Help with Maggie’s Medical Expenses

Hi, my name is Maggie and this is a huge deal for me because I am embarrassed when asking for help and when using selfie filters, yet here I am today doing both of those things.

 

The Nutshell: I have a hole in my stomach

 

The story: This medical mess started on the morning of December 29th when I went in for a routine endoscopy to check on my ulcer. I was super excited about it because I had met my out of pocket max for the year, so *Free* scope, and I was excited to see how much it had shrunk. When I was awoken from my anesthesia my friend commented on how really fast the procedure had gone: it took less than 20 minutes for me to get wheeled to the procedure room to getting woken up when it was done (this is key later). But my ulcer had shrunk 75% so I was happy and went home! I was super tired so I slept until 6pm, woke up for soup, and essentially fell asleep

until 3:30am.

 

I woke up super uncomfortable and tossed and turned until 5am when I got up to take an antacid with a sip of water. When that water hit my stomach, I dropped to the ground, broke out in a soaking sweat and literally lost my

ability to speak. My girlfriend, Rebecca, should not have been over that night but because I had been feeling progressively weirder, I asked her to come over after work. Thank God. I was able to blurt out enough random words for her to relay to 911 dispatch, a call a really could not have made on my own had she not been there. There was a split second I thought maybe I was having an overreaction to indigestion. It turns out you feel like your body

has turned into the fiery portal to hell when water hits a fresh torn hole in your stomach.

 

We found out at the hospital that the doctor (who worked in a different hospital system) most likely used too much force too quickly when he plunged the scope in to my stomach, and that the force of air most likely weakened the ulcer enough so that although it didn't tear that moment, over the course of the day between my soup and the force of a sip to wash down my antacid, it broke through the fraying ulcer that just that morning he

swore was on its way to a full repair.

 

I spent Thursday-Sunday stabilizing the wound. I had lost blood due to internal bleeding and they needed the torn ulcer to repair itself on its own because surgery was an option that was only going to cause more destruction due to my previous gastric bypass. I had a pain pump installed and I spent those 3.5 days laying still, not really able to talk, not able to raise my arms, and not able to eat or drink anything. Even IV fluid bags were given in tiny doses as to not let any kind of fluid enter my stomach.

 

Now I'm facing discharge tomorrow. I'm looking at a new normal where I'll have a home health aide teach me how to feed myself using an IV bag and a picc line in my arm. I'll get to plug it in every night when I go to bed to get all

my nutrients. Still no eating or drinking for a while (month minimum) to let that tear continue to heal. But now comes the pricey part.

 

I luckily have health insurance, but even with insurance, this is a very expensive plan of care. To make matters worse, I am 100% self employed. So when I am unable to work, there is zero safety net of unemployment or PTO. I don't work=I don't get paid. I had built a safety net savings account that was depleted in August when I had a medical emergency with my kidney. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t enough time between that medical emergency and this one to build that savings back up to get me through this medical emergency.

 

So I am fundraising for what is literally going to get me through the month of January. I'm so bummed I'm even in here having to organize this, but I am so appreciative of anything you're able to give. Especially with it being just a

week after Christmas. If the goal is achieved, anything beyond that is going to roll into February’s expenses. I will use this page to keep you all updated on my progress. Thank you so much, and Happy New Year!