Help pay bills, rent, credit...

Hi, my name is Frank and to even do this I had to swallow a lot of pride.

(TLDR; I accumulated many medical bills over the years from multiple instances of ureteral stricture, (urethra closing) and recent surgery put me out of work with no PTO, so I need help paying rent and bills.)

So here's the long story:

Over the years, I was urinating blood and would sometimes have a hard time passing urine, while also having pain in my lower back on the right side. I went to different doctors multiple times, only for every single one to assume it's kidney stones, to order a CT Scan, see no kidney stones, and assume I passed it already and that the back pain was muscular and coincidental, and told me to carry on. My insurance didn't think I needed all those CT Scans, and charged me for ~$3,000 dollars for each one, and I had 4 CT Scans during that period. I would protest to the doctors and explain that this happened before, but they never changed their opinion on it being stones that passed already.

Finally, about 2 years ago, I went to a urologist that took what I said seriously, and he attempted to perform a cystoscopy, (put a scope with a camera down your urethra. Similar to endoscopy or colonoscopy but for the urethra,) to figure out what was wrong. He was the first doctor to even think of this, instead of disregarding me. When I say this was literal torture for me, I am not exaggerating. My screams echoed throughout the doctors office, and unfortunately probably scared the other patients. He had barely put the scope into my urethra, and it was already stopped and causing me excruciating pain. So he scheduled an emergency surgery a couple days from then, to perform a cystoscopy but with lasers this time, to basically burn the scar tissue away and open a passage.

The surgery went well and I had a foley catheter in for a week and a half, which put me out of work. After that, I had to self-catheterize (stick a catheter down my urethra until it hits the bladder) to prevent the scar tissue from reforming. I started doing it every day, then as my pressure tests and bladder sonograms during my at least monthly visits were good enough, I would reduce the amount of times a week I would have to do it. From every day, to every other day, to twice a week, to once a week, to once every other week, to eventually once a month about a 6 months ago. I had to buy the catheters myself, and the doctor suggested I clean and reuse them to reduce the amount I had to buy. I questioned this, but he said it's totally fine with soap and water. Despite his assurance, I woke up suddenly on the night before a wedding and felt the urge to urinate, but strong, like it was being held for a long time. I go to the bathroom, and push out just blood. It was truly terrifying, and I had a ER visit that night which told me I had a severe UTI. From then on I would trash and use a new catheter after every time. Seemingly costly, but if it prevents more ER visits, it's better in the long run. Three months ago, my urologist said I was healing great and everything looked good, and I finally didn't have to self-catheterize anymore. Then my scar tissue started to grow back rapidly, but gradual enough that I didn't notice it until my urine stream was significantly worse. I had back pain on my lower right side one night, and decided to schedule a doctor's appointment in the morning, only to have the pain be so bad in the morning, that I went to the ER. They said I just had a UTI, and when I told them about my back pain, they said it was muscular and coincidental, and when I protested they just waved me off, basically. Speaking to my doctor after that he said it was most likely kidney infection as well, caused by urine retention due to my ureteral stricture, and scheduled me for another surgery. The ER visit was not covered, since I had just started a new job and the 3 month mark where I could get the job's coverage was literal days away.

This was last month. Before the surgery the hospital called me and told me my insurance didn't cover that hospital that my doctor performed surgery at, they however suggested I contact my doctor's office and tell him to put in for an exception. I did, and I was told it was all fine and I just had to show up on that day and get the procedure. I had went to the surgery appointment, and they told me there was no exception. So the hospital, my doctor's admin staff, and my insurance company were all passing blame, and after half the day they told me I couldn't receive the surgery that day and to reschedule. All this time, I had not eaten or drank water since the night before so I went to go eat. During the meal, my doctor's administrator calls and tells me that the hospital and the insurance company had the approved exception document already, but that the hospital just couldn't seem to find it. She told me to go back to receive the surgery, but unfortunately I had eaten already. So, the next week I had my surgery, and though my scar tissue wasn't closing my urethra this time, it was however thicker, so the wounds were more painful this time around during recovery, even with pain medication. Not to mention the foley catheter rubs up against the wounds and irritates the bladder, so I'd see blood clots in my bag frequently, which was scary. All this time I could not work, and I didn't have PTO as I had just started.

I've already borrowed money from family and friends to make it through these past years, and specifically this last month. But, unfortunately, there's still this month's rent and bills, as well as the credit owed for paying the large copay on the surgery upfront. I hate to keep asking the same people for money, even if they'd give it to me, I don't want to burden one person too much.

This is not even including the multitude of medical bills I have, taking up a whole drawer. I have not counted but considering the one uninsured ER visit was ~$17,000, and each CT Scan on my old insurance was ~$3,000, not including the many doctor visits and surgeries, so it is definitely in the up there.

I'm not even asking for help on the medical bills, (though obviously it would be appreciated.) I really just need to get rid of this month's rent and bills, and pay off my credit card before the interest adds up to more than it has.

I would appreciate any help you can give, greatly. Unfortunately, I've had to depend on other people's kindness for too long, and I really appreciate all the love and assistances I've received, and if you can, I will appreciate that a lot as well.

Thank you for your time.