Recovering from a broken spine
Donation protected
Hi, guys and gals! Thomas Losey, here. As you can see from the photo, I'm in a bit of a tight spot, due to medical issues. For most of my life, I've dealt with chronic low back pain as a result of Spina Bifida Occulta (a hole in my spine facing inward toward my stomach,) and two Pars Interarcularsis Fractures (a Pars fracture is a break of the bony plates on either side of the spine that hold everything upright. This fracture never gets to rest and cannot be set, so it never heals properly.)
In February 2018, as I was driving to work, I was sideswiped on the highway and impacted a retaining wall, totaling my project car and seriously exacerbating my health problems. Over time, I would lose the feeling in my legs to the point of not being able to drive or walk more than a few feet at a time, and then things got worse. My spine began to deteriorate and crumble in on itself. The pain became unbearable after toughing it out as long as possible, and on February 21, 2019, I had surgery to repair the serious spinal fractures that I have accrued. As you can see in the image provided, I have four screws and two rods newly implanted in my back, and they are pretty much the only reason that I can walk upright.
I'm asking for help for two reasons: I've been away from work since December 3, 2018, and while my company has been incredible and kept me on a limited payroll, it hasn't been enough to make headway into the second thing that bring me here. It is, like a ton of others, debt.
Because of being away from work for so long, I've fallen behind on pretty much everything and tapped out my borrowing power with every source I could find. I'm now sinking. I have decent insurance, but the operation for the spinal fusion, rods, and screws ran a cost of $128,413.65. That is, of course, not counting other items like hospital services, countless X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, emergency room visits, general doctor visits, and being a patient at a pain clinic for years. All in all, I've racked up several hundred thousand dollars in medical treatments, and I'm just now starting to get better. That said, I will go through all of this again every 10-15 years for the rest of my life as more and more of my spine needs to be fused together. On top of all of this, I've lost a ton of time at work over the last two years because of progressively worse numbness and excruciating pain. All of this has gone on while I've done my best to raise a daughter as a single dad and try to keep up with everything else that life has to offer. This has been a very expensive, very tough 20+ year battle, and it's time to ask for help.
This is where you come in. Every single dollar earned through this campaign will go straight to medical bills, and if there's anything left over, that will go onto other areas of borrowing, like credit cards and personal debt to friends and family. This will, in turn, allow me to focus on rehabbing my back without as much stress so that I can get back to work and continue to provide for the ones that I love, and hopefully rebuild the retirement that I have depleted throughout this battle. I just want to get back to work, and I hope that you'll find the kindness to help me do just that.
Thank you.
In February 2018, as I was driving to work, I was sideswiped on the highway and impacted a retaining wall, totaling my project car and seriously exacerbating my health problems. Over time, I would lose the feeling in my legs to the point of not being able to drive or walk more than a few feet at a time, and then things got worse. My spine began to deteriorate and crumble in on itself. The pain became unbearable after toughing it out as long as possible, and on February 21, 2019, I had surgery to repair the serious spinal fractures that I have accrued. As you can see in the image provided, I have four screws and two rods newly implanted in my back, and they are pretty much the only reason that I can walk upright.
I'm asking for help for two reasons: I've been away from work since December 3, 2018, and while my company has been incredible and kept me on a limited payroll, it hasn't been enough to make headway into the second thing that bring me here. It is, like a ton of others, debt.
Because of being away from work for so long, I've fallen behind on pretty much everything and tapped out my borrowing power with every source I could find. I'm now sinking. I have decent insurance, but the operation for the spinal fusion, rods, and screws ran a cost of $128,413.65. That is, of course, not counting other items like hospital services, countless X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, emergency room visits, general doctor visits, and being a patient at a pain clinic for years. All in all, I've racked up several hundred thousand dollars in medical treatments, and I'm just now starting to get better. That said, I will go through all of this again every 10-15 years for the rest of my life as more and more of my spine needs to be fused together. On top of all of this, I've lost a ton of time at work over the last two years because of progressively worse numbness and excruciating pain. All of this has gone on while I've done my best to raise a daughter as a single dad and try to keep up with everything else that life has to offer. This has been a very expensive, very tough 20+ year battle, and it's time to ask for help.
This is where you come in. Every single dollar earned through this campaign will go straight to medical bills, and if there's anything left over, that will go onto other areas of borrowing, like credit cards and personal debt to friends and family. This will, in turn, allow me to focus on rehabbing my back without as much stress so that I can get back to work and continue to provide for the ones that I love, and hopefully rebuild the retirement that I have depleted throughout this battle. I just want to get back to work, and I hope that you'll find the kindness to help me do just that.
Thank you.
Organizer
Thomas Losey
Organizer
Marshall, MI