HELP HARRIET WALK AGAIN and RECLAIM HER LIFE

Welcome to my GoFundMe page for my dear friend Harriet Miller. She is in desperate need of help to pay unpaid medical bills and expenses incurred trying to get treatment after a freak accident that left her in excruciating pain, day in and day out, for the last 2 years. Our goal is $100,000.

(Picture: Joe, Sara and HARRIET (on the right) in happier times)

Here in her own words is what happened and how your generosity can make a difference:

"Hi, I’m Harriet Miller and am a 74-year-old retired legal secretary, massage therapist and long-time student of dance in New York. The law firm I worked for was in number 1 World Trade Center. I arrived at work on September 11, 2001, to find the building engulfed in flames and people starting to jump. The horror of that day has had an impact on all parts of my life, leaving me with lingering PTSD, and other increasing health problems ever since, including breast cancer, 2 knee replacements and severe, chronic foot pain from 4 failed surgeries to repair a botched bunionectomy.

Although the firm re-opened within days, I was eventually laid off in 2009 after the economic downturn created by the crash of 2008. I also think an unstated reason was my health problems had started to really affect my work... I was out on sick leave just too many times. Although I had always found work easily in the past, I found myself ill-equipped with the kind of high-tech and social media skills required to be considered by 21st Century employment agencies. So eventually I retired and moved back to my birthplace of Toronto, Canada in 2013.

I have always prided myself on being self-sufficient and paying my own way. However, the events starting October 14, 2021, in Toronto, have drained most of my retirement resources. And I feel compelled to reach out for the help and support of others.

A freak accident affecting my left knee caused pain and swelling. By the next day, the pain had expanded to include the whole left thigh, hip and buttocks. The pain was nauseating, mind-numbing, non-stop, and non-responsive to Tylenol or RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation). My chronic foot pain had left me barely able to walk, But is pain was on a whole other level! The picture below shows the 2 bumps that first appeared and seemed to be the initial source of the pain:

I suddenly found myself homebound and isolated due to Covid lockdowns. I live on the second floor of a walk-up building. Navigating the stairs became unbearably painful. I couldn’t even carry ordered food from my front door to the fridge, much less prepare it. Eating consisted of scarfing down soups or yogurt straight from the fridge and back to bed.

My only times out of the apartment were those when I would mask up and hobble down my steps to endure an agonizing taxi ride to and from doctors’ appointments. Each trip left me worse off. 9 medical specialists, including 3 orthopedic knee surgeons, all affiliated with Toronto’s top hospitals, failed to offer any concrete diagnosis OR prescribe any effective pain relief over 6 months.

Once the borders opened, my friend Joe came all the way from New Mexico, at first to care for me and ultimately to help me travel to NYC in April 2022. The day after we arrived, we went to The Hospital for Special Surgery to get all the tests I couldn’t get in Toronto.

My tests were all completed in one afternoon and that evening the doctor called me at the hotel with the results… I finally had a real diagnosis. Much to my amazement, my knee replacement was fine, but the source of my pain was coming from a pinched nerve and a ruptured disc in the vertebrae of my lower back. And I finally found a doctor who could prescribe some effective pain relief.

Here’s where things went wrong: NEVER ASSUME!

1. I ASSUMED I had a knee problem and would probably be well enough to go home in a couple of months. Wrong!

2. Places to stay offered by friends failed to materialize, so we had to stay for the first few months in hotels.

3. Over the next 12 months several things have occurred that have stretched my resources to the limit:

a) Paying for adequate health coverage for surgery and medication

b) 6 unexpected ER visits resulting in 5 months of hospitalizations, including 2 for Covid; as well as a month and a half in rehab ( below me in the ER with Covid)

PLUS just the cost of living in New York City over 12 months (paid with Canadian dollars) such as:

c.) 3 Months NY Hotel Bills $32,500 CD

d.) Food $ 6,700CD

e,) Taxis to Doctor Appointments $6,300 (average $100 CD round trip w/tip)

f.) Prescriptions not covered by Insurance $775 CD

g.) Ambulances $3,750 CD

h.) Rent /Utilities /Cable for my Apartment in Toronto - $1,100 CA per month $13,200 for the last 12 months

i.) Airplane tickets - $1,150 CD

j.) Rent at Brookdale Battery Park Senior Center – 4 months $38,000 CA

(My friend Sue had kindly been able to put us up for a few months. But in December 2022, her building was sold requiring us to move once again. December is New York's busiest time with all the B&Bs and hotels packed to capacity at triple the average rate! Brookdale was the only place with a room available for a month at a time at a comparable rate.)

And more!

I estimate over $120,000 in Canadian dollars so far, and the bills keep coming into the mailbox. I have received close to $7,000 from friends to help us get into Brookdale. But I desperately need help to be able to recoup the past year’s expenses and deal with the next stage of treatment.

The one good piece of news to date is that recent steroid injections have alleviated the pain in my leg for the time being. However, I now need to stay several more months for further physical therapy and to restore my strength after 18 months of being bedridden.

If that weren't enough, the trauma of the incessant pain and financial stress has left me emotionally fragile and unable to sleep at night for many weeks. This insomnia has put me in a deep depression at a time when I should be celebrating. And the new sleep medications I've tried only gave me nightmares and hallucinations. I am currently trying to find a competent Clinical Psychiatrist who has experience with insomnia and depression and who will accept my insurance.

So, any amount of money you can spare, I'd be grateful beyond words. This ordeal so far has exhausted my life savings and I still face extensive physical therapy and quite possibly surgery before I am strong enough to walk and be active in my life once again. My target is $100,000. A contribution of $100 each by 1,000 people would easily achieve that goal. But of course, any contribution will be welcomed and help me reach my goal."

P.S. From JOE:

"There are other ways to help as well. One, in particular, is if you can offer a place to live in New York that is accessible and more affordable than the Senior Living place we are staying at now. Any help, both financial and otherwise, will help Harriet get her life back."