Chris McKay Is Just Trying To Stay Alive

Hi, y'all. I could really use some help right now getting through all that's going on with medical bills. Apparently, ignoring them doesn't work as well as I'd hoped.

I haven't reached out for many years now but I'm not delusional enough to think we can handle this without the help of friends and loved ones now so here I am. We just need to be able to pay these medical bills and not be scared by the lack of money from not getting the future care and therapy needed. It's hard not to give up, but I promise, I'm trying. We know we're well into the thousands of dollars in bills from just this one stay and that's not counting the stay two weeks ago or the ones last summer that have been piling up. It's hard to stay alive in America sometimes.

If you know me, you know I've been fighting multiple very serious genetic conditions for the past 6 years. Over the past several months, I've wound up admitted to the hospital on 3 different occasions. I nearly didn't go because I was worried about finances and if I would've done that, I probably wouldn't be here now.

We've been trying to deal with things as well as we can but with this latest multi-day stay in the hospital starting on January 24, 2024 and involving many tests for excruciating chest pain (that wasn't even helped with morphine). While the condition doesn't exactly line up with anything currently on the books, we're working under the assumption that the problem is either an esophageal ulcer, esophageal spasms, or (even more concerningly) arterial vasospasms.

Whatever it is, it's been a lesson for someone who had a high tolerance for pain and even refused any pain killers after surgery. Yeah, I thought I could handle it, but this taught me differently to be in such pain that I was screaming and crying out loud involuntarily for the first time in my life.

Kidney stones are a great time compared to whatever has been going on and it must be figured out and managed if I'm to still be around 'cause as it is, it's 100% unsustainable. That, of course, takes lots of dollars to keep being allowed to be treated, 'cause, hey, it's "your money or your life", right?

We're trying to figure it out.

The expenses are already tremendous and I haven't been able to work regularly since 2017. I have a few royalties from photos and music trickling in, but obviously, that's not making a dent in the exorbitant costs of staying alive with a complicated medical history in the United States Of America.

I'd really love to stick around and maybe even somehow be creative and see you all again but I'd be lying if I said my hope has worn pretty thin and my mental state is taking a hit feeling like I know how this is all going to end now and that my life is past tense. Think about it. When was the last time you saw me? You know I'd be out there all the time if I could. I miss you.

If I'm going to be able to get through this right now, though, I have to come back to you now so that if it happens again (God forbid), I won't just say to Amanda, "we can't afford to go", refuse to go, and well, y'know.

Here's a history written by a friend years ago for those who need to be caught up with the history of my health situation.

"Most of Chris McKay’s friends know him for being a musician, a photographer, an activist, or some combination of the three.

The truth is that Chris has only done a fraction of what he’s wanted to do over the years. Like many who deal with chronic illnesses, Chris chose to be private about his struggles for as long as he could.

Even when he has performed on stage or worked in photography, he’s often been battling his physical condition. Chris has been a frequent contributor to charity, but he had long refused any outside help to his own cause. Chris’s sister—Missy—originally set up this GoFundMe when he was in the intensive care unit several years back due to complications from a car wreck that occurred months before.

The night he was admitted to the ICU, he had delayed going to the ER because he did not know how he would pay for it. Since that time, he has been forced to delay or simply not get much needed medical treatment and therapy because of medical bills.

Chris has been unable to work regularly since early September 2017, when the car in which he and his wife were traveling in was rear-ended by a distracted driver.

Both cars were totaled. Chris sustained a traumatic brain injury (the effects of which have faded but are ongoing) and will need further PT for the pain and loss of spinal mobility incurred.

Even more serious is the vertebral artery dissection that occurred from the physical trauma of the car wreck. The dissection wasn’t discovered initially and was only found after an MRI when Chris was placed in the ICU.

When the previous post-accident MRI was then compared to the current one, they saw that they had, somehow, missed the dissection before.The discovery of the dissection led to an understanding of what’s been happening with the extremely painful episodes that Chris has been having. These episodes involve dangerous blood pressure and heart issues as the brain demands more blood and the heart tries to supply it.

Through treatments at the Mayo Clinic and in Georgia, Chris has been confirmed to suffer from the following: a genetic connective tissue disease (a rare form of Cutis Laxa); vertebral artery dissection; traumatic brain injury; a cerebellar stroke; Meniere’s Disease; dysautonomia; chronic kidney stones; recurrent mycoplasma pneumonia; diverticultis; and vestibular issues that became acute following the car wreck.

Chris had learned to adapt and to deal with all of his genetic health issues and was doing just that until the accident which brought on the brain injury, spinal injuries, and the vertebral artery dissection.

Because of the unpredictable episodes of extreme pain and brain fog, he can no longer make any plans in advance. Currently, Chris is taking things a day at a time. On a good day, he can do things around the house, and on a bad day, he can’t do much of anything. On the worst days, he winds up back in the hospital.

He misses performing and photographing. Even going out to visit with family and friends has become mostly impossible between his health and the COVID pandemic as he is not able to get the COVID vaccine due to his immune system’s tendency to overreact and further endanger him.

Traveling is very difficult these days because of severe disequilibrium that was brought on by either the brain injury or the dissection. Chris still occasionally mixes up words, numbers, and phrases or can’t say communicate ideas. He is self-conscious about a stutter that occurs in the bad moments.

Immediately after the car wreck, he couldn’t play guitar at all. He knew what to do, but he couldn’t get it from his brain to his hands. Fortunately, that only lasted a couple of days.

One of his neurologists has pointed out that the dissection could heal itself. That’s the hope as there’s no treatment currently available.

When the pain hits, Chris just has to deal with it until it ends. This without the help of any medication stronger than over the counter medications. Sometimes an episode only lasts a few hours. Sometimes, it’s days. When it’s bad enough, he has to go to the hospital for monitoring and to be stabilized so that high blood pressure induced pain doesn’t cause additional dissections, strokes, or heart damage. The doctor said that Chris “should get better eventually”, but it may take years.

In the meantime, he’s mostly confined to work that he can do from home.

Currently, Chris has had all upcoming appointments and physical therapy canceled because of the financial concerns. He will, of course, go in for emergencies, but he simply can’t afford to have more added to his bills.

The only reason Chris has had the resources to get to the bottom of this and get some real understanding of what’s been going on regarding the vertebral artery dissection that occurred from the accident is because of those who have donated here. Without your help, he may not even still be here.

Thank you so much for your support! "