Please support Andrea’s second Correction Surgery

This video shows me trying to walk outside my apartment. Bending forward at my waist is getting worse. Now I walk with a cane. Hopefully I can have the corrective surgery before it gets more complicated. You have been generous and this is not a request to donate more. I'm just keeping you updated.

I am getting late on my rent which I pay weekly. This is a dire situation. So if you have friends or colleagues that might be sensitive to this terrible situation please share the GoFundMe link (below).

It has been and is humiliating having to plead for money. I blame myself for not being prepared for the worst. And I'm worried sick about my daughter. Getting a job, even one I am overqualified for, would have saved us.

I can now only work remotely. All of the in-store or in-office jobs I've applied for have not hired me. It is due to looking decrepit in several cases. Publix commented that the cashier job has light cleaning and bagging groceries and thought I was going to say I couldn't handle it but I said I could.

I am still conducting the job search after around 100 decline letters over about 8 months. Everything is harder now with the deterioration of my physical condition and the mental anxiety. But I desperately want to work and have a plan.

When you look at the before picture of me in the pink top and then look at the after video, it looks like they should be switched.

Thank you again for supporting me through this tough time. You are helping me get to the other side. I am so grateful.

Here is the link to this site if you want to share it:

https://gofund.me/a0674d94

Andrea

The photo with me in the pink shirt was taken a month before the surgeries. The picture of me bent over with a cane is 2 years after the surgeries.

I am scared because I don’t have December rent for our apartment. I’ve contacted all of the charity organizations and there must be a lot of people struggling now. They don’t have resources. I have no family support and friends helped us when I had the major surgeries 2 years ago. Complications, screws coming out of the rods in my back, have deteriorated my condition.

It's very hard to walk and when walking I have to catch my breath every few feet. Before the surgeries I did not have these issues to follow:

My life has been about giving my wonderful daughter a loving home and good education as a single Mom. I worked for large Fintech companies in Sales and made good money for decades. I was always independent. But a neck and back condition called kyphosis has been getting worse over the last 14 years. My neck was finally so curved that I began having trouble swallowing and decided to have surgery.

Everything was looking good during the one-year recovery when I noticed an odd-shaped, very hard protrusion by my spine in the middle of my back (see picture). Scared me to death. The x-ray showed the bottommost screws in the titanium rods came out. This was the beginning of debilitating complications. Nothing has gone right since the screws came out.

Trying to walk after the screws came out and my back started to bend forward. It is progressively getting worse.

This was soon after the surgeries when my neck and posture were great. Before the screws came out.

My lower back is arthritic and couldn’t support my upper back so I started to bend forward from the waist. Now I can barely walk and have lower back pain and painful muscle spasms. It takes so much energy to walk that I stop every 5 feet or so to catch my breath. I need a cane and got a handicap placard for the car. I look decrepit which is hurting me in getting a job.

The surgeries were planned for a year including the financial part. Enough money was put away to take care of us for a year. But it’s been 2 years. I can’t afford corrective surgery without help. My surgery was scheduled for January 9th, 2025, but it was canceled because of financial constraints.

More terrifying for me is that the bills are getting behind and I am responsible for my wonderful daughter who doesn’t deserve pain and hardship. I wish I didn’t have to burden you by asking for support again. There is no family support so asking my community and friends to step up for us. I need a bridge to get to January when my job begins producing.

Contributions will go directly towards living expenses and medical expenses. If the first surgeries had not had complications, I would be working and living my life again as planned. But the surgery left me with worse problems. This has been a long, tough road.

Your support will help my family get through this and regain quality of life and independence. No amount is too small. I will always remember your kindness and generosity. This is a horrible situation for us. Having medical problems and not enough income and I am worried about my daughter. If you know us please refrain from talking to her about the financial part. There is no reason to embarrass her and hurt her feelings.

Thank you.