Help Ingrid get Treatment at Penn Medicine

Hi Friends and Family,

It is hard to write this on my own and ask for help, but I know the stress of not being able to cover my medical costs will only add stress and time to my recovery.

Many of you remember my hospitalization in 2019 for a Paracardial Effusion that lasted many weeks and was treated without finding an exact cause. Since then, I have unfortunately experienced a reoccurrence of Chylothorax fluid in the pleural space between my lungs. This fluid is causing my heart to be pushed slightly to the left. While this is not necessarily painful, and I do not have to stay in the hospital, it does cause discomfort and prevents me from living the active lifestyle I genuinely love.

I wish this could be fixed with a simple surgery, but I have my doctors mystified at the moment. They cannot determine what is causing Chylothorax fluid to leak into my chest area (both plueral and paracardial). There are several paths I can take going forward (including going to Penn Medicine, which is unfortunately out of my insurance network). Still, all will include several surgeries, transportation to and from the hospital, time off work, and help from my friends and family.

I want to experience my 20's without the stress of fluid building up in my chest or needing to be checked and drained yearly, monthly, or even weekly. While I can manage my medical anxiety, this thought makes me scared. To avoid this, I need to figure out the cause of the Chylothorax fluid build up. At the moment, Albany Med is stumped, and I need to visit Penn Medicine, the world's experts in Lymphatic medicine practice.

Unfortunately, there is the very real possiblity that my insurance will not cover this process at Penn Medicine; as i mentioned before, they are out of my network. I've been told that without insurance, this could cost more than $100,000. I have hope that with time and many doctor visits, I may be able to get my insurance to cover this. Unfortunately, this will also be costly.

I am fundraising so I can travel to NYC to NYU Langone and to Ithica to Cornell Medical Centers to get references from those Lymphatic doctors for my insurance so I can finally see the leaders in Lymphatic Medicine at Penn. I am also fundraising to cover the costs of my previous and upcoming procedures at Albany Med so I can continue monitoring the fluid level in my chest area.

4k is my current goal, as it will allow me to pay for previous procedures and start my journey to better health.

Im going to stop writing there before it all becomes a word jumble. I appreciate everyone, and please don't feel like you have to donate if you don't have the means.

Thank you so much!!

Ingrid.