Kathy Gage: mounting medical bills
Donation protected
My Dearest Friends and Family (and kind strangers)
Many of you know that 2015 was not a good year for me. The year began with a significant health scare, lengthy hospitalization and six months of follow-ups with a series of specialists. The year left me with a huge medical debt that I have struggled to get out from under. Then last month, things got much worse, leaving me feeling overwhelmed and fearful that I am just sinking further with no end in sight. In the past couple weeks, I have come to sad realization that I need to swallow my pride and ask my family and friends for monetary assistance to get me trending back in the right direction.
So let me fill you in on some of the background details….
It all started in early Feburary, 2015. I had been up all night, couldn't breath and felt really sick. I knew it was more than my usual asthma, however because I had such a high healthcare deductible, I was reluctant to seek medical assistance. Finally after 2 weeks of feeling almost incapacitated, I went to a walk-in clinic. There, I was prescribed prednisone for my asthma and sent home. Unfortunately, the treatment was wholly ineffective and three days later I could barely walk or breath and I forced myself back to the walk-in clinic. A chest CT scan confirmed my biggest fear. It was like the words came out of the radiologist’s mouth in slow motion…”Pulmonary embolism.” My eyes welled with tears. Oh my God, I thought, “I'm dead.”
They called an ambulance which promptly brought me to RI hospital where I spent a week on a heparin drip while doctor upon doctor monitored my racing heart and my PE. While waiting for my diagnosis I lay there, day in and day out. Lying there for days, waiting for test results and waiting to see one doctor after another was certainly a very stressful experience.
Beside the pulmonary embolism, I was also diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome (which is a blood form of lupus) and minor heart issues. A week later I was finally released, once I was stable. However, I still struggled to breath and most nights fell asleep only through sheer exhaustion. This continued for six months. Though my hospitalization had ended, I began a new reality of having to be seen by numerous specialists and more and more medical tests.
Through this period, I continued to work my normal routine as a massage therapist. My healthcare annual deductible of $6,300, making it virtually impossible for me to get out of debt. Unfortunately, it's not just the deductible, but every time I go to a specialist. it's another $75 and I went to a lot of them in the last year! Then with the new year (2016), my high deductible started all over again, with my 2015 deductible still lingering over my head. It was fast becoming impossible for me to catch up, pay my high deductible to see my specialists, and pay for my medication that I need to make my muscle and joint pain tolerable from the antiphospholipid syndrome.
So for the past year, I have been struggling to catch up in paying down on my high deductible, barely making ends meet.
Then, to top it all off, this past June, I developed an injury to my thumb which has prevented me from being able to perform massage therapy, effectively, leaving me unemployed with no income for the past several weeks. At this point, I am not even sure when I might be able to return to work.
Asking for help in this manner, has been very difficult for me. Those of you who know me well, know that I always try my best to help others. Yet, asking help for myself has truly been a difficult struggle for me to accept. However, now, I have come to realize, there is a time to give and a time to receive. Perhaps this is my life lesson, of learning to accept the kindness of others with grace.
And so, I humbly reach out to you, my friends and family. I am a massage therapist by trade and I love helping others feel better, but this time I am the one who needs some help.
Any donations to help my mounting medical bills are deeply appreciated. I know I should have done this sooner, but I wanted to try to swim on my own as I have done my entire life. I now realize I am slowly sinking in medical debt and disability unemployment. I desperately need to get back on my feet to continue seeing my specialists and getting the medications that will make me feel better and get me back to work as quickly as possible.
Thank you so much, in advance.
With love and gratitude,
Kathy Gage
Many of you know that 2015 was not a good year for me. The year began with a significant health scare, lengthy hospitalization and six months of follow-ups with a series of specialists. The year left me with a huge medical debt that I have struggled to get out from under. Then last month, things got much worse, leaving me feeling overwhelmed and fearful that I am just sinking further with no end in sight. In the past couple weeks, I have come to sad realization that I need to swallow my pride and ask my family and friends for monetary assistance to get me trending back in the right direction.
So let me fill you in on some of the background details….
It all started in early Feburary, 2015. I had been up all night, couldn't breath and felt really sick. I knew it was more than my usual asthma, however because I had such a high healthcare deductible, I was reluctant to seek medical assistance. Finally after 2 weeks of feeling almost incapacitated, I went to a walk-in clinic. There, I was prescribed prednisone for my asthma and sent home. Unfortunately, the treatment was wholly ineffective and three days later I could barely walk or breath and I forced myself back to the walk-in clinic. A chest CT scan confirmed my biggest fear. It was like the words came out of the radiologist’s mouth in slow motion…”Pulmonary embolism.” My eyes welled with tears. Oh my God, I thought, “I'm dead.”
They called an ambulance which promptly brought me to RI hospital where I spent a week on a heparin drip while doctor upon doctor monitored my racing heart and my PE. While waiting for my diagnosis I lay there, day in and day out. Lying there for days, waiting for test results and waiting to see one doctor after another was certainly a very stressful experience.
Beside the pulmonary embolism, I was also diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome (which is a blood form of lupus) and minor heart issues. A week later I was finally released, once I was stable. However, I still struggled to breath and most nights fell asleep only through sheer exhaustion. This continued for six months. Though my hospitalization had ended, I began a new reality of having to be seen by numerous specialists and more and more medical tests.
Through this period, I continued to work my normal routine as a massage therapist. My healthcare annual deductible of $6,300, making it virtually impossible for me to get out of debt. Unfortunately, it's not just the deductible, but every time I go to a specialist. it's another $75 and I went to a lot of them in the last year! Then with the new year (2016), my high deductible started all over again, with my 2015 deductible still lingering over my head. It was fast becoming impossible for me to catch up, pay my high deductible to see my specialists, and pay for my medication that I need to make my muscle and joint pain tolerable from the antiphospholipid syndrome.
So for the past year, I have been struggling to catch up in paying down on my high deductible, barely making ends meet.
Then, to top it all off, this past June, I developed an injury to my thumb which has prevented me from being able to perform massage therapy, effectively, leaving me unemployed with no income for the past several weeks. At this point, I am not even sure when I might be able to return to work.
Asking for help in this manner, has been very difficult for me. Those of you who know me well, know that I always try my best to help others. Yet, asking help for myself has truly been a difficult struggle for me to accept. However, now, I have come to realize, there is a time to give and a time to receive. Perhaps this is my life lesson, of learning to accept the kindness of others with grace.
And so, I humbly reach out to you, my friends and family. I am a massage therapist by trade and I love helping others feel better, but this time I am the one who needs some help.
Any donations to help my mounting medical bills are deeply appreciated. I know I should have done this sooner, but I wanted to try to swim on my own as I have done my entire life. I now realize I am slowly sinking in medical debt and disability unemployment. I desperately need to get back on my feet to continue seeing my specialists and getting the medications that will make me feel better and get me back to work as quickly as possible.
Thank you so much, in advance.
With love and gratitude,
Kathy Gage
Organizer
Kathleen M. Gage
Organizer
Providence, RI