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Okay I'm doing it. If you've been following me for a while you know what's been happening but I feel like explaining for myself/transparency. I have lived with debilitating pain that started while in graduate school, and has gotten increasingly worse these past two years.
Over this winter, with COVID, depression, and the cold, my mobility became even more limited. I decided to try to get medical help AGAIN. Through this process I learned that I have a herniated disc in my cervical spine. This means that the cushy discs that you have in your spine?
well mine is completely out of place and because of this, it is causing nerve pain and nerve damage in my neck, shoulders, back, hands, and wrists on both sides of my body. I am in pain all day everyday, to varying degrees.
Many people can get over herniated discs in a couple of months, but after PT, mine still exists and has been irritated for several years. Through going to a "popular" pain management doctor on Zocdoc, I started getting epidural injections for my back.
The goal is to build up the tissue in your disc so you can eventually do PT. These injections instead left me with severe muscle spasms, causing me to go to the ER twice, and experience one of the most traumatic experiences of my life at the Brooklyn Hospital Center.
The injections make my body swell up, increase my pain, and didn't do anything to relieve the initial pain. Through seeing a new doctor I was able to learn that my initial doctor did the injections in a risky and more painful way that doctors don't use anymore.
I went home to get more injections from a different angle. The injections didnt work, instead my pain increased again and I spent all my time in bed dehydrated and depressed. After several weeks with my parents I finally got well enough to go back to NY. Two days before I was
supposed to leave, another driver hit the car I was driving. I was t-boned. My pain has increased since then. I finally made it back to NY and I just cant live here anymore. But I also cant afford the move back.
Before this all happened I had savings for emergencies. I was completely independent. Medical bills are piling up. I have used up all my sick time at work. This is one of the worst times of my life and I'm just trying to not give up hope but its hard.
My pain and my mental health are so bad that I am having severe panic attacks. I have trauma from the pain, the medical system, and the car accident.
Anyways, TLDR, I'm trying to move back to Georgia so I can live near my family in a more accessible place. The heat is better for my joints, I know more about the medical system, and I can afford the cost of treatments there.
I would appreciate any help possible. All funds will go towards my move, hospital bills. Any leftover funds will go to therapy, which I will need 2x a week for the time being.
