Please help Esther cover her medical expenses!

My name is Tine, and I am asking for your help with covering medical expenses for my friend Esther Troetschel. Esther is an amazing and strong person who has been dealing with complex health challenges for many years now, a real survivor. She is currently facing two pressing issues, and the health insurance offered by her job will only start covering expenses after she meets her deductible, which is high ($ 6,350). She does not make enough money at her current job to cover the treatment professionals are recommending for her.

This is what’s going on:

In April Esther started passing out often in times of stress. She was taken to the hospital for this as well as seen by a cardiologist, a neurologist and a psychiatrist, and in the end was told that she most likely has psychogenic pseudosyncope.

Psychogenic pseudosyncope (PPS) was defined in the 2017 AHA/ACC syncope guidelines as “a syndrome of apparent loss of consciousness occurring in the absence of impaired cerebral perfusion or function”. These guidelines suggest that symptoms patients experience result from a response to psychological stress. The PPS spells are presumed to be part of a conversion disorder.

This has been very scary and disruptive to Esther’s life, especially when episodes have occurred at work. As a result her performance has been suffering and she is afraid of losing her job, which then adds to the stress she is feeling as she deals with this diagnosis, and the constant fear of passing out and possibly hurting herself.

Last weekend Esther was at Jefferson Hospital, where she was told that she should receive intensive outpatient care. Esther’s regular doctors agree and are hopeful that she would learn how to keep the episodes of passing out at bay, and in addition gain more mental stability to live a better, more peaceful life. She hopes it would also help with job stability, reducing stress further.

Esther has researched various options, but intensive outpatient care is quite expensive. She would like to go to Sanare in Philadelphia for 6 weeks of treatment. Each session would cost $198 dollars and the intake is $158, adding up to $4905. She would go there while continuing to work. You can check out the program here: https://sanaretoday.com/

In addition to the psychogenic pseudosyncope, Esther has been suffering for many years from PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), which causes hormonal imbalances and insulin resistance and is the reason for Esther’s weight gain. Esther currently weighs about 400 pounds, which affects both her health and self esteem. While PCOS makes losing weight through diet and exercise near impossible, Esther’s endocrinologist recently prescribed her a promising new drug called Saxenda. However, because the medication is so new, even with insurance coverage it would still be over $1000 a month.

(The good news is that once her deductible is met, all care will be free until next June, and prescriptions will be 20%, making Saxenda affordable.)

We are hoping to be able to raise at least the money needed for Esther’s out patient’s care, which is $ 4,905. However, should we raise more (ideally the insurance deductible), it would be wonderful and a great relief if Esther could get started on the weight loss medication.

A little more information on how hard it is to get these drugs covered is in this recent article by the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/health/obesity-drugs-insurance.html?searchResultPosition=1

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS, AND THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY WHO FINDS IT IN THEIR HEART TO DONATE!

Every little amount people can give will help make this easier for Esther.

(And if you're wondering...the beautiful furry creature next to her is Pumpkin, Esther's emotional support kitty).