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EMERGENCY BACK SURGERY FOR BRENDA

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For the past 2 years  I have been having extensive medical issues due to having a hysterectomy when i was only 25 years old. The doctors tell me the cartilage in my back is deteriorating  which is causing my discs to rub together.  This was making the discs in my spine start to bulge.  I now have 2 herniated discs, one of which is about to rupture.  I need to have surgery ASAP.  They are concerned that the lowest disc, the one between my L5 and S1 will cause extensive damage to my spinal cord if it was to rupture. They tell me if this happens I may never walk again. Now it may sound like something that could be easily fixed and in most cases you would be right, unfortunately my case isn't normal. I also have a very rare form of hemophelia called Von Willenrands disease. I  was one of the first people in Iowa to be diagnosed with this condition,  Having this disease was one of the  main factors that caused me to have a hysterectomy at the age of 25 . Because of this disease the Doctors in my town can't  perform the surgery I need in order to fix my discs. I have to travel to the University of Iowa Hospitals and clinic in Iowa City, Iowa.  I do have Medical insurance but It won't  cover all of my expenses. I have co-pays that need to be paid up front that we can't afford any longer and mainly not my medications I need to treat the Von willebrands disease.  I can't have the surgery whithout these medications because without them my blood doesn't clot and I would bleed out during surgery.  The total cost for all 5 medications I need is $1259.88.   Now we also  have to start traveling almost 2 hours each way for every appointment and the travel expenses are a concern also.  After being off of work all this time we lost the house we lived in, lost both of our cars and have sold almost everything we owned that was worth anything just to try and keep up on the mounting medical bills and keep me on the medications I need that aren't covered by my insurance. 
Over the past 7 months I have been  getting worse and worse every day. I can hardly walk anymore. The discs are pressing my nerves up against my spinal cord and after this going on for so long I have a lot of nerve damage. When I try to walk or bare weight on my legs they tremble and shake uncontrolably and then give out on me.   The pain is unbareable. All I want is to have this surgery and get back to living. I will never be 100% pain free. I will live with some amount of pain every day for the rest of my life but with having the surgery I eliminate the possibility of being paralyzed and the pain will be manageable. The longer I go on like this the worse the damage will be to my nerves and to my spinal cord. If it goes on too long the damage will be permenant.
I don 't like to ask for help. Creating this page is actually quite embarassing for me but I am out of options and don't know what else to do.
Even if you can't help, please share this on facebook and twitter. The more exposure this gets the better my chances will be to meet the goal amount I need in order to have this much needed surgery and get my life back.
Thank you for your time.
Much love,
Brenda

Organizer

Brenda Kopp
Organizer
Dubuque, IA

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