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Here is my situation,

A few years ago I was involved in a near fatal car accident. The doctors patched me up and I thankfully survived.

However, several months ago, an object turned up on an x ray. The identity of the object is unknown, the only certainty is that the object is metallic, and it presumably was missed or left during the removal of the other foreign objects. Since the object is metallic, it is causing me to suffer from Metal Poisoning, a particularly nasty thing to get, as it makes me prone to illness, weakness, involuntary twitching, etc. I'm also more than likely going to suffer permanent brain damage (if I haven't already) if the object is not removed. Eventually it will kill me; at this point in time, my doctor gave me a few years before I had to remove the object.

Typically in these situations, people usually jump on the malpractice bandwagon, however, I was very lucky to have made it through that accident, and I could not have survived without the care of medical staff involved. Mistakes happen, and besides, I was working full time and I had insurance.

Unfortunately the metal object is in a compromising place; naturally the cost of removal is amplified, and the chance of surviving the operation (especially in my condition) is lower than normal. My insurance repeatedly denied my claims, and eventually I took them to court.

I was not prepared for the court case, and I lost miserably. The fact that without the procedure I would die was considered inadequate. Since it was apparent that my insurance was not going to help, it was then that I went for malpractice. The same story, I was not prepared. The strategy of claiming "How else would it have gotten there?" was no match for the hospital's lawyering hocus pocus. I shopped around at several different hospitals, seeing if there was one willing to do the operation and I pay it afterwords, but as the Insurance stated, the cost is too high, and it's a low probability of survival. I also attempted countless medical loans, but my credit is in the 'why did you bother filling this out?' range.

I'm not done fighting this, however, about a week or so ago, after collapsing in class I was brought to the hospital. Apparently I have been over-stressing myself, between going to school full time, working full time (at minimum wage, of course), trying to raise money through game development projects and freelancing, family (or lack thereof), other life issues, and just dealing with this whole situation, I have too much cortisol in my system. My time frame for surviving this has lowered from a few years to a few months, with loss of many basic functions due to arrive prior to my passing. I don't have time to futz with the system, right now I just need to get this thing out of me. I am a strong and independent woman, I can handle almost anything myself, but I'm setting this aside, because I do not want to die from this. I never wanted to resort to just donations (as opposed to asking for donations from people who've enjoyed my work), but it's clear that this is the best option I have right now. I appreciate anyone who sends me any info on legal advice or wants to help fight on my behalf, but I am just too stressed out to deal with it. If I need help I will seek legal counsel myself, but it's going to have to wait until this is all said and done.

I have never been on good speaking terms with my family. My parents are fundamentalist Christians, and I haven't spoken to either of them (barring a few incidents) since they severed ties with me after they discovered that I was not straight.

UPDATE: I called and talked with my mother the other day. It started as me breaking the news about all of this, pleading for her help, to her telling me I'm a disappointment, and that all my problems were my fault or in my head, because of my 'lifestyle choice'. I screamed at her and that was that.
My friends are helping out the best they can, however, they are few, and many of them barely have the means to take care of themselves, let alone another person. I am thankfully kept afloat in my apartment from excess student loans and my dwindling bank account and the help of my roommate and girlfriend, but of course, this kind of mammoth bill is impossible inside of a now fixed income.

While shopping around for different doctors, I found one who was willing to cut the cost of the operation, he is very nice and I trust him to perform the operation successfully. His quote for the surgery was $29,700, though I am going to increase the asking amount of the donations to $35,000, for indiegogo fees, just in case, and to help keep me afloat during recovery. The recovery (which involves getting the remaining poisons out of my system) is estimated to take 2-3 months for me to be in the clear, and at this point it is uncertain as to any other long term or permanent effects I will have to endure.

On a side note, there is a second surgery that I am seeking to get caused by the accident, however, it is not vital to my survival, but it is vital to myself being able to live a normal life. I have not picked a surgeon for this operation, though I've received estimates upwards of $25,000.

In the off chance I receive more than the intended amount, or I receive enough for both procedures, I will donate all remaining funds to another charity (I'm not sure of which at this point, not exactly my highest priority, but if you've got any ideas, feel free to send me a message)

If you have the means, please donate, even if all you have to spare is $1. If you don't, do not worry about it, you can still help out by spreading the word, or even just leaving a supportive comment in the comments section. I've had my fair share of assholes these last few months, and even more in the last few days, helping me take my mind of of them and this situation and keeping my stress at bay is the best I can do. The worst part of all of this is I blame myself for not being naive and not understanding how to deal with the legal situation properly.

If you want to know anything else, you are more than welcome to e-mail me, my contact information is at the bottom of this page.

Lead-containing bullets and shrapnel may also present a threat of further exposure and may need to be surgically removed if they are in or near fluid-filled or synovial spaces.

Closely examine the patient's history to elicit evidence of heavy metal exposure (e.g., foreign body ingestions, paint chips, retained bullets).

Similar to other problems originatingng from the DePuy hip replacements, the metal poisoning complications are related to a defective metal-on-metal design that sheds tiny shards of the metals due to the friction created when the cup and stem meet.

In this preliminary study, the patients with retained lead shrapnel who presented to the ED had significantly elevated BLLs, compared with the matched control subjects. Chronic plumbism may be considered in patients with retained lead shrapnel, and a history should be taken to assess the presence of symptoms referable to plumbism.

numerous reports document lead poisoning resulting from retained bullet or shrapnel fragments...

Vanadium poisoning is notable as it is an anti-corrosive component of automotive steel, fragments of which can be left in passengers during an automobile accident.

Vanadium poisoning is notable as it is an anti-corrosive component of automotive steel, fragments of which can be left in passengers during an automobile accident.

Suppose I was for a moment that I was a transsexual. What does that have to do with anything? ...On top of that, who gives you the authority to out me to the rest of the world? That is probably the most unthinkably cruel thing you could do to a transsexual, and as a fellow LGBT, I have witnessed first hand the struggles these people have to endure, I have even lost one of my best friends due to people being this ignorant.