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Hi my name is Tracy, I am a wife and mother of two from Mandurah Western Australia . We were a happy little family of four who were blessed with 2 amazing healthy kids, until 2 years ago out of nowhere when our lives changed forever.
Our daughter Katelin was a normal healthy teenage girl in year 9, she loved learning and wanted to study medicine and law to become a coroner. She was focused and determined, kindhearted and outgoing. If she wasnt studying she was volunteering in our local commmunity, working as a weekend referee and coach at soccer or socialising with her friends and family. She loved photography and 1direction. Then one morning Katelin woke up with one side of her face completely swollen, with in 20mins it had dropped as if she had a stroke!!
I could write a novel or two about what has happened since then. It's been a long hard 2 years full of hospitals Drs, Specialists and Professors. With so many unanswered questions, a lot of fears and tears, 100's of tests and scans. And a roller coaster ride of emotions including love, hope, fear, anger and complete and utter helplessness just to name a few!
For 1 1/2 years we saw Dr after Dr. They did every test and scan they could over and over again but couldn't fit her symptoms into the right box for any condition. Her blood did show a unknown virus they couldn't treat and they just kept calling her special and sending us home!!! They kept trialling drug after drug, with no or bad reactions nearly killing her more than once !!!
Katelins symptoms now included the facial droop, 2 small cysts in her brain, headaches, light sensitivity, no gag reflex, numb and cold hands and feet, muscle spasms, cramps, nausea, stomach pain, her allergy count was off the chart by over 2500 points, her ears were constantly ringing, she had dizziness, fainting, lack of concentration and memory loss and she spent hours staring off in space with her mouth open on another planet and she had insomnia!
Her father and I couldn't watch our girl in so much pain, so sick, increasingly depressed and anxious and unable to function normally she began losing the will to live! We couldn't give up we needed answers!
We are lucky enough to have an awesome GP who has been with us for many years, who was determined to help us to help Katelin so we saw a private rheumatologist he did some more tests and finally he diagnosed Katelin with fibromyalgia, rhmuitoid arthritis, and burscistist in her hip!! We then saw a genetic specialist that diagonosed multipule connective tissue disorders and a private immunologist and allergist who diagnosed an auto immune disease called urticaria dermagraphisim and said she's severely allergic to cats, dust, dogs, grass, cockroaches, horses, mould, feathers, shellfish, pollens, lactose, fungus and olive pollen. And that her immune system is very low because of the combination and severity of her conditions causing her to contract every bug going around and causing abscesses, infected eyelash folicals, stys and chronic fatigue syndrome like symptoms.
I am exstatic to say we are lucky enough that katelins conditions are not terminal but they are chronic and something she will have forever, they affect every part of her life and she requires regular treatment to make her conditions manageable. She also reacts badly to medications and treatments so her options are limited.
Her treatments are intense and expensive and include her 5 different daily medications, 3 weekly physio sessions, 3 weekly hydro therapy sessions, 2 weekly remedial massage sessions, regular spa baths, a 3 year allergy desenceitation program, regular phsycological appointments, regular GP check ups, regular specialist check ups and genetic testing. And in the middle of all that she still has to try attend year 11, on a modified medical timetable.
Paying privetly for all these treatments has financially crippled us and we simply can not continue to provide our child what she needs to live a pain free life and attempt to function like a normal 16 year old so we are asking you to please help us, to help Katelin!!!
Her treatment expenses this year alone will exceed $19,032 and we have corporate private medical cover.
Her specialists and Drs appointments, desenceitation and basic medications will exceed $11,900. Then there is the Niagara medical equipment that could make a huge difference and the household changes and extra expenses required for proper auto immune disease and severe allergy care that exceeds $30,000. We are in severe financial hardship at the moment and are still paying $10,000 of last years costs.
I thought the hardest thing of our 2 year journey was the months of unanswered questions and the feeling of complete helplessness and failure because your not able to help your sick child when they beg you, but knowing how to help and not being able to afford the treatment and having to watch her pain increase daily because of it is much worse!!!! I becomes easy to put your pride aside and ask stranger for help. So please we need help now and we would greatly appreciate anything you could donate to us. We thank you in advance for your kindness, in our time of need, from the bottom of our hearts.
Our daughter Katelin was a normal healthy teenage girl in year 9, she loved learning and wanted to study medicine and law to become a coroner. She was focused and determined, kindhearted and outgoing. If she wasnt studying she was volunteering in our local commmunity, working as a weekend referee and coach at soccer or socialising with her friends and family. She loved photography and 1direction. Then one morning Katelin woke up with one side of her face completely swollen, with in 20mins it had dropped as if she had a stroke!!
I could write a novel or two about what has happened since then. It's been a long hard 2 years full of hospitals Drs, Specialists and Professors. With so many unanswered questions, a lot of fears and tears, 100's of tests and scans. And a roller coaster ride of emotions including love, hope, fear, anger and complete and utter helplessness just to name a few!
For 1 1/2 years we saw Dr after Dr. They did every test and scan they could over and over again but couldn't fit her symptoms into the right box for any condition. Her blood did show a unknown virus they couldn't treat and they just kept calling her special and sending us home!!! They kept trialling drug after drug, with no or bad reactions nearly killing her more than once !!!
Katelins symptoms now included the facial droop, 2 small cysts in her brain, headaches, light sensitivity, no gag reflex, numb and cold hands and feet, muscle spasms, cramps, nausea, stomach pain, her allergy count was off the chart by over 2500 points, her ears were constantly ringing, she had dizziness, fainting, lack of concentration and memory loss and she spent hours staring off in space with her mouth open on another planet and she had insomnia!
Her father and I couldn't watch our girl in so much pain, so sick, increasingly depressed and anxious and unable to function normally she began losing the will to live! We couldn't give up we needed answers!
We are lucky enough to have an awesome GP who has been with us for many years, who was determined to help us to help Katelin so we saw a private rheumatologist he did some more tests and finally he diagnosed Katelin with fibromyalgia, rhmuitoid arthritis, and burscistist in her hip!! We then saw a genetic specialist that diagonosed multipule connective tissue disorders and a private immunologist and allergist who diagnosed an auto immune disease called urticaria dermagraphisim and said she's severely allergic to cats, dust, dogs, grass, cockroaches, horses, mould, feathers, shellfish, pollens, lactose, fungus and olive pollen. And that her immune system is very low because of the combination and severity of her conditions causing her to contract every bug going around and causing abscesses, infected eyelash folicals, stys and chronic fatigue syndrome like symptoms.
I am exstatic to say we are lucky enough that katelins conditions are not terminal but they are chronic and something she will have forever, they affect every part of her life and she requires regular treatment to make her conditions manageable. She also reacts badly to medications and treatments so her options are limited.
Her treatments are intense and expensive and include her 5 different daily medications, 3 weekly physio sessions, 3 weekly hydro therapy sessions, 2 weekly remedial massage sessions, regular spa baths, a 3 year allergy desenceitation program, regular phsycological appointments, regular GP check ups, regular specialist check ups and genetic testing. And in the middle of all that she still has to try attend year 11, on a modified medical timetable.
Paying privetly for all these treatments has financially crippled us and we simply can not continue to provide our child what she needs to live a pain free life and attempt to function like a normal 16 year old so we are asking you to please help us, to help Katelin!!!
Her treatment expenses this year alone will exceed $19,032 and we have corporate private medical cover.
Her specialists and Drs appointments, desenceitation and basic medications will exceed $11,900. Then there is the Niagara medical equipment that could make a huge difference and the household changes and extra expenses required for proper auto immune disease and severe allergy care that exceeds $30,000. We are in severe financial hardship at the moment and are still paying $10,000 of last years costs.
I thought the hardest thing of our 2 year journey was the months of unanswered questions and the feeling of complete helplessness and failure because your not able to help your sick child when they beg you, but knowing how to help and not being able to afford the treatment and having to watch her pain increase daily because of it is much worse!!!! I becomes easy to put your pride aside and ask stranger for help. So please we need help now and we would greatly appreciate anything you could donate to us. We thank you in advance for your kindness, in our time of need, from the bottom of our hearts.