“She is literally driving Uber, doing other delivery services, and working at Walgreens to help pay off this debt so she can get her second surgery to get her tumor removed.”

Amana, “Help Me Pay For My Surgery”

“Dear PoPville,

There is a girl here in Alexandria, Virginia named Amana that I know through Young Bengali Professionals, a Bengali youth organization based in the DMV area. She was born with hemiphyperplasia, which means that she has extra cell growth on one side of her body. She now has a tumor growing on her flank area and is in the most awful situation. She is in so much debt from the first surgery and the only doctor who would take on her case in the DMV area is a plastic surgeon, and because of that her surgery is being considered “elective” and despite working with social workers and showing immense evidence, she is not eligible for charity care. (If you go on her gofundme page, you can see that she posted a screenshot of the costs of second surgery that the plastic surgeon has quoted her) She also makes too much for Medicaid and other insurance companies are still managing to discriminate against her for her preexisting condition, (even if it is against the law to do so.) or she can’t find a plan she can afford. And she’s went as far as Richmond to try to find other doctors who will take on her case, but no one is willing to due to the complexity of her case and her uninsured status.

She is literally driving Uber, doing other delivery services, and working at Walgreens to help pay off this debt so she can get her second surgery to get her tumor removed.

On top of all that, her mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s when was 18 and she’s been a caregiver for her. Her father also lost his job during covid and was still unemployed until very recently. He now works as a waiter at a hotel in Alexandria but is not getting many hours. She and also has a younger brother who is providing a majority of money just to run their household! It’s also part of the reason why she can’t go outside the area of Virginia to find a doctor cuz she basically doesn’t have anyone to go with her nor is it easy for her to afford to go somewhere else.

I’ve chatted with her on the phone and over text (and can show you these texts if you would like) and I can tell you the story is real! She also has provided screenshots of her bank statements and surgeon quotes. She’s seriously one of the most positive people I’ve ever met despite her situation and didn’t even want to reveal to me how much money she truly needs to get her second surgery! She’s 23 years old and doesn’t deserve to have this huge burden on her!

My girlfriend and I have been working via social media and our personal connections across the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, New York, Texas, and ultimately across the country and around the world to get people to donate to this deserving young woman’s cause. We have also been working to find alternative care opportunities in the area such as the National Cancer Institute at the NIH and a community health organization in the Northern Virginia area, but there is no guarantee she will be accepted into these programs and she will still need to eventually pay off her medical debt from the first surgery! So donations are still key! She needs this surgery ASAP to avoid having to have a third surgery.

Please take a look at the go fund me, let me know if you have questions, donate if you can and please please share!”