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Hi, my name is Erica and this is my 11 year old daughter, Natalee. I am asking for some assistance with medical expenses from the past few months and into the unknown future. Naturally, as a single mom, I am struggling financially to make ends meet, so I am hoping doing this might help.
This might get a little long, but I wanted to share her story in case anyone is interested--
On December 1st, I received a phone call from the school nurse stating that Natalee's wrists hurt and were a bit swollen. We assumed she maybe fell a day or two prior and they were just sore, so the nurse and I decided to wait about an hour and see if they got worse over that period of time. She called me back and stated that they had, so I drove to the school to pick her up-- thinking that an urgent care visit was warranted just to be safe, as Natalee is not a complainer and is usually a REALLY tough kid when it comes to pain.
During our drive down the mountain from her school, she said they were hurting really badly and they were noticeably swollen, so I decided the ER was a better option, so that more imaging could be done if necessary. There, the PA evaluated her, gave Ibuprofen and Tylenol, had radiographs done, and everything looked "normal" aside from some obvious soft tissue swelling in the radiographs. He instructed us to give her Ibuprofen every 6 hours through Sunday morning, and if she hadn't improved, to come back-- and obviously if things got worse, to come sooner.
We both went back to my office where I finished out my work day, but as we were leaving, Natalee noticed a rash on her left hip-- it looked like a bug bite.. like a little cluster of raised bumps similar to an insect bite. They itched a little bit, but not terrible, so we headed to the barn to feed the horses, knowing they were there but not super worried about them. Within about 20 minutes, after getting barn chores done, I asked her to see the rash just to check it, and we realized she had the same rash on her other hip now. I decided we should probably take her back to the ER, just to be safe.
After sitting in the waiting room for about 10 minutes, the PA noticed she was back on the screen and brought her back despite the ER being full-- he had us in the infusion chair lounge so he could start getting testing done. By this time, both of her knees and elbows were completely swollen along with her wrists, and were incredibly painful, so after speaking to the doctor at Providence Children's Hospital in El Paso, the PA decided she needed to be transferred via ambulance.
I followed the ambulance to El Paso in our truck-- and it was literally the most difficult 2.5 hours of my life- not knowing how she was doing, if things were getting worse or staying the same, all the horrible thoughts racing through my head. The EMTs suggested I grab dinner on the way, but who could?! Anyway-- we made it to the hospital and they took her through their entrance while I found mine. By the time I saw her again, her entire face was swollen and she was almost unrecognizable.
They had started her on IV fluids in the ambulance, but then gave her steroids, Tylenol, and Benadryl once she reached the hospital. From there, she continued having a rash from head to toe-- the same type that started on her hip, for the 4 days we stayed in the hospital. They were able to stabilize her and discharge her on Benadryl and Prednisone, but did not give her a diagnosis at that time.
It has been almost 3 months with no diagnosis, and she continues to experience facial swelling, joint pain and swelling, and severe headaches on a regular basis. She has been on several courses of Prednisone, missed a ton of school, and I have missed a ton of work between her needing to be sent home from school due to swelling and headaches, and doctors visits, urgent care visits, etc., and we have several out of town specialist appointments coming up in March, to include an allergist in Las Cruces and a Pediatric Rheumatologist in Phoenix (that's the closest one available to us). We are hoping and praying for a diagnosis, so that we can begin treatment and breathe a little bit.
Most importantly:
Natalee is one of the most kind hearted, amazing kids I have ever met-- am I biased because she's mine? Probably... :) But if you ask anyone else who has been able to spend any amount of time with her, you will find that most people feel the same way. This kiddo always maintains a positive outlook and tries to find the good in every situation life is throwing at us, including this current situation. Despite the amount of school she has missed, she is still busting her tail and has mostly As on her progress report, and even on the days I tell her to just rest, she still gets up to help with chores around the house. If you have the ability and desire to help us get through this financially, I know her and I would both greatly appreciate it. <3
This might get a little long, but I wanted to share her story in case anyone is interested--
On December 1st, I received a phone call from the school nurse stating that Natalee's wrists hurt and were a bit swollen. We assumed she maybe fell a day or two prior and they were just sore, so the nurse and I decided to wait about an hour and see if they got worse over that period of time. She called me back and stated that they had, so I drove to the school to pick her up-- thinking that an urgent care visit was warranted just to be safe, as Natalee is not a complainer and is usually a REALLY tough kid when it comes to pain.
During our drive down the mountain from her school, she said they were hurting really badly and they were noticeably swollen, so I decided the ER was a better option, so that more imaging could be done if necessary. There, the PA evaluated her, gave Ibuprofen and Tylenol, had radiographs done, and everything looked "normal" aside from some obvious soft tissue swelling in the radiographs. He instructed us to give her Ibuprofen every 6 hours through Sunday morning, and if she hadn't improved, to come back-- and obviously if things got worse, to come sooner.
We both went back to my office where I finished out my work day, but as we were leaving, Natalee noticed a rash on her left hip-- it looked like a bug bite.. like a little cluster of raised bumps similar to an insect bite. They itched a little bit, but not terrible, so we headed to the barn to feed the horses, knowing they were there but not super worried about them. Within about 20 minutes, after getting barn chores done, I asked her to see the rash just to check it, and we realized she had the same rash on her other hip now. I decided we should probably take her back to the ER, just to be safe.
After sitting in the waiting room for about 10 minutes, the PA noticed she was back on the screen and brought her back despite the ER being full-- he had us in the infusion chair lounge so he could start getting testing done. By this time, both of her knees and elbows were completely swollen along with her wrists, and were incredibly painful, so after speaking to the doctor at Providence Children's Hospital in El Paso, the PA decided she needed to be transferred via ambulance.
I followed the ambulance to El Paso in our truck-- and it was literally the most difficult 2.5 hours of my life- not knowing how she was doing, if things were getting worse or staying the same, all the horrible thoughts racing through my head. The EMTs suggested I grab dinner on the way, but who could?! Anyway-- we made it to the hospital and they took her through their entrance while I found mine. By the time I saw her again, her entire face was swollen and she was almost unrecognizable.
They had started her on IV fluids in the ambulance, but then gave her steroids, Tylenol, and Benadryl once she reached the hospital. From there, she continued having a rash from head to toe-- the same type that started on her hip, for the 4 days we stayed in the hospital. They were able to stabilize her and discharge her on Benadryl and Prednisone, but did not give her a diagnosis at that time.
It has been almost 3 months with no diagnosis, and she continues to experience facial swelling, joint pain and swelling, and severe headaches on a regular basis. She has been on several courses of Prednisone, missed a ton of school, and I have missed a ton of work between her needing to be sent home from school due to swelling and headaches, and doctors visits, urgent care visits, etc., and we have several out of town specialist appointments coming up in March, to include an allergist in Las Cruces and a Pediatric Rheumatologist in Phoenix (that's the closest one available to us). We are hoping and praying for a diagnosis, so that we can begin treatment and breathe a little bit.
Most importantly:
Natalee is one of the most kind hearted, amazing kids I have ever met-- am I biased because she's mine? Probably... :) But if you ask anyone else who has been able to spend any amount of time with her, you will find that most people feel the same way. This kiddo always maintains a positive outlook and tries to find the good in every situation life is throwing at us, including this current situation. Despite the amount of school she has missed, she is still busting her tail and has mostly As on her progress report, and even on the days I tell her to just rest, she still gets up to help with chores around the house. If you have the ability and desire to help us get through this financially, I know her and I would both greatly appreciate it. <3
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