Help Jaden Fight Occipital Neuralgia

In July 2020, Jaden started having debilitating head pain in the back of his head. He was in Texas, away from home when this started to occur.  This is my neighbor's son. She is a single mother with 3 children, doing this on her own, while working full time and driving Jaden to all of these appointments as he needs an advocate. He made it home in early September to be able to see his doctor. He was not able to detect where this head pain was coming from since there was no accident/trauma to the head. Jaden was referred to a neurologist after several hospital stays, only after his mother demanded them to check him physically, and not just mentally. He was diagnosed with Occipital Neuralgia.  This is a condition in which the nerves that run from the spinal cord up through the scalp, called the occipital nerves, are inflamed or injured. This diagnosis is not an easy thing to diagnose as there is not a physical test. It is done through ruling out other diagnosis's. He started physical therapy, and went to see a Pain Management Doctor. He was being prescribed medication after medication. He was becoming suicidal with no hope in sight as all of these medications were band aids and not a permanent solution. Jaden was a runner, and a State Champ in the high jump in high school. He was active, and even though he has suffered from depression in the past, this was worse than anything his family has seen. After meeting with more neurologists to get a second and third opinion, and trying to navigate the terrible health insurance system, he discovered that many treatments for migraines/headaches other than medication are not covered by insurance. He’s also been diagnosed with New Daily Persistent Headache and Chronic Tension Headache. To date, Jaden has tried many types of medications in order to get physical therapy approved. Once that was unsuccessful, he had to try even more in order to get Botox approved. (Insurance would not cover it after scheduling it several times even though the doctors thought it was the best route to take.) His mental health was now taking its toll.  He had to pay $800 out of pocket for the next type of medication a CGRP, and only a seven day supply. He did it, praying for relief.  Again, insurance would not cover it. He has tried acupuncture, went to a chiropractor, nerve blocks, dry needling, and electrical stimulation,  did physical therapy to no avail. He is now 9 hospital visits later, 100's of doctors visits later, 9 excruciatingly painful long month later,  and the family is left with no other choice than to go the route of nerve decompression surgery. The insurance companies are calling it "Experimental" and will not cover any of the up to $20,000 cost. This type of surgery is similar to one getting surgery for carpel tunnel. The surgeon that will be performing this surgery for Jaden is located in San Francisco.  This surgery is scheduled for April 22, 2021. We are praying it's successful and he recovers fully and will be able to start living again.