurance is not great. Being in Texas, insurance is also not so great. Medical care is expensive, even with insurance. 

I have multiple unpaid bills for emergency room visits. I have paid some of the bills for things like MRIs and been able to pay some of the smaller ER bills. However, there's still the larger bills left.

Not being able to work right now is only one of my problems - and for who knows how long -  I would like to be able to work eventually. I have goals to be a writer and publish a book about my experiences related to my health and my diagnoses. I hope to keep improving my health - mentally and physically. Beyond fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis like I mentioned in the beginning, I also have a lot of problems with depression and anxiety.  As you might expect, our financial situation causes me anxiety as well.  

I have created this campaign, after a lot of internal debate, for a number of reasons. Like a lot of people, I figured we didn't need any help but then I realized just a little bit of help would go along way. 

One of the biggest reasons (besides me not being able to work) we cannot afford to pay off my old medical debt is because of the cost of my medicine. Thankfully, my MS meds are currently covered through a program with the manufacturer. However, I'm still on multiple medicines that I cannot take in "generic" form - and quite a few "generics." I don't take very many over the counter medicines like vitamins or minerals - but I do need a few. Vitamin D for example. 

If we can pay off my old medical bills - which are now negatively affecting my credit.....And if we can also pay off my husband's old medical bills - which are negatively affecting his credit..... Then maybe we can pay off more of our credit cards. Our credit card debt has gone up because of the cost of my medicine. 

Also, I've just recently started the process of applying for disability. This process is months - at its quickest - so this campaign could help us get through until then. 

If you're still with me and made it this far, thank you. 

How about some numbers?

I took a few hours and sorted papers and totaled up all of my old emergency room bills that are remaining:

$2514.74.

Other medical (old doctor and extensive lab work):

$130.42

My husband's old medical bills for outpatient procedures:

$669.12

And because I mentioned my medicine, here's more numbers:

Monthly maintenance medicines (mostly prescription) but also includes some things like Miralax:
$240 (or $8/day or $610/year)

Approximate annual cost for other medicines I need less often than monthly: (examples: my rescue inhaler for my asthma only needs refilled 1-2/year and epipens are about 1/year):
$610

Total Medical bills
3314.28

My estimated annual cost of (most) of my regular medicines:
$3490

Doesn't account for being sick and needing things like antibiotics or prednisone.

All money that I ask for in this campaign is to go towards medical bills and medical care costs. I'm not trying to find money for other reasons. I can't use the money to go out to eat at a nice restaurant because I can't really safely "eat out." I don't want a new ipod.

I realized that trying out one of these places could help us move on and get some financial assistance. This could help me improve my health, by also improving my anxiety and letting me to continue all my medical treatments. In the next few months, if we cannot "catch a break" (and need to pay taxes again next year) I'm going to need to figure out which of my medicines to stop taking. 

I think I've run out of things to say. I'm going to also include a link to my blog . On my blog I talk about random blog things but I also talk about my experiences with health care in this country and being diagnosed with life changing diseases.  

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. I really appreciate anything you can do to help me out. $5 is $5 I didn't have. I don't know how to explain how much anything will help us. I'd rather ask for a little bit of help now instead of a lot of help later. 

With help to cover these expenses, I'll be able to focus my energy on other things like trying to write my book of poetry about chronic illness/pain/disease. With this help, you are helping me with my anxiety and depression which can also make the symptoms of fibromyalgia less severe.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Organizer

Janna Garrett
Organizer
Allen, TX

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