Operation Eloisa
Donation protected
My name is Jalisa.
My mother is a disabled woman of color in a domestic violence situation. She needs your help.
Her name is Eloisa Small - and she suffers from PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder. She is physically disabled and has been diagnosed with Failed Back Syndrome, Stenosis of the neck, and Fibromyalgia. Her physical disabilities mean that she is in constant severe pain and spends most of her days heavily sedated. Eloisa does not want to take pills; she wants surgery. One doctor dismissively told her that the only thing he could do to help would be to sever her spinal cord at the neck to prevent her severe pain. On top of these life threatening conditions, her partner is abusing her. Due to her disability, she is unable to escape from him.
Eloisa desperately requires funding for her travel from Michigan to Minnesota, where she will be placed in a safe, disability friendly environment while she receives treatment for her physical and mental disabilities at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. On top of these conditions, one of her doctors in Michigan has recently discovered a brain cyst that has caused significant memory loss. Yet the doctor ruled the cyst as benign.
My mother grew up in inner-city New York; she has received the same amount of education as a 13 year old. Her lack of education means that doctors often do not listen to her needs or care to understand them. She does not have the education to give informed consent and desperately wants to move to Minnesota in order to have her daughter (me) assist with her medical care.
· Doctors have refused her treatments because they didn't want to treat someone using medical marijuana (which she uses for nausea and pain). This type of discrimination is illegal
· Eloisa worked for 8 years with a broken back and went in for frequent doctor visits about her pain. It took doctors 8 years until one finally ran an MRI and discovered that her lumbar disks were slowly deteriorating. By then, it was too late.
· The surgery performed on her did not have informed consent. The doctor also installed rods into her back when he was not given permission to. The rods are irremovable and are attributed to her permanent disability. She cannot sue this doctor because of medical statutes protecting him
· I believe that the racially charged atmosphere in Michigan is connected to her poor treatment
· One of her doctors didn't bother reading her file and didn't even know she has had 2 prior spinal fusion surgeries
It kills me that I can't take care of my mother. She raised my brother and I alone, put food on the table, and never missed even one of my track meets - even when she needed to be at the doctors'. Eloisa has put EVERYONE first. She smiled at all of my silly drawings and listened to me ramble excitedly about every book I ever read. Now, I need my community to help me support her. I need everyone to put HER first. I need people to be compassionate and help her put her life back together so that she can do something as simple as take a walk or comb her own hair in the morning. I need people to see her as I have seen her every day of my life: strong, beautiful, and deserving of love.
My mother is a disabled woman of color in a domestic violence situation. She needs your help.
Her name is Eloisa Small - and she suffers from PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder. She is physically disabled and has been diagnosed with Failed Back Syndrome, Stenosis of the neck, and Fibromyalgia. Her physical disabilities mean that she is in constant severe pain and spends most of her days heavily sedated. Eloisa does not want to take pills; she wants surgery. One doctor dismissively told her that the only thing he could do to help would be to sever her spinal cord at the neck to prevent her severe pain. On top of these life threatening conditions, her partner is abusing her. Due to her disability, she is unable to escape from him.
Eloisa desperately requires funding for her travel from Michigan to Minnesota, where she will be placed in a safe, disability friendly environment while she receives treatment for her physical and mental disabilities at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. On top of these conditions, one of her doctors in Michigan has recently discovered a brain cyst that has caused significant memory loss. Yet the doctor ruled the cyst as benign.
My mother grew up in inner-city New York; she has received the same amount of education as a 13 year old. Her lack of education means that doctors often do not listen to her needs or care to understand them. She does not have the education to give informed consent and desperately wants to move to Minnesota in order to have her daughter (me) assist with her medical care.
· Doctors have refused her treatments because they didn't want to treat someone using medical marijuana (which she uses for nausea and pain). This type of discrimination is illegal
· Eloisa worked for 8 years with a broken back and went in for frequent doctor visits about her pain. It took doctors 8 years until one finally ran an MRI and discovered that her lumbar disks were slowly deteriorating. By then, it was too late.
· The surgery performed on her did not have informed consent. The doctor also installed rods into her back when he was not given permission to. The rods are irremovable and are attributed to her permanent disability. She cannot sue this doctor because of medical statutes protecting him
· I believe that the racially charged atmosphere in Michigan is connected to her poor treatment
· One of her doctors didn't bother reading her file and didn't even know she has had 2 prior spinal fusion surgeries
It kills me that I can't take care of my mother. She raised my brother and I alone, put food on the table, and never missed even one of my track meets - even when she needed to be at the doctors'. Eloisa has put EVERYONE first. She smiled at all of my silly drawings and listened to me ramble excitedly about every book I ever read. Now, I need my community to help me support her. I need everyone to put HER first. I need people to be compassionate and help her put her life back together so that she can do something as simple as take a walk or comb her own hair in the morning. I need people to see her as I have seen her every day of my life: strong, beautiful, and deserving of love.
Organizer
Alice Small
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
