Medical & Life Expenses

My name is Caitlyn Riley and in December of 2022 I was fighting the worst back pain of my life at 20, now 21, years old. April of this year I found out I had herniated my L5-S1 disc in my back pushing on my S1 nerve root, and have signs of disc degeneration in my L3-L4. This has left me unable to drive, work, shower, bend, lift, sit and stand for more than 30 minutes. After months of putting off doctor’s appointments thinking I would get better and heal on my own I came to the discovery this would need help beyond what I could do on my own. Three months of physical therapy, three different chiropractors, two epidural shots, a whole entire pharmacy of prescriptions, after trip to the ER, and nearly a full year of back pain I’ve come to the conclusion the only option I haven’t exhausted is surgery. I will be having surgery October 23rd 2023 to remove my disc herniation to relieve the pressure on my nerve and to prevent nerve damage. The reason I’m creating this GoFundMe is because throughout these months I’ve spent not working I’ve been lucky enough I had money saved so I could support myself, but with the added medical expenses, every day living, and now car trouble that I wouldn’t have known about if my brother hadn’t taken my car. It’s putting a lot of stress on me knowing when I’m healed I wont have the money to afford to fix it to get to work and start paying some of this stuff off. My savings has dwindled, and my work denied my medical leave request but hasn’t terminated my employment so I cant file for unemployment either. I’m asking for the support of my family and my community to help get me through to the end of this year until I can get back to work. $500 is my starting goal and realistically I need so much more for my ER bills, car repair, and other medical payments, but I dont ever want to ask too much from my friends family and community, but just know I’m really struggling. All I ask is donate what you can if you can, and it will make my transition back into my normal life so much easier and less stressful without the constant worry of money on top of my own healing as well. Thank you so much for all the love and support this past year I really wouldn’t have stayed as strong as I have been without the people I have in my life, so thank you.