Amber’s Breakthrough

Hello,

thank you in advance for taking the time to read this. I hope to bring you on a journey through my health experiences & hope that you will consider sharing this on all platforms of social media & donating, even just the smallest amount will help. Please realize that even $5.00 can get me closer to getting the treatment I need.

My name is Amber & I have tried the GoFundMe route in 2015 to try to raise money for my health issues but didn't have much success. I didn't have nearly enough people view my GoFundMe so I am hoping to change that this time. I am trying again because I don't want to give up. I do currently work in customer service from home however, my ultimate goal is to be able to get back out into the real world & also persue my chosen career field in Medical Billing & Coding.

It's going to be difficult to type up my story into something that won't bore you & keep you here all day but I will do my best.
When I was 17 I woke up to what I thought was going to be a normal day. My best friend came to my apartment to pick me up so I could accompany her in a personal issue. When we got in her car, about five minutes in, the craziest thing happened to me. I started to feel like everything around me was spinning. About a minute into the spinning, I started to black out & I couldn't see anything. I can't explain to you what this felt like, it was so unreal and terrifying. I started to panic & I asked my best friend to bring me to the hospital however, she stopped her car & gave me a minute to let it pass which it did. To this day, nine years later, I can still feel the fear I felt that day. We sat in the still car & she allowed my symptoms to pass even though she had an appointment. Whatever was happening, I hoped & prayed it wouldn't happen again & when it didn't for a couple days...I thought it was safe & maybe I was just tired.
I had just come back from living in another state a few days before this happened & a few days after that first incident I was on my way to my previous job I had for an "interview". Since I already worked there, I was given the job back pretty quickly. After it was over, I got on the bus to go home & then walked to the bus stop to get on my second bus. Just as I finished crossing the street, I started feeling dizzy. I stood against the bus stop & tried to stay still for a moment to hopefully let it pass but it didn't. I started blacking out again & I couldn't see a thing. I started calling out to the other people at the bus stop & asked them to assist me with sitting down. Luckily, there were other people there! After my vision started to return & I was there for about five minutes, a friend happened to drive by & stop to say hello. I asked him to take me to the hospital across the street & he did. After this episode my life has never been the same. I have always felt "off". My vision has totally changed as if I'm looking through glasses that don't belong to me. I was diagnosed with vertigo at the hospital. They told me that this is something that will pass with time.
Days, weeks, & months went by where I was bed ridden. I couldn't get up without help. The fear of not knowing what was going on has accompanied me with serious anxiety & depression. I started trying to get help. I went to so many doctors I can't count. I have seen ENT's, neurologists, general MD's, & everything in between. I have had rehabilitation therapy to try to correct my balance issues but nothing helped. I have taken numerious medications. I have had tests for everything you can think of. I am in general "good health" to the human eye. I was diagnosed with Menieres Disease & told I was going to have to learn to live with it.

It has now been nine long years of me being bed ridden on & off. Nine years of me not being able to work outside of my home. This is a long time to not live your life, a long time to suffer. I know, it's very hard to understand what someone is feeling when you aren't dealing with it but let me tell you, this has been the hardest thing I have ever dealt with & I lost my mother at the age of 12due to cancer. Symptoms seem to get a little better for a couple of months to where I can get out but then they come back so hard & so brutal that I am right back to where I started. I keep trying to beat this but it won't let me go.

Some of the symptoms I am currently suffering from are spontaneous violent vertigo (dizziness), black outs, "off vision", anxiety disorder, panic attacks, depression, migraines, jaw pain, ear pain, ringing in my ears, lightheadedness & nausea.

Over the years I have joined multiple forums & Facebook groups to try to get opinions from others suffering from the same things as myself. LUCKILY in 2014 I came across a group called
"Meniere's Vertigo Tinnitus TMJ : Meniere's no more chat and support group" & happened to stumble across people who were going through the same thing as me. To my surprise, SO MANY of these people found the connection between TMJD & Menieres Disease all because of one woman, Susan D McDevitt. Susan was just like myself & was given treatment. She has been cured of all her serious symptoms just as so many others in the group have. She created the group for awareness & support so others can have the same result she did & it happened!

(Almost done, promise)

After reading so many stories from different members of the group & reaching out to a bunch of people, I decided to take things into my own hands. I set myself up with an appointment to get evaluated for TMJD. With x-rays and MRI's, I have been diagnosed TWICE by TWO neuromuscular dentists. They focus on the way the jaw is connected to nerves in your eyes, ears, & other important places as well as how its connected to so many of the symptoms I am suffering from! They work on the placement of your jaw to correct it's position & lessen or even CURE the affects it can cause when not aligned. I have seen two of these neuromuscular dentists & have had private conversations/emails with about three others. Every one of them have said they believe this is my issue & will relieve me after all of these years. I have never been given an answer that someone can help me. My only issue is cost. The treatment for the orthotic splint I will need to move my jaw back into place as well as x-rays and visits is super expensive. It's also super important to choose a dentist who has treated people with Menieres Disease because it's a subject that they aren't all trained with. I will attach pictures of my paperwork with quotes from the two dentists I have met with. I know, TMJD doesn't sound serious & I know it's no where near close to what other diseases can do but, this has tortured me so long and so incredibly deep. I can;t possibly type up all the suffering & emotion I experience with this.

After this long story i'm sure you are tired of reading however, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE realize that I am asking for help because with bills I could never afford to pay the kind of money that is needed for me to get better. I am aware that a lot of people will come across this & disregard it because I am a stranger. There are people who make up stories like mine to get money from people, I am NOT one of those people. I am open and willing to Facetime/Skype if you are skeptical about donating & sharing.

Please, I am sincerely asking, if you can donate even just $5.00 to help me, I promise to pay it forward in life when I see someone who needs it. I have had such a hard time trying to get through this & now I have HOPE. Since 2015 I have been trying to get this taken care of but I havent been able to so I am reaching out to you reading this to help me. I am aware that holidays are coming up & money will be tight, but if you can please please donate. You can & will change my life in ways that you may not even be able to imagine. My goal is to have $3,500 to cover these medical expenses. I already have over 10k in debt from only medical bills.
Please share on social media to your friends & family & ask others to do the same. I truly feel in my heart that this is my time & i'm so ready to get my health back in order.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please consider a small donation as well as a share to help me get treatment. It's been a long time coming & thank God I have held on to faith or I don't know where I would be. I will be FOREVER grateful for your help.

God bless,
Amber.