Moving Coast to Coast for Medical

Hi Everyone! We're a mother/daughter team who needs to move from the West Coast to the East Coast IMMEDIATLEY for medical reasons and we really need your help please (Neurology/Mad Cow/rare diseases.) Once we get there, we should be fine, as the cost of living is MUCH more affordable than it is here in California, but we don’t have enough finances to make the trip yet. It’s going to cost about $2,800 and we’ve already gotten rid of everything we can plus, we went homeless TWICE within the last 30 days already. It’s just the two of us, so there’s only so many ways we can do it.

Here’s our story and what most people don’t know about me…

My biological father recently died of Mad Cow's disease, which only hits like one in a million people (no joke.) Personally, I've lived with 3 diseases for years although most people don't even know it. First, I was born with an auto immune disorder and have no spleen (or gall bladder) which just means I have to be careful or I’ll get sick real easy. Second, I was hit with a muscle myopathy when my girl was only 2 yrs. old. Thirdly, and at the same time, I was also hit with a rare eye disease called Adies Tonic Pupil. Two years later it spread to my second eye and by the 5th year it had gone full body, so it's a neurological nerve disease, which also affects EVERYTHING like the muscle disease does. The real kicker though is that the nerve disease is now considered to be “unknown...” The last team of specialist who looked at me in Cali from Sweden and so forth said, "We can't call it Adies Tonic Pupil anymore, because it's not supposed to spread or act like this, but we don't know what to call it, because we've never seen anything like it before."

So, I've always been kind of this medical mystery (which is fine) but during the last couple of years, I can also feel a pressure in the back right side of my head. It'll make me talk completely backwards sometimes just out of the blue, worsen my other symptoms, and even though my brain knows what it wants to say or do, I can’t always make my words or body respond like I want them to during those (thankfully brief) moments. The pressure doesn't hurt really, but I can feel it come and go at different times. It feels just like a balloon is being blown up slowly inside of my head and if someone would just cut it out, everything would be just fine. I used to get long breaks in between the times when I could actually feel it, but in the last year or so, it's been much more frequent. My daughter and I have learned to laugh about it when my symptoms noticeably kick in, because what else are you going to do, right? :) 

Anyways, with my dad’s passing, we found out there may be a shared inheritable prion that’s responsible and could offer answers/help with my own the lifelong struggles and ailments, but only certain facilities and specialists in the country know anything about it, so I have to go where they are. This means, of course, that my daughter needs to be seen as well. In a sense, it is good news although, already bittersweet.

So, we need to move from one Coast to another, which is very expensive to do, so we can be seen at one of the top neurology centers in the country. If my health still turns out to be more than they can handle, they’ll send me straight to Baltimore or New York instead. I might just say that nothing gets the mind and heart racing more than to know you've got some unknown neurological disease, which requires you to look up the survival rate of each hospital before visiting, only to find that most are below average or just average. So, my friends… That’s why we need to move to where ever it is that I can receive the BEST care possible for the challenges I’ve been facing.

I'd also just like to add that GOD'S NOT DONE WITH ME YET! There is SO much more to my story than being born sick and having survived being kidnapped. I am more than the abusive family I was taken from at age 12, or of being a foster child multiple times over. There is more to me than all the emotional and physical scars I bare, as a witness to God's healing grace, mercy and love. I am a survivor, a Warrior, a Daughter of the King... I’m a single mother of 18 years who worked undercover and I have a story to tell. We are all saved to give our testimonies to help others, and while mine may be one of multiple tragedies, it’s also one of many miracles! I’ve not had the courage to put it ALL out there yet, in one whole piece, but it’s finally time. Someone has now contacted me where we’re going to say they will publish my book if I finish writing it too. Others have talked about it possibly being a feature film instead of a short film (then they had to explain what that meant, lol!) So, we will see… For now, we need to head to where we’ve already got lots of help and support waiting for us :) 

 "WILL YOU HELP ME GET THE CARE I NEED, SO I CAN CONTINUE TO HELP OTHERS BY SHARING MY STORY PLEASE?"

If you feel led to help us, please know that ANY amount would be ABSOLUTELY amazing and SO greatly appreciated! We have to go no matter what, so we’re starting this journey in FAITH regardless of whether we reach our fundraising goal or not, because God WILL make a way! There is so much on our plates to handle already… It would be a real blessing not having to stress about whether or not we’re actually going to be able to make it all the way there or not.

I’ll continue to add updates, pictures and maybe some videos (filling you in on more specifics) as we make the journey across country. I’ve already got my camera in hand and am excited, as we’ll be heading back to the things I enjoy shooting the most. We’ll see you then friends! Blessings, Hugs and Love to You All! 

P.S. Please know your donation can remain ‘anonymous’ too. Those options will become available once you go through the process. And if you're unable to donate, would you PLEASE JUST SHARE this post, as Facebook seems to be the ONLY way these campaigns are successful. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!