Hi Everyone, 

Andy and Chris Ordonez are kind, resilient, and ambitious twin brothers residing in North Carolina and two of my best friends. They are 26 years old but have been battling with an incurable disease called hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) as well as other medical conditions for 14 years now. They are disabled due to this disease and unable to perform even the most basic tasks due to the infection spreading throughout limbs. They are both in constant pain.

Hidradenitis suppurativa inflicts chronic inflammation in the sweat glands due to an autoinflammatory response. This causes their body to produce horribly painful cysts to tunnel together (i.e., create holes internally and join), creating terrible infections that land them in the hospital bed for several days at a time, after which is often followed with time in a rehabilitation facility. The stress and burden of both the disease and the financial costs it incurs is overwhelming, to say the least. To be clear, their health is drastically deteriorating. Although it is rare for HS to be the cause of death, Chris, during a period of holistic practice to prevent infection to an open wound caused by a rupture from the body to drain out the pus accumulated from a bodily infection, fell into sepsis as his organs began to shut down. Fortunately, Chris was able to recover. But this was an unbelievably traumatic experience for Chris and for Andy to witness. Their bodies are literally killing them. They live each and every day, feeling for inflammation, waiting for the effects of their diets on their bodies. Praying their medicines are working. This is life for these 2 brothers.

But they still have not given up. They have found functional medicine practice, which looks into the root cause of a disease to be the most hopeful. Through thorough testing, Andy and Chris can find the proper medicine and diet specifically suited to them.

However, despite the promise functional medicine offers, consultations are costly and not covered by their Medicaid insurance.  Andy and Chris cannot afford it. Not only are they unemployed due to their disability, but they have accumulated thousands of dollars in credit card debt in order to pay for rent and medical expenses. They don’t have close family able to help.

They were able to afford one consultation for functional medicine so far, and found their visit to be very effective as it discovered an underlying issue with digestion that wasn’t evident in regular clinical testing. 

I’d like to ask Gofundme’s generous community to please help my friends Andy and Chris.

Your support for Andy and Chris will enable them to:

1. Go to consultations with a functional medicine doctor who will regulate their medical conditions and diet

2. Have funds to order the foods for the autoimmune protocol elimination diet suggested by functional medicine doctor to help reverse autoimmunity

3. Ability to explore medical facilities for other serious conditions, Chris: psoriasis, vasculitis, eczema, etc. ; Andy: Eczema, fibromyalgia, etc.

4. Ability to clear debts and sustain finances accumulated during absence of employment

5. Recover and become fully self-sufficient again so that Andy can return to pursuing his dream of becoming a musician, composer, child psychologist and share his music with the world and help children develop to be happy and successful. And Chris can pursue his dream to study and become a functional medicine doctor and help others going through unbearable illnesses achieve a better quality of life. 

Our Gratitude

We give our highest and deepest appreciation to those who have read Andy and Chris’s story. They have been through so much. I had a really hard time putting it into words. We believe no one should be so vulnerable because of disease, trauma, or unstable family life. The community GoFundMe forged has time and time again produced miraculous support for many in need. There is no donation too small, whether its $1,$5 or $1000, so for each and everyone who donates to Andy and Chris’s cause, we THANK YOU. 


If you have any questions or concerns you can contact us by: Contact on gofundme or via email: [email redacted]

To bring some lightheartedness to this serious topic, we’d love to share 2 compositions by Andy, if you’d like to hear :).

Andy’s Compositions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtzqBU3Jck&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF3euf069mI&feature=youtu.be

About Andy and Chris,

Andy and Chris recently moved to North Carolina. They are currently without employment due to their medical conditions and inability to work as a result. They are struggling with many duties of daily life that most people are able to perform without a second thought such as walking, standing, stretching, sitting etc. They are in constant pain due to the various surgeries performed to remove infectious cysts and severe swelling from inflammation resulting in ruptures throughout their bodies. Despite it all, they are incredibly positive, and loving friends of mine. It pains me and their loved ones to see them struggling from their conditions and inability to get what they need to recover and just live a normal life.

Andy studied at the City College of New York throughout the period of his remission of 3 years from Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and acquired a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology. He  strived to become a Child Psychologist at the time so he can help those who are going through trauma from a young age. Throughout that period he worked full time, studied and coped with the rigorous treatments and diets needed to suppress HS. But nonetheless he was incredibly positive and made sure to take full advantage of his time. 

Chris has been very ill for the larger part of his life and unable to study, work or enjoy his hobbies like playing the violin and guitar. Today, after everything Chris has been through, from his vast surgical history, endless incisions and drainage, constant flaring of symptoms and conditions, he believes absolutely no one should have to go through this. His visit to the functional medicine doctor has inspired him to one day study functional medicine and become a doctor to help others suffering from long term illnesses, particularly autoimmune diseases. That way he can help others suffering from long term diseases.

They both love music. Andy, in addition to working full time, used to play live piano in the New York City subways on the side. Sadly, once Andy’s symptoms returned after his short period of remission and became unable to work consistently; he had to sell all of his and Chris’s instruments to pay for their medical and living expenses.

Andy and Chris have traversed life largely independently as their family situation was never stable. HS and other autoimmune diseases often derive from trauma at an early age, rewriting instructions to individual cells, and activating latent genes that trigger an autoimmune response. As a result, we do believe due to trauma, harmful environmental factors, suboptimal diets from a young age have manifested into an array of autoimmune diseases for both Andy and Chris. Andy in addition to HS, lacks sight in the right eye due to abnormal formation of the retina (sadly incurable), eczema, fibromyalgia and anemia. Chris in addition to HS suffers from Psoriasis, vasculitis,  eczema and anemia. Because Andy and Chris’s conditions have hindered them through much of their life especially post puberty while having little to no additional financial support, they struggled to provide for themselves, live a normal life and were incapable of pursuing their goals and ambitions. Instead they endured endless pain from cycles of inflammation, tearing away of their bodies from bodily ruptures and incisions from a vast number of surgeries, paranoia of any food or drink to trigger inflammation all while struggling to receive any financial relief and support to get the help they need. No one should have to live like this. As positive, loving, patient and tolerant Andy and Chris have been all their lives, they are getting worse and so desperately need a full analysis of their diseases to provide a solution. 

Recent treatments via Medication:

Antibiotics were often prescribed by general doctors to quell the growth of bacteria caused by HS, however frequent consumption of antibiotics led to killing not just bad bacteria causing infection but the good bacteria keeping the infections at bay. 

Humira is a TNF blocker that can lower the ability of your immune system to fight infections. Although it relieves symptoms of HS derived from genes triggering an autoimmune response, it leaves the user vulnerable to even the smallest viral attacks such as the common cold and it ultimately does not change the response from genes and cells triggering Andy and Chris’s array of autoimmune diseases. They can also very well activate other latent autoimmune responses. Chris has suffered vasculitis as a side effect from humira. 

Unfortunately, neither of these medications provide anything but temporary relief at a substantial risk. 

When inflammation occurs followed by an infection then the formation of a cyst, the cyst along with the liquid must be drained and cut. They have both been through various incisions, and drainage procedures all around their bodies. These procedures are fairly risky as surgeons cut nerves and sweat glands followed by a very lengthy and painful recovery process and drastically reduce their limb’s range of motion to not irritate the wound. They are incredibly sensitive and vulnerable to tremendous amounts of pain post cyst removal.  Andy has just recently come out of a 5 week stay from rehabilitation after a 2 week stay in the hospital from a surgical removal of multiple cyst formation in the lower body. He is still far from recovered. Chris’s condition on average is almost always constantly severe and requires frequent medical attention. 

Unfortunately, general medicine is simply not helping Andy and Chris recover. General medicine is potent for common composition. Whether it’s based on gender, weight, height, race etc. However for Andy and Chris their symptoms arise from a combination of their diseases of which general medicine cannot target. The ineffectiveness of general medicine thus far shows there are complications that are far beyond the capability of general medicine. 

What can we do to help Andy and Chris?

Although Andy was able to suppress HS for 3 years, the symptoms returned stronger than ever despite maintaining the diet, and other routines that have worked so far. From that point forward, he was forced to alternate diets. If he felt an inflammation then he would have to try something else. Sometimes the side effects can be detrimental and make him sick, infected and in the hospital bed unable to work. Over and over, he was let go of work due to sudden medical leave such as this. Chris on the other hand, has received very limited moments of remission and constantly fought his symptoms just like Andy’s. As Andy already had his hands full, working, studying, and fighting his own battle against his disease, Chris stayed with family in Dominican Republic with medicines and antibiotics from America. He would return for surgery and more medications then return back eventually. It was just an infinite cycle of suffering however one consultation showed promise. A consultation with a Functional Medicine Doctor.

Functional Medicine Doctor

Functional Medicine assesses the root cause of a disease. Sometimes symptoms are derived from a multitude of reactions within the body. Killing bacteria with antibiotics or lowering immune response to infection with humira provides very temporary relief at best and frequent usage can expose you to other diseases and cause more problems as was Chris’s experience. 

Although Andy and Chris have a genetic predisposition towards autoimmunity, Functional Medicine dives into the study of epigenetics where our genes are not static and they can be both turned on and turned off by environmental and lifestyle factors. The goal of Functional Medicine Treatment is to maximize the strength of the immune system. In early assessments the gut is analyzed as it is responsible for 80% of immune health thus why the autoimmune protocol elimination diet is absolutely essential. During Chris’s consultation it was found his gut contained parasite overgrowth, lack of diverse bacteria, and leaky gut which caused tremendous digestive issues along with incredibly poor immune health. Strengthening the immune system, deciphering and sustaining a functional autoimmune protocol elimination diet, preventing inflammation and infection, reducing stress would allow Chris and Andy to gradually recover from HS and hopefully live a normal life, capable of working, and pursuing their goals. Although HS and other conditions aren’t going away, they can be deactivated.

Unfortunately general doctors and specialists do not test from a fundamental level and often end with resigning patients to autoimmune disease. Functional Medicine holistically treats autoimmune symptoms by deactivating the genes with autoimmune response. These sessions with Functional Medicine however are outside of Andy and Chris’s financial capability. At the moment Andy and Chris are on a carnivore diet and taking herbal supplements in hopes it is what they need to temporarily suppress HS. Andy and Chris have put a great deal of effort and patience to save enough to have consultations however it is simply not possible due to the inability to make any income outside of disability. They are within substantial debt as they are paying their bills, providing for themselves and really really need financial support to be able to seek the treatment they desperately need in order to perform basic functions and eventually regain full range of motion. 

What about SSI and Public Housing?

They have applied for public housing however it can take up to a year to be approved. Andy was just recently approved for disability. Chris has been disabled for 3 years. SSI requirements are incredibly strict and even for those up against all odds. Chris was approved for SSI however eligible for $0. Unfortunately Andy was denied for SSI. They are currently awaiting approval for food stamps which should take a couple of weeks. They have also recently applied for energy assistance to help with heating. 

Questions and Concerns

You can contact us by: Contact on gofundme or via email: [email redacted]