Medical Bills and Mental Health Support

A few words from Daniel’s Friends: This campaign is for Daniel Nepveux. Anyone who’s ever read Daniel’s heartfelt writings and poetry, or heard him speak openly about his Mental Illness, knows that he is an incredibly giving and kind man with a true passion for helping others with their own struggles. Daniel is a U.S. Army Veteran who served his country for 8 years as an Airborne Infantryman, in Long Range Surveillance and as an Interrogator and Source Handler for HUMINT. This hero suffers from CPTSD due to multiple traumatic brain injuries during his time of military service. However, his life is most severely impacted by his struggles with Schizoaffective Disorder, which without proper treatment, consumes his every waking thought and fills his mind with insurmountable hallucinations. A team of doctors and health professionals was making excellent progress on stabilizing these mental issues, until a freak illness hit Daniel this March, causing him to be in a coma in the ICU for 16 days and hospitalized for over three weeks in total. This hospital stay left him with several very severe life-threatening physical conditions. Now Daniel’s ever-increasing medical expenses have simply become unattainable. His 21 day hospital stay in March cost tens of thousands of dollars. The bills are still coming in so we do not know a total at this time. His emergency room visits for breathing related issues since his release from the hospital 3 months ago have added hundreds more to the amount he now has to pay off. Just one of his anti-psychotic medicines can run up to $900 for a 30-day supply. The medicines he needs to break up the Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot in his lungs) caused from the hospital stay cost $300 per month.  Every time Daniel decides to be brave enough to seek help for his severe mental illness by admitting himself to an inpatient facility, he has to struggle with whether to ask close friends for money, or try to stay alive through the mental terror and absolute misery of his hallucinations on his own. While his Veterans Administration insurance covers some of this, he often needs to go out-of-network to get specialized care, with the consequences being more than he can afford with no income. Currently unable to work a regular job because of his conditions, Daniel also needs help with daily living expenses. Daniel's Mental Health Advocacy Daniel’s interview with the well-known YouTube Channel “Special Books for Special Kids” as well as his incredibly open and vulnerable social media posts have made him a guiding light for others who suffer from similar mental conditions. Many of his followers draw inspiration from the very frank and honest way he is willing to discuss his experiences with Schizoaffective Disorder. People who used to feel like they were completely alone in the world now have a bit of hope that other people DO experience the same daily struggles for survival. Daniel has shared details of his treatments and encouraged others to be strong enough to seek out help for themselves. It is his goal in life to make sure that every person who reads his words or hears him speak understands that they have immeasurable worth, and that worth is unaffected by any mental illnesses that they might suffer from. Daniel just began the journey of sharing his condition with others last September, and his efforts were greatly interrupted by his hospitalization. However, he continues to seek out new ways to be an advocate for Mental Illness, and to help provide education about what it is like to live with Schizoaffective Disorder. We can only imagine what he could accomplish bringing awareness to Schizoaffective Disorder over time. You can Watch the interview here  Daniel's Hospitalization In March of 2020, during the height of the first wave of COVID19 infection, Daniel was taken to the Emergency room for breathing difficulty. His oxygen levels were so dangerously low that he was immediately taken by helicopter to a larger facility and put on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. The doctors were not hopeful about his chances for survival, which decreased with each day on he needed the ventilator to breathe for him. But Daniel has a will to survive and fight- that same strength of spirit that keeps him alive through his horrendous mental illness fought to keep his body going while he was unconscious. Against all odds, Daniel survived and regained full brain function. However, his fight with Double Pneumonia and Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome left him with permanent lung damage and blood clots, which moved to his lungs in the form a potentially life-threatening Pulmonary Embolism. Part of one of his lungs will never again function. This lack of lung capacity has now started affecting his heart, causing part of it to fail in a condition known as Cor Pulmonale. Daniel now has to add the cost of the life-supporting medications required to keep his lungs and heart functioning, AND that of paying off the hospital bills from so many days in the ICU, to his already extremely high medical costs from the specialized medications and treatments he requires for his mental illnesses. How You Can Help Daniel is forever thankful for the outpouring of unquantifiable love, compassion and understanding that he has received from the internet community. The overwhelmingly supportive comments and likes on his very personal and vulnerable social media posts help show him a different version of humanity than what he too often comes in contact with during his daily life. So many kind strangers have given Daniel hope and encouragement to stay alive even when his mental illness seems insurmountable. Now we are humbly asking for a different kind of support. Any small amount you can spare to help Daniel with his medical expenses would greatly help to keep him alive and capable of reaching out to help others who suffer from Mental Illnesses. We are working with advocates to try to get Daniel more financial benefits from the Veterans Administration and disability from the government, but he simply cannot afford these life-saving medications and medical bills for the months that it takes to process the paperwork. The goal of this fundraiser is to raise enough to cover the medical bills from March, and living expenses for 6 months. Even if you cannot contribute financially, Daniel is unexplainably grateful to each and every one of you for the emotional support and non-judgmental friendship you have shown to him! If you have any questions about this campaign, please feel free to message us here on this page or contact us via our email at Danielsfundrasier at gmail. We would be happy to provide information and updates.