Help Milly Thiringer Battle Schizophrenia
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Hi! My name is Milly Thiringer, and I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when I was 19. For over half my life I have fought nightmarish hallucinations and delusions that distort my view of reality. I've been in and out of hospitals my entire adult life. In 2005, I married my wonderful husband, Dave, and we have three children. I have had off-and-on stability over the years, and even had a little bit of time when I didn't need medication. This is me and my family.
Last fall, my symptoms started to get out of control. I wasn't on medication at the time, and I would often see people standing on the side of the road and not be able to tell if they were real. I was also hearing voices that would tell me terrible things. I decided to go to the doctor and get on some medication, but I didn't have any insurance.
I was able to find a psychiatric nurse practitioner at a sliding scale clinic who put me on Haldol, which was something I'd been on before that worked well, and was also affordable. So my symptoms improved and I made it through the winter and into the spring. In April of 2019, Haldol became unavailable. No pharmacy could get it. So I was switched to a different medication that didn't work as well, called Latuda. It mostly took care of my symptoms, but I discovered that when I had breakthrough psychosis while on Latuda, it was really severe.
At the end of June I became severely depressed. That made the psychosis worse, and I ended up in the psychiatric unit at the local hospital. I was there for 8 days while my medications were adjusted. They let me out at the beginning of July, and three weeks later I was having command hallucinations that caused me to take an overdose of medication. I was not trying to kill myself. Dave drove me to the ER, and they flushed my system and sent me to the cardiac unit to be observed for 24 hours. Then I was sent back to the psychiatric unit for 9 days.
So I was in the hospital for a total of 17 days in July and August with no health insurance. I've pursued every avenue of financial aid that the hospital has available, with no luck. My total bill is more than my family makes in a year. Idaho just passed the Medicaid expansion and I will be eligible for Medicaid in January, but that doesn't do me any good right now. I'm currently paying out of pocket for normal medical expenses, and the amount that my hospital bills add is more than we can manage.
This is really hard for me to post, because I don't like asking for help. I don't like to feel like a burden. But medical costs are extremely high and the only people who are expected to pay full price are those who can't afford to, the uninsured.
I'm back on my old medication, since it has become available again. I'm doing better. I'm trying to take care of myself and my family. I believe that God has a reason for everything, including my schizophrenia.
The goal is the amount I owe the hospital. If we raise over our goal amount, I will re-gift the extra to someone else with outstanding bills for mental health care. Thank you so much for your support.
If you want to hear more of my story, you can find me at www.millythiringer.com .
Other ways you can help:
- Prayers! I believe that God honors the prayers of his children, and so please pray both for our finances and my health. :)
- Job opportunities: If you are, or someone you know is, in need of an editor, I do freelance editing. I can help with book production options as well for self-published authors looking to polish their work. Email me at [email redacted].
- If you are local to me, social support is great. I have a hard time being alone with just my kiddos, so phone calls, text messages, and the occasional playdate are really helpful.
- Share my link. Seriously, it helps more than you realize.
THANK YOU!!!
Last fall, my symptoms started to get out of control. I wasn't on medication at the time, and I would often see people standing on the side of the road and not be able to tell if they were real. I was also hearing voices that would tell me terrible things. I decided to go to the doctor and get on some medication, but I didn't have any insurance.
I was able to find a psychiatric nurse practitioner at a sliding scale clinic who put me on Haldol, which was something I'd been on before that worked well, and was also affordable. So my symptoms improved and I made it through the winter and into the spring. In April of 2019, Haldol became unavailable. No pharmacy could get it. So I was switched to a different medication that didn't work as well, called Latuda. It mostly took care of my symptoms, but I discovered that when I had breakthrough psychosis while on Latuda, it was really severe.
At the end of June I became severely depressed. That made the psychosis worse, and I ended up in the psychiatric unit at the local hospital. I was there for 8 days while my medications were adjusted. They let me out at the beginning of July, and three weeks later I was having command hallucinations that caused me to take an overdose of medication. I was not trying to kill myself. Dave drove me to the ER, and they flushed my system and sent me to the cardiac unit to be observed for 24 hours. Then I was sent back to the psychiatric unit for 9 days.
So I was in the hospital for a total of 17 days in July and August with no health insurance. I've pursued every avenue of financial aid that the hospital has available, with no luck. My total bill is more than my family makes in a year. Idaho just passed the Medicaid expansion and I will be eligible for Medicaid in January, but that doesn't do me any good right now. I'm currently paying out of pocket for normal medical expenses, and the amount that my hospital bills add is more than we can manage.
This is really hard for me to post, because I don't like asking for help. I don't like to feel like a burden. But medical costs are extremely high and the only people who are expected to pay full price are those who can't afford to, the uninsured.
I'm back on my old medication, since it has become available again. I'm doing better. I'm trying to take care of myself and my family. I believe that God has a reason for everything, including my schizophrenia.
The goal is the amount I owe the hospital. If we raise over our goal amount, I will re-gift the extra to someone else with outstanding bills for mental health care. Thank you so much for your support.
If you want to hear more of my story, you can find me at www.millythiringer.com .
Other ways you can help:
- Prayers! I believe that God honors the prayers of his children, and so please pray both for our finances and my health. :)
- Job opportunities: If you are, or someone you know is, in need of an editor, I do freelance editing. I can help with book production options as well for self-published authors looking to polish their work. Email me at [email redacted].
- If you are local to me, social support is great. I have a hard time being alone with just my kiddos, so phone calls, text messages, and the occasional playdate are really helpful.
- Share my link. Seriously, it helps more than you realize.
THANK YOU!!!
Organizer
Milly Thiringer
Organizer
Rathdrum, ID