Thread "Vertebroplasty...." in forum "Networking & Community Projects*"

Posted at 12:03PM, Mar. 15, 2008

This is going to sound somewhat desperate, but I pretty much am desperate at this point.

I'm saving up money to pay for a procedure that will hopefully cure a relative of mine's spinal problem. We're convinced she has vertebral compression fractures, which are fractures/lesions on the vertebrae (the individual bones) of the spinal column. If left untreated, the fractures can eventually press on her ribcage and, therefore, lungs and other organs within–she's already having trouble breathing–and can also eventually, possibly, pierce the spinal chord, resulting in paralysis or worse. I won't go into details as I'm sure you can all assume.

I don't have health insurance, nor can I wait until I can afford it as her problem is quite severe and worsens from day to day. We took her to the emergency room and all they wanted to do was fill her with pain drugs and send her home.

Now, I'm not writing this to beat on the American health system. I'm writing this journal entry to ask of you, anyone willing, a simple request. I'm a freelance artist, as those of you who are interested enough will know, so I'd really appreciate it if you could spread the word of my art to people you think might be interested in commissioning something from me. That way, I'll eventually save up enough money to get my relative all the proper scans, and then be able to pay for the procedure to fix her fractures (which, alone, is somewhere in the neighborhood of $500).

I'd like to thank everyone in advance for helping me, assuming you will ^^; , and I'd like to thank everyone for even taking the time to read this, so thank you guys.

-Tara-Lynn (Kaiverta)