In 2020, Jennifer Vall’s son was diagnosed with leukemia, and a year later, she found out she had thyroid cancer. While Vall was debt-free and had a great credit score, medical bills kept adding up to thousands of dollars of medical debt. Taking care of her and her son’s health and paying off debt became Vall’s main priorities, leaving her emotional well-being to the side. If you are confronting medical debt, experts recommend that you first take stock of where you stand and then give yourself some grace if you're dealing with a difficult situation.