Ken (CHAD: A Fallout 76 Podcast) Medical Bills

Hey all! Ken from CHAD: A Fallout 76 Story Podcast here and recently the Fallout community mobilized to help my husband Travis and myself with some really financially crippling medical debt. We were drowning, and after exhausting all other options, I was pushed and prodded by friends to explain the situation and ask for help from anyone willing (and able) to give it. The response was astounding and we both thank you all so deeply for what you did for us.

What We Need Help With

I closed out the original GoFundMe as honestly, I was an emotional wreck recording those videos asking for help and it was uncomfortable being so on display and vulnerable like that. I'm setting up this second GoFundMe to help us with some of the ongoing medical bills related to Travis' mental health support and recovery as we are still a ways off from him being able to return to work.

I'm posting this new GoFundMe to help Travis so that he can continue to receive his therapy for C-PTSD, and also to afford his health insurance, medications, and ongoing mental health costs not covered by insurance (which are many and average us $10,000 to $13,000 per year out of pocket AFTER insurance).

I unfortunately last some business this month (February 2024), which puts in a precarious situation financially until I can refinance the house in the spring after we paint it (per the bank). The only "extra" expense we can cut back on to offset the revenue loss is his therapist and psychiatrist...and where he's at in his recovery I'm really hoping I don't have to do that. I'm asking for help after exhausting other options.

Why Do We Need The Help?

I'm an unusual case as a content creator in that the podcast and a lot of the volunteer charity/community work I do isn't connected to any real income. Don't get it wrong, I love it this way and wouldn't change that for the world. I live to create and help always for free, always for others. But unlike other streamers or creators who make money on the side or even fully support themselves, I don't.

As mentioned above, sadly in the United States healthcare doesn't do enough to help people in need with their journey in healing...mental health less so. I'm launching this GoFundMe ongoing and if you can and want to help, any donation helps.

I’m not about to ask for help without giving something in return, so to try and raise awareness of the GoFundMe I’ve set up, I’m going to be streaming weekly on Twitch on Friday and Sunday nights to at least offer some entertainment and maybe laughs in return. While bits and subs are always appreciated normally, for this, direct GoFundMe donations are much more needed right now.

Do not, do not, help if you can’t afford to. I don’t want anyone to feel compelled to do so that could take anything from you, your loved ones, children or your family so you go without in some fashion. I have enough guilt already just asking for help in the first place, so taking something from someone in worse shape than we are, I’d lose sleep over. But if you can, only if you can, help would be appreciated.

Below is some information about C-PTSD and I'd like to raise more awareness of it as in our case, it is commonly misdiagnosed as Bipolar II or even ADHD (in youth).

About Travis Diagnosis

Travis has and suffers from C-PTSD with some co-occurring conditions. Similar to PTSD (which stems often from a singular event) C-PTSD is most commonly developed in childhood from deep and sustained trauma. We knew where it comes from, but it's not for me to tell Travis’ story and in the end the why doesn’t matter with the current situation we’re in. But the thing with C-PTSD is that it’s patient…like a mental bomb waiting to go off. For him, it was three decades before it did and now everything has changed. That was 7 years ago, but through a lot of determination, help and hope he's come so far.

It's a cruel and unfair irony considering what he endured at a young age and yet spent 20 years in healthcare and hospice care trying to help other people that he's been cursed by something he never deserved done to him. No one does. This particular diagnosis is so new, it's not even fully recognized yet.