Full transparency, I’m currently $57,499.49 in deep medical debt. 95% of this debt, is the direct result of the long-term mold exposure we endured since 2017. This is all the medical costs I’ve had to cover since 2018 until present.
When we discovered the mold issues. I had previously paid this card off which held 1/3rd of the medical debt I’ve incurred over the past 3 years. Due to the generosity, and kindness, the GoFundMe proceeds had this card paid off late August.
Literally From December, till present, this is what I’ve had to spend in order to ensure that we got to a safe environment
Charges that were put on this card since December were:
- $482.67 for Envirospec 2nd mold testing
- $1027.21 for a new couch
- $923.23 for a new bed
- $322.69 for a new boxspring
- $32.23 for a updated Drivers License
- $845.75 to pay for the movers (don’t include tips) for 3 guys and a moving truck
- $2,4600 to pay for 1st months rent / deposits
- $2,163 to pay for January 2024 rent
- $2,507.54 for for February 2024 rent
- $150 for all the new medications I had to start
- $167.35 for interest
- $350 for all new cat furniture, toys and water fountain
- $700 in medical expenses for doctor visits
- $240 for a new hairdryer. The minute I used the old one, I could feel my throat tightening up. I looked at the intake, and I was absolutely disgusted
This card is carrying all the medical debt incurred from 2022 to 2023. From home IV services during the 7 kidney stones ($300) per visit. They were coming out almost weekly for supportive IV services during the kidney stones. Prescription medications. Paying off all the doctor visits and procedures that needed to happen.
This card is carrying all the medical debt that incurred between 2020-2022. Same thing. This paid for all the ER visits, home IV services, doctor visits and procedures, as well as moving expenses from when we moved from building 1 to building 10 at Parc at Cherry Creek. This also has all the expenses related to both Mayo visits I had in both 2020, and 2022.
This loan was pulled out to consolidate all the medical debt incurred between 2018 to 2020. This included the first Mayo visit, all the hospitalizations in 2018, the costs of 31 ER visits due to all the allergic reactions. Flying Anies to MN to drive me home from the Mayo visit, fuel costs, food. And all the doctor visits / lab work required to properly diagnose my Common Variable Immunodeficiency Disorder. Before Pfizer had patient assistance for IVIG, I had to pay all the co-pays for the therapy sessions.
Yet another loan that was drawn to consolidate all the medical debt from 2020 to 2021. Having credit cards that had 24-27% interest became next to impossible to even make a financial impact to reduce the amounts owed on the cards.
Lastly, this card is carrying all the medical debt from 2023-2024. Keep in mind for most of 2023, I was on Short Term Disability, and that reduces my income to 75% that yes, I still have to pay taxes on, and keep the critical medical insurance I’ve needed to essentially stay alive. This is also the card I’ve been using for the Ketamine treatments, so keeping at least $1,000 worth of room on this card has become extremely challenging.
Payments alone on all the above, each credit card has a minimum payment of at least $300 per card (which only reduces the balance owed by $75 per month). On top of the two loans, each month, I’m paying $1200 in credit cards, and $1200 in loans directly all related to this medical nightmare I’ve had to endure over the past 5 years.
It’s not easy to stay afloat anymore. During the summer of 2023, I surrendered all the equity I had built up in the Grey Jeep, and leased another Jeep which dropped my payments by $250 a month (which was a huge help). I still need a car that’s reliable, and for the next 4 years, I won’t have any surprise car expenses.
From 2018 to present, health insurance per month has cost me easily $300 per paycheck which comes to a total of $46,800 for the past 5 years. That’s just for the premiums. On top of that, each year, it costs $7,100 to reach max out of pocket for the year. Typically by March/April of each year I would meet that number, but it’s still money I have to pay out. So that’s another $42,600 I’ve incurred over the past 5 years.
This is where I am at currently for 2024. I only have $1,900 to go until I’ve reached max out of pocket for the year. Thankfully, anything to do with my IVIg since 2022, Pfizer picks up the cost of the drug and any co-pays that go along with it. Which probably has you thinking, it can’t be THAT much.
And this is the cost AFTER I hit my $3,100 deductible.
This was the cost of my 1st IVIg infusion of the year. Again, this is just the cost of the drug. This doesn’t include the home nursing costs that’s about $350 per visit. This wasn’t even my full dose, this was for just 20g. Which I typically get 45g. Again, thankfully Pfizer picks up the “What you pay” portion up to $12,000 per calendar year.
Again this post is just to be fully transparent regarding the financial situation I’m facing. A financial situation that could’ve been fully avoided had Parc at Cherry Creek did the right thing and provided a safe living environment since 2017, which only worsened when we moved to the 2nd apartment on 6/5/2021.
Yes, they aren’t responsible for the financial costs for my Immune Disorder, but everything else minus that, they are. It truly disgusts me that their negligence has pushed me to the brink of financial melt down.
Next Friday, we get our bonuses @ work, to which it’s already spent. It will be about $9500 after taxes, which that will 100% be used to pay down the REI credit card first, and since this is the month for 3 paychecks (I am paid 26 times a year), hopefully that guy will be gone by February 1st.
I’ve sold off a lot of personal items that we’ve had that’s carried some value, unfortunately surrendered 2 life insurance policies that were only worth $2,500. Taken out loans against my 401k, and even had to just take straight up hardship withdrawals just to help reduce some of this debt. We dumped AT&T which our bill was $230 a month. Spectrum offers employee discounts, and for our phones and watches, it’s literally $55 a month, so that was a huge help too.
With having to throw out our air purifiers ($1,300) worth of them. When I reconnected with my uncle Gary, he bought me the top of the line Dyson to help keep me safe from any air contaminants. I was so grateful for his help as this is something I definitely need to help keep me safe.
None of the debt includes the installation & loss of my dental implants in 2020. Which was a total cost of $19,500.
I hope this puts perspective on my financial situation to which I’m really not responsible for the most part. This is just fucking unfair. Yet again trapped in financial slavery. If I lose my job, that’s the end of all this, not only from an income perspective, but the health insurance.
I can only hope by June of this year, we finally resolve the remaining sources of the infection, so moving forward, it’s just immune therapy. But since the mold exposure and the heart attack, I’ll be required to be on blood thinners and Posaconazole (antifungal) for the rest of my life, so factor that in too 🙁
My only hope is that my attorneys helping us with the tenant/lease issue can get us out of that portion of this nightmare, but then going after park for all the financial damage they have caused. On top of all the impacts to my health, as well as all the future medical care I’ll need since this whole thing was really caused by them. That whole part of the litigation may take years to resolve. They know they are responsible, I have all the medical data to back up that since really 2018, living there caused me to almost lose my life several times, the STEMI heart attack was just the icing on this shit-filled cake I’ve been forced to eat.
Like I’ve said before, work did setup a GoFundMe to help ease the financial burden of where I am at currently. To date, we’ve managed to raise $10,130 as of this morning. Anything that I receive from those donations goes straight to this Mount Everest sized amount of debt I’m facing.
I’m not asking anyone to donate, but if you can just simply spread awareness of my cause, I would be eternally grateful. If you do decide to donate, again, I would be truly humbled and would 100% guarantee anything helps. Really, anything.
I’ve almost thought about picking up a part time job on the weekends, and maybe 2 hours a week just to try and help get out of this financial black hole I am trapped in. With that though, if I earn too much, that may push me into a higher tax bracket, and realistically, would negate the extra efforts I’d be putting in to try and get out of this.
So instead of doing something I’m not physically capable of doing, let’s approach it from a financial attack.
The financial strategy that I’ve got is to get rid of the REI card with my bonus + the $1800 refund check from Parc after we moved out (not a settlement check). Once I eliminate that, that’s $300 extra I can put towards the Citi card. At its current balance of $8,000, the interest alone is $150 per month. I’ve been making $500 a month payments to this card.
With my math, if I can toast the REI card, the $300 a month minimum payment I was making to REI, would allow a payment of $800 a month towards the Citi card, minus interest, would be $650 a month towards the balance. Anything from the GoFundMe would just go straight to the balance of that card. But if I’m doing this on my own, it will take roughly 13 months to pay it down to $0. which puts me at around March 2025. Once paid off. I could now turn my focus to the Cabelas card. 3 months later, the Prosper Loan #1 would gone, giving me $688 more per month.
So to catch up monthly payment wise, REI was $300, Citi was $800 a month. Factor in Prosper loan #1, that’s $1,790’ish a month free now, and that puts me at June of 2025.
Currently Cabelas card at $7000 currently, but if I make payments that include interest ($150) plus an extra $100, by the time I pay off the Citi card, roughly that puts the balance of the Cabelas card to $5700. With the Citi card paid off, and prosper loan #1 being paid off mid 2025, this gives me $1,790 free to start focusing on the United Card, which its current balance is $12,500, and I do the same thing with the other cards. Currently the monthly interest on that card is $235, so the payment I make on average is $380, so I’m only reducing the principle by $145 per month. So by June 15 of 2025, the balance of the United card would be about $10,650’ish or so.
The next piece of debt would be Prosper Loan #2. Which currently its balance is $16,264.77. After 13 months, principle payments would be about $300 per month, I would expect the balance to be around $12,365.
During this whole time, currently I have $175 in my savings account, and I’m typically trying to save $250 per paycheck, so if no more surprises come up, at the end of those 13 months, hopefully my savings will be around $6,750. As my mom would call it “the rainy day fund”. But the past 5 years has been a literal monsoon from a financial perspective.
If I do get a bonus in 2025, I would just move hat straight to savings and let it sit, so potentially I could have $16,250 there at that time.
While all this “progress” is being made there is also the 401k loan. Currently:
Each payment I make takes about $175 off of the principle of that loan, by June of 2025, the balance should be at least $9,961, or maybe less.
So if I’m calculating this right, as of June 2025 this is where I’ll be:
With the potential of $16,250 in savings, strategically, the United card would be the next piece of debt to attack next. This would save $300 a month, bringing my total monthly debt savings to $2100, bringing my savings account down to $5600.
REI Card– $300 SavingsCiti Card– $500 Savings- Cabelas Card – $5,700
United Card– $400 SavingsProsper Loan 1– $688 savings- Prosper Loan 2 – $12,365
- 401K Loan – $9,961
Next I’d focus on the Cabelas card, for the next 3 months with $2000 payments. That debt would disappear quickly, adding my total monthly debt savings to $2,400. This would eliminate all of the high interest credit cards I’ve been buried in.
As for the remaining debt, unfortunately I cannot make principle payments to the prosper loan. I’ve tried in the past, making extra payments, but they take out both principle/interest from those extra payments. So I would just push the $2400 a month into savings along with the $500 a month im already doing.
At this point it should be August of 2025, with $6,000 in savings. 3 months later, the savings account should be sitting at $14,700, which would now have the ability to pay off Prosper Loan #2. With that loan gone, this now increases my monthly debt savings to $2800 a month, and the balance of my savings account would be around $2,500.
The last piece of medical debt left would be what’s in the 401k loan, which if I’m estimating all this right, the balance should be around $8,200. Bit the other thing I have to keep in mind, it’s 2025 now, let’s not forget the $7,100 out of pocket maximum that has to happen each year. So potentially, the remaining medical debt till the end of the year would be roughly $15,000.
The savings I would just start putting away as much as possible at this point. The scheduled pay off date for the 401k loan would be 11/9/2026. I would probably at this point throttle back on the aggressive get out of medical debt strategy and just save as much for the future as I can, as I know things won’t be perfect. Things won’t go to plan. Things will come up. But this is the best-case scenario I can hope for.
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