Ashley Kelly Medical Fund

Ashleys story starts in January 2015. She thought she was coming down with strep one afternoon and by that evening her throat was so swollen she couldnt hardly breathe and the pain in her throat was unbearable and she had severe aching in her hips. For those of you who dont know I am Ashelys mom. She called me that night to take her to the emergency room where they wound up giving her morphine for the pain and then had her go to the hospital for observation where they gave her a steroid which then helped her to feel better. She wound up feeling better after a little over a week but only for about two weeks she was back where she started. Several doctors and several doctors visits later we wound up at a rheumatologists because something had showed up in here blood work a couple of years earlier during a physical that was a possible indicator of an autoimmune disorder. We were grasping at straws at this point because she had tested negative for strep and no one else seemed to know what was going on despite several blood tests. The rheumatologist ran more blood work and finally told us he knew what it was. She was diagnosed with Sjogrens Syndrome.
Well that was only the beginning of her journey she has been throgh several rounds of steroids has frequent sinus infections and resperitory infections as well as Strep  C infections and suffers from extreme fatigue. In addition she suffered a seizure last summer due to a bad interaction between an antibiotic she was on with the steroid she was on.
Sometime around November or December of last year Ashley's fatigue was getting worse and she was losing her appetite and started losing weight. By March of this year she could hardly get out of bed and had lost about 30 pounds . She was missing work because she would sleep through her alarm clock.  She found it almost impossible to have enery to perform normal tasks like grocery shopping, laundry or housekeeping. She went to the doctor and they did a CT scan and more blood work. The CT scan showed enlarged lymph nodes and an enlarged spleen. Those indicators along with her weight loss and severe fatigue led the doctor to believe it might be cancer. She was sent to an Oncologist but was told it was not cancer. This was one of those good news bad news situations, Of course we were all greatful it wasnt cancer but we still didnt know what it was. By this time Ashley had to go on short term disability because her fatigue was so extreme she could not work. Her doctor now believes this is just part of her Sjogrens but the steroids are not working this time. Such is the life when you have an autoimmune disorder. They are trying to get the insurance company to approve her for "Benlysta". The doctor also told her she would need to possibly be on disabilty for 6 months as it might take that long for it to work.
So that is her medical saga. Unfortunately as you might imaginge 2 1/2 years of blood tests, doctors visits, emergency room visits and CT scan all add up to a hefty price tag, especially while on reduced pay due to being on disabilty, which is why I am asking for your help. So many of you have offered help and we appreciate every offer. Any amount you can help with is appreciated. Thank you for helping my baby girl.