Lost job June 2023, hospital bills, rent raised..

Hi, my name is Liza. I lost my job at the end of June 2023, unemployment ended in January, rent went up $200/month, bills are piling, and hospital costs are not completely covered. I am in desperate need of help. I've been in the hospital and rehab since 9/24/23. This experience has been the most painful I've ever had. My kidney ruptured and caused a huge abscess in my side. Kidney has been surgically removed. Anything will help and be truly appreciated.

How I Got to One Kidney

My journey began in 2019 after switching jobs to one in a call center. I’m the type of person who can be told how to do something once and that’s how it will be done. If I do error, I will beat up myself so it doesn’t happen again. Part of the job in this call center was to have a certain number of calls be scored. A supervisor admitted even the most perfect call will have something wrong with it. Not a good environment for me. Enter an enormous amount of stress. Also, with the number of calls per shift, it was difficult to hydrate. Enter dehydration.

With the combination thus far of stress and dehydration, all I did when not working was sleep. But sleep wasn’t enough to balance what was happening. The mix now had serious depression growing like mold. I began to eat poorly. I didn’t have the best eating habits from the start, but now it was sweets and junk. I was unconsciously trying to get dopamine to counteract the depression. By early winter 2020, I was in a dark place with the mix of stress, depression, and poor eating habits. While the thoughts of ending things were creeping into my mind, it’s not something I would do. One day, my supervisor called for reviewing my calls and I told him I was not doing well. He knew what was meant and talked with me for a long time. He provided help options, but it’s not what was needed in my case. I needed a different environment. I won’t ever forget the compassion he showed.

Through all of this I was experiencing soul-crushing migraines everyday. These led to many days where I called out from work. I was approved for FMLA and be able to have extra time off. In meeting with the doctor and having labs run to learn if anything else was contributing to the headaches, Type 2 Diabetes was discovered. I knew diet and exercise would turn around the diabetes, but the doctor wouldn’t listen. She kept trying to medicate me. Great, another fight for me to fight. As of this writing, the diabetes is in remission. I won.

The last Friday in February 2021 as I was shutting down the work laptop and storing the equipment for the weekend, a voice entered my head and caused me to say aloud, “You will never answer that [company name] phone again.” Yeah right, it’s my job. How can that be? Well, I entered short-term disability the following Monday through May. Then I found a different job. It was true. I never answered that phone again.

During the short-term disability, I walked outside a lot and tried to eat better. I was getting healthier for a short time.

The new job was bookkeeping, but the environment was toxic. Stress and depression grew.

In 2022, I became sicker again. My immune system was poor and I had a series of sinus issues, UTIs (urinary track infection), tummy flu bouts, and developed arthritis and neuropathy. From March to December, I felt “good” only 3 days. Also, it felt like I cracked a rib from coughing,

I was let go from the job in June 2023. Real reason for this was selfish on the employer’s part. The next morning, I heard that voice again and it caused me to say aloud, “You will never work for someone else again.” How can this be? I need the income. 8 months later, no income, no money, but so far the voice is correct.

In September, it felt like I cracked a rib again. Along with that, I wasn’t exercising or eating/drinking well due to stress and depression. My whole body was in atrophy and getting weaker every day. A huge mass developed in my right flank causing me to have breathing issues and my right leg stopped working. I became confined to the couch and no longer able to move. The pain was so intense that I was praying the Lord to take me, but I woke each morning. I didn’t want to go to the hospital because I had no money.

The pain finally overcame me and the ambulance was called. I was taken to Sentara Princess Anne. Several tests were performed. The doctor told me that I was a very sick lady. He never said this part, but it could be heard in his voice and seen on his face that I was close to death. I had a huge abscess in my right flank, septic, UTI, anemic, and my right kidney had ruptured.

Old kidney stones had become infected and the dehydration caused the entire kidney to become infected and burst. The abscess was the infection spreading. When they started to drain the abscess, over 500 ml of infection was removed the first day. A drain was inserted into my side to drain more of the infection. Over the next couple days, a stent and drain were placed in my right kidney. The next month was a series of drains being emptied, strong antibiotics, and working on trying to gain strength throughout my body. The Urology doctor said it was unlikely the kidney would begin to function on its own. If it didn’t then it would need to be removed. It didn’t and surgery was scheduled.

During the time waiting for the surgery date, I went to a rehabilitation and nursing facility to relearn how to walk, continue to drain a bit, and get overall stronger for the surgery. I returned to the hospital at one point. While there, one of the drains was removed and I contracted C-DIFF. The strong antibiotics had killed the good bacteria in my body and the C-DIFF was able to take root.

In looking back, what I thought were cracked ribs may have been the kidney stones and start of the infection.

The surgeon said the surgery was difficult, but went well. Due to all the infection and had developed cellulitis, he had to go through my stomach. I now have 30 staples down my abdomen.

How did all this happen? Stress and depression from work.