From Coma to RV: My Fight for Stability

So, I was admitted into the hospital on December 18, 2023. I was in a medically induced coma for 2 1/2 weeks. Three days later, while in surgery, I had a stroke as well. The membrane at or around my spinal cord, at the base of my neck, ruptured, causing emergency brain surgery to take place as well. They had to remove roughly 3 square inches off the back of my skull to access and repair the membrane. I was on a breathing machine while all this took place. I woke up in ICU, I was blind and had a tube in my neck three weeks later. The first 2 1/2 months were spent at Emory St. Joe’s, then transported to Emory Main for rehabilitation and close observation. There was a layered repair on a main port of the aorta and stents throughout all of the small vessels around the heart. They also had to restore the blood flow to the lower part of my body; I couldn’t move my legs at all either. Once I was stable enough to be transported, they moved me from Emory in Atlanta, GA to UAB Birmingham for physical therapy. That night, there was an issue with brain fluid leaking down my spine, causing the neck to swell up and create pain. The next morning, I was taken back in for another brain surgery at UAB. They had to install a shunt to keep the fluid drained off my brain. 853 ml of fluid in a 24-hour time frame had to be corrected, so now I will live with a shunt in my head for the rest of my life. I lost all the house and vehicles I had at the time. Now, I’m on disability for the rest of my life as well. I was able to buy an RV camper once I was approved for disability, which I now stay in. I draw only so much on disability. My antibiotics alone without discounts are $1600.00 to fill. I have been living on government assistance for the last few months. No food stamps are available; everything is out of pocket for five different medications I take now on a daily basis. I’m trying to raise money for a deposit on a new home, $10k needed to see that through, and to help pay for prescriptions when they’re due to be refilled.