u/Cottonturtle

I don’t shoot portraits often, so this was out of my comfort zone. For context, my friend who does pottery asked if I could get some headshots, studio shots, product pics, etc. Some of the portraits don’t seem completely in focus. Any tips?

Pasting this from the GoFundMe (link below):

I'm coming up on 11 years living with Crohn's Disease. I can confidently say the last couple years have been the most challenging yet. In December 2023, I got kicked off Medicaid. This happened just two days before I had an infusion, which is the treatment I get for Crohn's Disease. I remember calling up the clinic and asking what it would look like to get the infusion done without active insurance, and I kid you not, their answer was ~$15,000 per infusion. The medication I'm on is known as a biologic, and anyone with an autoimmune disease knows how expensive they can get.

Now, they mentioned if I were able to get on an active insurance within a certain timeframe, I could potentially have that new insurance cover some of it. I tried re-applying for Medicaid multiple times, but kept getting denied. I applied for insurance through healthcare.gov, but none of the plans would activate in time, meaning I would again be taking the risk of whether or not they would cover past expenses.

The day of the infusion comes and I call the clinic letting them know I won't be able to make it. A few weeks pass and the new year hits. My marketplace insurance finally activated. Even with decent insurance, I was still looking at $1620 per infusion. It's a known thing in the community that Crohn's medication is very expensive, and I was starting to experience it firsthand.

I went months without my infusions, and in April 2024 I wound up in the hospital for a partial bowel obstruction. After that, my GI made it very clear that I should not miss anymore infusions going forward. So, for the rest of the year, I would attend my monthly infusions and watch my medical debt climb by $1620 each time.

Time passed and I found myself unemployed again as I transitioned jobs, so I was able to get back on Medicaid. I asked for retroactive coverage from them and they're able to cover my last two infusions. At this point, everything else has been sent to a debt collector. I applied for the financial assistance programs through the clinic, but was met with a letter of denial. I requested an appeal, I argued charity care guidelines/extraordinary circumstances, even offered to get a continuity of care letter sent, but nothing. I tried every medical bills "life hack" you see on social media, but still no luck.

Since the initial hospitalization, I've gone through two more obstructions. My most recent hospitalization was just last week, keeping me away from work. As the saying goes, third time's the charm, and with this third obstruction comes discussion of a different treatment amongst my GI team. I have hope that with time and a new treatment path I can enter remission and hopefully never have to make a GoFundMe again. I can only sell so many Pokemon Cards from the recovery room to help pay my bills (this is not a joke I actually did this).

My goal number is $9,720. It comes from the remaining infusions from 2024, minus the two that Medicaid covered: 1620 x 6 = 9720.

For more than two years, I've been fighting insurance denials, filing appeals, submitting paperwork, communicating with billing departments, and working with debt collectors in an effort to resolve these medical bills on my own. It has turned into a lengthy and exhausting process that stretched over years, and I am now turning towards my community.

Thank you all for your support. I am so extremely grateful to have a support system I can lean on. I recognize my privilege and don't take it for granted.

Link: https://gofund.me/50a2b8b11

Even just reading my story means a lot. Thank you.