Deb's Chance for Relief
Donation protected
Hello Family and Friends,
A little over twenty years ago my mother, Deborah Thompson McLeod, was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome also known as POTS. For those that have never heard of it, POTS is an autonomic dysfunction-based condition that causes poor regulation of internal body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and many other physiological factors. One critical aspect of this poor internal regulation is increased pressure within the skull or increased intracranial pressure. Abnormally high pressure on the brain causes her to struggle with brain fog, bad memory, and headaches.
The ultimate outcome of POTS is extreme chronic fatigue and difficultly with mental focus. For a taste of what living with POTS feels like, a POTS Specialist Physician told me “image what it feels like to jog in place as fast as you can while also being dehydrated to the point of almost being delirious, that is what your mother feels like standing still”. POTS is also often compared to the feeling of being poisoned. Your heart is racing, you feel exhausted, and you can’t think straight. Unfortunately, the extreme exhaustion combined with mental fog forced my mother out of helping people in her human services career and into disability.
Going on disability allowed my mother to better regulate her physical exertion as well as diet to try to minimize her symptoms. For several years her symptoms were kept relatively in check and she was able to be functional as long as physical stress was kept minimal. However, POTS typically goes one of two routes as the years go by. Either symptoms fade and only occur occasionally or one day, as POTS patients age, their symptoms begin to progress to truly severe levels.
Unfortunately, around the fall of 2016, my mother’s symptoms took the latter route. Her symptoms went from exhaustion and mental fog to extreme over sensitization of the nerves in the right side of her body. Now just the feeling of a shirt sleeve on her right arm or putting on socks is excruciatingly painful, taking a shower feels as though she is being sandblasted, and the same pain on the right side of her mouth severely limits her ability to eat. She fights with the near insurmountable amounts anxiety and mental stress that comes along with knowing that performing any basic daily task will cause tortuous levels of pain and becomes a never-ending cycle of suffering . Now not only does she feel like she is being poisoned, but also like she is being electrocuted simultaneously. All of this on a daily basis.
My mother in 2017
My mother in 2019 after losing 76 lbs in less than 10 months.
Naturally, my mother has seen dozens of specialists to attempt to identify and treat the cause of her symptoms. Unfortunately, due to POTS and much of the autonomic dysfunction that comes with it still not being very well understood, she has made little to no progress over the last three years. All the medications and treatments attempted have only worsened her sensitivity. Her symptoms continue to progress into more and more excruciating pain.
Quite honestly, as time has continued to drag on without improvement, there have been dark days where my mother’s pain and suffering has been so severe that she has expressed in a serious manner that taking her own life may be a better alternative . However, she somehow has continued to find the will to carry-on and search for the cause and relief. Her perseverance through the last three years has astounded me. Mom, you are the strongest person I have ever met and you inspire me everyday!
Of course, given her awful condition, we have been looking for specialized POTS treatment centers that may be able to at least lessen her symptoms. Luckily, we recently discovered a POTS treatment program near Dallas, TX. The program is run by an organization called POTS Care and was founded by Dr. Dianna Driscoll who is a former POTS patient as well as her children.
POTS Care takes a unique (and honestly refreshing) deep dive approach to treating the potential causes of POTS, not just the symptoms. They have had dozens of patients who have had similar extreme symptoms as my mother and been able to return them to a functional quality of life! For more information about POTS Care’s treatment plan, please visit: PotsCare Treatment Plan
How you can Help
Your donations will go directly towards funding my mother’s participation in POTS Care’s two-month treatment plan (four days clinical, two months post-support). See link above. Even if we do not raise the full cost of the treatment program , every contribution helps to allow my mother to get her day-to-day functionality and life back. Thank you in advance for helping to end or at least improve her suffering.
How Your Donations will be used:
· POTS Care Treatment Program - $8,800
· Airfare and lodging in Dallas (4 days) - $1,200
Why Crowdfunding
If I am being completely honest with myself and you, I struggled in being comfortable creating this crowdfunded campaign. As my mother’s only child, I naturally want to always take care of and protect her to the best of my ability. Not asking for anyone’s help as I do so. However, over the past three years with heavy medical expenses in combination with my own cost of student loans, I have had to come to the realization that my mother and I cannot fully fund the search for her relief on our own. Relieving her pain and getting back her day-to-day functionality is much more important than my pride preventing me from asking for help. That is why I humbly thank you again in advance for your support. Every contribution, big or small, helps get my mother’s quality of life back.
Invisible Illness is Everywhere
I cannot express how thankful my mother and I are for your support. POTS and my mother’s symptoms are one of many examples of “invisible illnesses” where traditional physiological indicators are not present, but the chronic effects and symptoms are still debilitating. Please share this story not only to support my mother’s trip to Dallas for treatment, but also to further get the word out that there are people with such illnesses all around us and in need of support whether monetary or be it just working to understand and listen to their unique situation. For more information and how to talk with someone who has POTS or other similar illnesses please visit: When You Love Someone with POTS or Pretty ill POTS Videos
Thank you.
A little over twenty years ago my mother, Deborah Thompson McLeod, was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome also known as POTS. For those that have never heard of it, POTS is an autonomic dysfunction-based condition that causes poor regulation of internal body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and many other physiological factors. One critical aspect of this poor internal regulation is increased pressure within the skull or increased intracranial pressure. Abnormally high pressure on the brain causes her to struggle with brain fog, bad memory, and headaches.
The ultimate outcome of POTS is extreme chronic fatigue and difficultly with mental focus. For a taste of what living with POTS feels like, a POTS Specialist Physician told me “image what it feels like to jog in place as fast as you can while also being dehydrated to the point of almost being delirious, that is what your mother feels like standing still”. POTS is also often compared to the feeling of being poisoned. Your heart is racing, you feel exhausted, and you can’t think straight. Unfortunately, the extreme exhaustion combined with mental fog forced my mother out of helping people in her human services career and into disability.
Going on disability allowed my mother to better regulate her physical exertion as well as diet to try to minimize her symptoms. For several years her symptoms were kept relatively in check and she was able to be functional as long as physical stress was kept minimal. However, POTS typically goes one of two routes as the years go by. Either symptoms fade and only occur occasionally or one day, as POTS patients age, their symptoms begin to progress to truly severe levels.
Unfortunately, around the fall of 2016, my mother’s symptoms took the latter route. Her symptoms went from exhaustion and mental fog to extreme over sensitization of the nerves in the right side of her body. Now just the feeling of a shirt sleeve on her right arm or putting on socks is excruciatingly painful, taking a shower feels as though she is being sandblasted, and the same pain on the right side of her mouth severely limits her ability to eat. She fights with the near insurmountable amounts anxiety and mental stress that comes along with knowing that performing any basic daily task will cause tortuous levels of pain and becomes a never-ending cycle of suffering . Now not only does she feel like she is being poisoned, but also like she is being electrocuted simultaneously. All of this on a daily basis.
My mother in 2017My mother in 2019 after losing 76 lbs in less than 10 months.Naturally, my mother has seen dozens of specialists to attempt to identify and treat the cause of her symptoms. Unfortunately, due to POTS and much of the autonomic dysfunction that comes with it still not being very well understood, she has made little to no progress over the last three years. All the medications and treatments attempted have only worsened her sensitivity. Her symptoms continue to progress into more and more excruciating pain.
Quite honestly, as time has continued to drag on without improvement, there have been dark days where my mother’s pain and suffering has been so severe that she has expressed in a serious manner that taking her own life may be a better alternative . However, she somehow has continued to find the will to carry-on and search for the cause and relief. Her perseverance through the last three years has astounded me. Mom, you are the strongest person I have ever met and you inspire me everyday!
Of course, given her awful condition, we have been looking for specialized POTS treatment centers that may be able to at least lessen her symptoms. Luckily, we recently discovered a POTS treatment program near Dallas, TX. The program is run by an organization called POTS Care and was founded by Dr. Dianna Driscoll who is a former POTS patient as well as her children.
POTS Care takes a unique (and honestly refreshing) deep dive approach to treating the potential causes of POTS, not just the symptoms. They have had dozens of patients who have had similar extreme symptoms as my mother and been able to return them to a functional quality of life! For more information about POTS Care’s treatment plan, please visit: PotsCare Treatment Plan
How you can Help
Your donations will go directly towards funding my mother’s participation in POTS Care’s two-month treatment plan (four days clinical, two months post-support). See link above. Even if we do not raise the full cost of the treatment program , every contribution helps to allow my mother to get her day-to-day functionality and life back. Thank you in advance for helping to end or at least improve her suffering.
How Your Donations will be used:
· POTS Care Treatment Program - $8,800
· Airfare and lodging in Dallas (4 days) - $1,200
Why Crowdfunding
If I am being completely honest with myself and you, I struggled in being comfortable creating this crowdfunded campaign. As my mother’s only child, I naturally want to always take care of and protect her to the best of my ability. Not asking for anyone’s help as I do so. However, over the past three years with heavy medical expenses in combination with my own cost of student loans, I have had to come to the realization that my mother and I cannot fully fund the search for her relief on our own. Relieving her pain and getting back her day-to-day functionality is much more important than my pride preventing me from asking for help. That is why I humbly thank you again in advance for your support. Every contribution, big or small, helps get my mother’s quality of life back.
Invisible Illness is Everywhere
I cannot express how thankful my mother and I are for your support. POTS and my mother’s symptoms are one of many examples of “invisible illnesses” where traditional physiological indicators are not present, but the chronic effects and symptoms are still debilitating. Please share this story not only to support my mother’s trip to Dallas for treatment, but also to further get the word out that there are people with such illnesses all around us and in need of support whether monetary or be it just working to understand and listen to their unique situation. For more information and how to talk with someone who has POTS or other similar illnesses please visit: When You Love Someone with POTS or Pretty ill POTS Videos
Thank you.
Organizer and beneficiary
Gabe McLeod
Organizer
Geneva, OH
Deborah Thompson McLeod
Beneficiary
