Help Shawna Survive Surgery
Donation protected
In December, I found myself sitting in the emergency room in Austin, Texas a month after moving away from New Orleans, my home of twelve years. I was uninsured, suffering severe abdominal pain and experiencing very high fevers. There it was discovered that I had a 12 cm mass growing on top of my uterus. The emergency room doctors suspected that what was causing me such grief was a uterine fibroid, something almost 80% of people with uteruses experience before the age of 50.
I was sent home that night because I was not dying in an emergent way and told to take Tylenol and grit my teeth through the pain.
It took me many months to navigate how to obtain health insurance that I could afford, finding a trust worthy OBGYN who didn’t have a three month long waiting list as well as undergoing test after test to make sure I was not riddled with cancer all while living in constant pain, working as much as I could and trying to keep up with my basic needs.
My uterine fibroid is now 15 cm. I have surgery scheduled on April 4th and was notified today that even though my insurance will cover 80% of the cost of surgery I will still need to pay thousands of dollars upfront. While I work a good job where I make good money and am now insured I do not have the funds to navigate this medical crisis on my own or the cost of recovery. I will be out of work for at least six weeks while I heal. Any help would be deeply appreciated.
The last GoFundMe I did insured that I was able to pay my rent and bills despite missing so much work because I was so sick as well as being able to access care I would have otherwise not had access to as an uninsured person. I would have ended up in an incredibly vulnerable position without the help.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this crisis. I could not have made it this far alone.
I was sent home that night because I was not dying in an emergent way and told to take Tylenol and grit my teeth through the pain.
It took me many months to navigate how to obtain health insurance that I could afford, finding a trust worthy OBGYN who didn’t have a three month long waiting list as well as undergoing test after test to make sure I was not riddled with cancer all while living in constant pain, working as much as I could and trying to keep up with my basic needs.
My uterine fibroid is now 15 cm. I have surgery scheduled on April 4th and was notified today that even though my insurance will cover 80% of the cost of surgery I will still need to pay thousands of dollars upfront. While I work a good job where I make good money and am now insured I do not have the funds to navigate this medical crisis on my own or the cost of recovery. I will be out of work for at least six weeks while I heal. Any help would be deeply appreciated.
The last GoFundMe I did insured that I was able to pay my rent and bills despite missing so much work because I was so sick as well as being able to access care I would have otherwise not had access to as an uninsured person. I would have ended up in an incredibly vulnerable position without the help.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me through this crisis. I could not have made it this far alone.
Organizer
Shawna OConnell
Organizer
Austin, TX