Finally! The company handling my long term disability finally made the decision to pay out benefits for the past couple of months! They're also paying my salary at 60% - much better than the 40% I thought I would be getting. This means we will be able to keep our home and have food on the table. We may not be able to pay all of our bills but we're safer than we were a week ago.
That said, we're still waiting to hear back from the neurosurgeon in Seattle. Speaking with some patients of his on the Chiari boards, I found out he is extremely busy and may or may not accept me as a patient right now. If we don't get in touch with him, our next option would be to submit my medical records to a specialist in Colorado. I can't fathom going that far away from home to have a scary surgery and then travel all the way back to Washington... Keeping my fingers crossed for Seattle.
I've been thinking pretty hard about this surgery. Yes, there is a risk of complications. It's brain surgery. Do I risk it? Or do I continue to live this way: in pain, depressed, watching my life pass me by? There's no good answer and no promises that I'll be 100% healed either way.
I'm still scared but at least the weight of finances has been taken off my shoulders.
