I am 35, and I’m drowning in debt.
I lost all three of my grandparents within a 3 week span last August. They hadn’t really prepared for any funeral costs, as most in our family are very long lived, so we all thought we had years yet. Sadly, we didn’t. I had been working on my credit score, so I’d gotten a few credit cards in my name for the first time ever, and used those to pay the costs associated with the burials, or as much as I could.
I’m on disability, and a member of a disabled family. While this was all going on, my aunt was put in the hospital for a flesh eating bacteria infection. She eventually lost both her legs above the knee. My mom has had three bouts of cancer- Kidney, Thyroid, and Lung. Thankfully, they’ve both pulled through, but with Medicaid as our primary insurance, there are a lot of medical supplies that weren’t covered. I’m a loving and dedicated furbaby owner. She has had recurring bouts of a UTI, which cost me $250 each time to get the tests done and treat them, but I scrape the money together because I cannot let her suffer. I’d rather go hungry and without, myself.
I had an emergency gallbladder surgery last week. The portion that Medicaid won’t pay is $4,000, because I was transferred from the first hospital to another, since my original stomach surgeon worked at the 2nd hospital and everyone felt it was best that I remain under his care as he’d treated me before for ulcers and Ulcerative Colitis. Since the first hospital could have done the surgery, but I ‘elected’ to be transferred, they aren’t paying for the bed and tests from the first hospital. The doctor on staff had never given me the choice, or I would have remained there.
Every time I think I’m starting to get ahead, something else happens, and I have to stand up and save my family again. I just want to not cry myself to sleep every night, wondering how I’m going to afford the next month’s bills. I make $700 a month on disability, and right now everything goes to the bills, but I still can’t get ahead because my interest rates are sky high. I make so little that no one will approve me for a debt consolidation loan.
My current bills are $9,000. I’ve managed to get it down to that from the $12,000 it was when I started, but with the new hospital bill looming over my head, I’m officially at rock bottom and can’t fight anymore. I hate begging for help, but at this point, I just don’t know what else to do. Thank you for anyone who reads this and might be able to spare a little help. Once I’m back on my feet, I intend to pay it forward in whatever ways I can.