I am Lexie, I am 29 and I live in Salt Lake City, UT.
Medical 1/2 :
I was diagnosed with a tumor 1 week before the official quarantine of the Utah State.
This tumor is not cancerous, but it can spread easily depending on the case. The risk of not removing it was too high : permanent hearing loss, facial paralysis, brain damages, and the list goes on.
The bar where I was working extras closed due to quarantine, and my surgery was scheduled a month after that. I was very lucky to be categorized as "emergency" and was in the OR the first day the UT state allowed hospitals to re-open their OR with more flexibility.
Trauma :
The second weekend of August and on my first night back at the bar, we were attacked by an active shooter. Today I am still dealing with PTSD from the shooting, any sound close to it a gun shot : fire cracker, a door slammed, a bottle popping up, or even just seeing big crowds gives drives me into anxiety to the point where I need to leave the place before to have a panic attack. Today, still as I start falling asleep I hear gun shots, which wake me up and it takes me a couple hours before I can actually fall asleep peacefully.
Medical 2/2 :
My tumor was located in my internal ear, and they had to cut a piece of my hearing canal to remove the tumor properly, as it was pretty extensive and intertwined into it. My hearing loss was already heavy before the surgery but today I can't hear at all from the left ear and that prevents me from finding a proper second job. I also need to quarantine again 2 weeks prior and post surgery for my next surgery coming up, for Covid safety measures as I will be again a high risk post surgery until I am completely healed and have recovered from it. That second surgery will allow me to hear again, they will replace what they had to cut with a customizable prothesis to allow the sound to come in and out, and most importantly to make sure the tumor didn't grow back. Singing is my whole life, so hearing like a normal person will be life changing for me. My second surgery is scheduled for October 19th 2020.
How your funds will help me :
I have no family here to support me. My family lives out of state and they don't have the ability to help me financially. I tried to apply to so many remote jobs, but during those crazy times so many people apply to everything and I didn't get one positive answer yet. I will not be able to hear again properly until the end of the year and I need to wait to be completely healed to know if the surgery was successful or not, before I can take an exam for a hearing aid if it becomes necessary. So finding a second job in those circumstances: partially deaf, from home-in quarantine until my high risk status is lifted by the doctors is very challenging.
Your funds would help me pay my medical bills while recovering safely from home, take time off to recover as needed. It takes all my pride to have to ask for other's help so if you do help me, I will be grateful for your generosity and supporting me in such challenging times.
When I am done paying those expenses, I would like to reunite with my family and move near them. I don't want to take life granted anymore and would like a chance to start over with them in my life this time.
Note : I didn’t share this on social media because my family doesn’t know the situation I am in and I don’t want them to stress for me while watching powerless.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story,
God bless you.
Lexie
Photo: Getty Images