Andrea's Adenoidectomy and Septoplasty
Donation protected
Hello Everyone - friends and strangers alike!
My name is Andrea Agostini and I'm 24 year old cartoonist and illustrator. I'd like to take the time now to reach out to anyone who is willing to listen. For now, I will to try to keep this as succinct as I possibly can and then update with more indepth details.
I have been sick since May of 2013 and show no real signs of improving. My diagnosis then was allergies. It is still allergies, but it definitely isn't just allergies. Most people, myself included, think of it as a stuffy nose, itchy eyes, endless sneezing and for a great majority of people it is true- an unavoidable inconvenience. Take some antihistimines and you'll be able to get through the spring in no time. This isn't the case for me.
First, I am effected by a little over 30 different allergens. As my allergist stated "I hit the jackpot." Second, my symptoms are not like the previously mentioned. They include laryngospasm (or temporary blocking of inhaltion), post-nasal drip that results in gagging and choking spasms, unproductive throat clearing, and difficulty swallowing.
My allergies cost me my job. I could no longer be at work as I could no longer be anything but a choking mess. My need to spit up mucus and inability to eat, didn't allow for me to be anywhere outside of my bedroom. Of course I did and continue to do everything within my power to find a way to get better.
Since then I've been to ENTs, I've been diagnosed with new disorders such as LPR (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux), vocal cord dysfunction, enlargened adenoids, and deviated septum. The last two are what bring me to creating this page, but I will get to that in a bit.
My allergist had started me on immunotherapy (allergy shots) in June in hopes of improvement over my severe symptoms. However, if any improvement is possible it will take a very long time such is the nature of the shots. It's been 8 months and all I can say is I don't feel like I'm choking every time that I eat now, only occasionally. But it is not enough improvement to really do anything productive. I've already applied to disability long ago and still await their decision.
If you will notice then, the pattern being is time. Everything takes time and lots of it. Unfortunately, I have no more money and thus my time for waiting is now punishing in more ways than one. I have amounting medical bills, medications, and shots that I have to pay for on borrowed money. If I were able to get a job, then I could do these things, but I able unable to do so because of these things to begin with. However, there may be one last solution- if not reprieve, for myself. That is where the adenoid and septum come into play.
My ENT evaluated my condition with the accessment and lack of progression with my allergies and concluded that my best course of action would be to correct my deviated septum and to remove my adenoids. Right now breathing is a struggle and a pain. I often times and jolted from sleep due to my gasping for breath. I want to go through with this procedure if it means giving me some form of functionality back. However, I can't. Not without help. It is the beginning of the year and most of you know what that means. Deductible. I have to meet a 1k deductible before my insurance will cover any of the procedures. So I'm stuck.
If you find it within yourselves to donate, even just a little it would mean the world to me. I'm sick of being trapped in an endless nightmare of catch-22s. I want these surgeries in hopes to be able to live some more semblance of a life, to get back to my artwork, and to be able to suffer a little less.
Thank you all for your time and patience! More postings to come soon.
My name is Andrea Agostini and I'm 24 year old cartoonist and illustrator. I'd like to take the time now to reach out to anyone who is willing to listen. For now, I will to try to keep this as succinct as I possibly can and then update with more indepth details.
I have been sick since May of 2013 and show no real signs of improving. My diagnosis then was allergies. It is still allergies, but it definitely isn't just allergies. Most people, myself included, think of it as a stuffy nose, itchy eyes, endless sneezing and for a great majority of people it is true- an unavoidable inconvenience. Take some antihistimines and you'll be able to get through the spring in no time. This isn't the case for me.
First, I am effected by a little over 30 different allergens. As my allergist stated "I hit the jackpot." Second, my symptoms are not like the previously mentioned. They include laryngospasm (or temporary blocking of inhaltion), post-nasal drip that results in gagging and choking spasms, unproductive throat clearing, and difficulty swallowing.
My allergies cost me my job. I could no longer be at work as I could no longer be anything but a choking mess. My need to spit up mucus and inability to eat, didn't allow for me to be anywhere outside of my bedroom. Of course I did and continue to do everything within my power to find a way to get better.
Since then I've been to ENTs, I've been diagnosed with new disorders such as LPR (Laryngopharyngeal Reflux), vocal cord dysfunction, enlargened adenoids, and deviated septum. The last two are what bring me to creating this page, but I will get to that in a bit.
My allergist had started me on immunotherapy (allergy shots) in June in hopes of improvement over my severe symptoms. However, if any improvement is possible it will take a very long time such is the nature of the shots. It's been 8 months and all I can say is I don't feel like I'm choking every time that I eat now, only occasionally. But it is not enough improvement to really do anything productive. I've already applied to disability long ago and still await their decision.
If you will notice then, the pattern being is time. Everything takes time and lots of it. Unfortunately, I have no more money and thus my time for waiting is now punishing in more ways than one. I have amounting medical bills, medications, and shots that I have to pay for on borrowed money. If I were able to get a job, then I could do these things, but I able unable to do so because of these things to begin with. However, there may be one last solution- if not reprieve, for myself. That is where the adenoid and septum come into play.
My ENT evaluated my condition with the accessment and lack of progression with my allergies and concluded that my best course of action would be to correct my deviated septum and to remove my adenoids. Right now breathing is a struggle and a pain. I often times and jolted from sleep due to my gasping for breath. I want to go through with this procedure if it means giving me some form of functionality back. However, I can't. Not without help. It is the beginning of the year and most of you know what that means. Deductible. I have to meet a 1k deductible before my insurance will cover any of the procedures. So I'm stuck.
If you find it within yourselves to donate, even just a little it would mean the world to me. I'm sick of being trapped in an endless nightmare of catch-22s. I want these surgeries in hopes to be able to live some more semblance of a life, to get back to my artwork, and to be able to suffer a little less.
Thank you all for your time and patience! More postings to come soon.
Organizer
Andrea Agostini
Organizer
Taunton, MA
