JoAnna Gaffney shares how her PEBB benefits supported her through surgery and recovery.
"In fall of 2021 I went into the emergency room with abdominal pain and a fever expecting to hear I had appendicitis. After scans and tests, the good news was no appendicitis; however, the ER doctor looked at me and said, 'Do you know you have a large tumor in your spine?'. This was news to me; I did not know. I started seeing specialists, neurosurgeons, and an oncologist, getting more scans, a biopsy of my vertebrae, and tons of bloodwork. It was unclear what the tumor was, but my spine was beginning to collapse, and surgery needed to be scheduled. I had a two-day surgery. Day one to block the blood supply to the vertebrae so my spinal cord didn't stroke out during surgery; day two to remove my vertebrae, replace it with a cage, and add multiple layers of rods to my spine.
"The four-hour surgery took 10 hours. My hospital stay was estimated to be four days; I was in the hospital for two weeks. In that time, I had to get strong enough to re-learn to walk. I still have a long recovery and will never be the same. A surgery and hospital stay of this magnitude could financially ruin a person.
"Because of my health care benefits through PEBB and the ability to enroll in an FSA, I was able to get the care I needed. I did not need to cut corners to save on costs. The outcome: I did not lose the ability to walk, which is priceless. In fact I am up to 4000 steps a day and I have just accomplished squats and lunges in physical therapy (very few) but compared to lying in hospital bed unable to move my own body 6 months ago, this is a monumental improvement. My recovery will be a long journey, but I truly have peace of mind knowing I have health care coverage that is affordable and robust enough to help me continue on my journey of healing."