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My 21 year old son Cole, has been battling a chronic, debilitating and mysterious illness for a very long time. Despite his challenges, Cole managed to graduate high school in the top 20% and has maintained a cheerful selfless attitude throughout. I did not grasp the severity of Cole’s condition, but I trusted my son. When he asked me right after graduation if he could put college off until he felt better, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to do just that, not realizing that the journey would be an uphill battle. It began as subtle symptoms at first, but the past four years have becomeincreasingly unbearable for him.
We have witnessed this vibrant, active, extremely funny young man with a zest for life and an uncanny gift for making others happy,transform into a dim shadow of himself. Pain is his constant and persistent companion. It is physically exhausting for him just to tie his shoelaces or stretch to get something from the cupboard. Smiling increases the severity of the never ending, chronic headaches and he no longer has the energy to complete even the simplest tasks. Despite the day to day challenges, he continues to express hope that a diagnosis and cure exist for his condition because he simply cannot imagine living like this forever.
In an effort to combat constant fatigue, he used to run laps at night. On one of these runs, he collapsed unexpectedly and was advised not to run again. Things further worsened when even his ritual of taking frequent warm baths to help with his aches and pains had to be discontinued, because the resultant fainting spells proved to be unsafe – an indication that his condition was deteriorating.
Over the past few years Cole has seen three neurologists, several chiropractors, a pulmonary specialist, a rheumatologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a cardiologist, and a urologist, all of whombasically told him he is too young to be feeling this way and that he is suffering from anxiety and depression. The overwhelming “treatment” choice was to prescribe addictive medications which alleviated some symptoms but unfortunately created new negative side effects. He has had numerous MRI’s, MRA’s , X-Rays of the brain, carotid arteries and spine as well as a myriad of blood tests to rule out a host of illnesses like lyme disease, cancer, lupus, just to name a few. Each unsuccessful and discouraging doctor visit furtherdimmed Cole’s hope that help was out there and his feelings of dejection and hopelessness broke our hearts. We secretly wondered whether he would ever be able to pursue higher education or for that matter hold a decent job.
At the most critical moment of this seemingly downward spiral, God saw it fit to send us a very special person, Dr. Wendy Gallego, who we now call “Cole’s Angel”. Dr. Gallego, with a heart of gold, total selflessness, and an abundance of patience and determination like we have never seen before, has worked tirelessly,utilizing her resources and doing research on her own personal time. She was on a mission to put a name to this illness and as a result,Cole has been diagnosed with a condition called DYSAUTONOMIA.You can visit this URL for information on the condition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysautonomia. It causes body functions you do not consciously control like digestion, blood flow, body temperature and sweating to severely malfunction.
I will never forget calling my sister and telling her that Cole was diagnosed with Dysautonomia. Her response was "that's what my friend Annmarie has". Annmarie is 44 years old and has been battling this condition for three years. She is unable to work and passes out frequently due to “brain fog”, which is symptomatic of Dysautonomia. My sister often told me about Annmarie's rough days and my typical response would be "wow, that's so sad". Maybe my son is being used as a vessel to make a differences in this arena and I am committed to paying it forward by including Annmarie in this journey. A procedure called TVAM has provided hundreds of patients with relief from this debilitating illness. Dr. Michael Arata, profile here: http://autonomicspecialists.com/dr-arata/
who is based out of Newport Beach,California has successfully performed hundreds of these procedures. Cole’s Angel, Dr. Wendy Gallego arranged a consultation with Dr. Arata who explained the procedure, answered all our questions and put us at ease about moving forward. Cole isanxious to have this done so he can look forward to living a healthy and productive life. Unfortunately our insurance does not cover the TVAM procedure so we are humbly and sincerely asking our friends and family to assist us with raising the funds for this life saving procedure. We have already fulfilled the requirements of the initial deposit and Cole is scheduled to have this done on October 26th, 2015 in California. Total cost for travel, procedure and associated medical expenses is approximately $15,000.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Cole’s story.Any amount that you are able to contribute will be welcomed and greatly appreciated. We will be eternally grateful to everyone that has provided assistance thus far, both financially and emotionally and we will keep you apprised of Cole’s progress. May God bless you abundantly and keep you in His Grace.
-Donnare (Cole's Mom)
We have witnessed this vibrant, active, extremely funny young man with a zest for life and an uncanny gift for making others happy,transform into a dim shadow of himself. Pain is his constant and persistent companion. It is physically exhausting for him just to tie his shoelaces or stretch to get something from the cupboard. Smiling increases the severity of the never ending, chronic headaches and he no longer has the energy to complete even the simplest tasks. Despite the day to day challenges, he continues to express hope that a diagnosis and cure exist for his condition because he simply cannot imagine living like this forever.
In an effort to combat constant fatigue, he used to run laps at night. On one of these runs, he collapsed unexpectedly and was advised not to run again. Things further worsened when even his ritual of taking frequent warm baths to help with his aches and pains had to be discontinued, because the resultant fainting spells proved to be unsafe – an indication that his condition was deteriorating.
Over the past few years Cole has seen three neurologists, several chiropractors, a pulmonary specialist, a rheumatologist, an orthopedic surgeon, a cardiologist, and a urologist, all of whombasically told him he is too young to be feeling this way and that he is suffering from anxiety and depression. The overwhelming “treatment” choice was to prescribe addictive medications which alleviated some symptoms but unfortunately created new negative side effects. He has had numerous MRI’s, MRA’s , X-Rays of the brain, carotid arteries and spine as well as a myriad of blood tests to rule out a host of illnesses like lyme disease, cancer, lupus, just to name a few. Each unsuccessful and discouraging doctor visit furtherdimmed Cole’s hope that help was out there and his feelings of dejection and hopelessness broke our hearts. We secretly wondered whether he would ever be able to pursue higher education or for that matter hold a decent job.
At the most critical moment of this seemingly downward spiral, God saw it fit to send us a very special person, Dr. Wendy Gallego, who we now call “Cole’s Angel”. Dr. Gallego, with a heart of gold, total selflessness, and an abundance of patience and determination like we have never seen before, has worked tirelessly,utilizing her resources and doing research on her own personal time. She was on a mission to put a name to this illness and as a result,Cole has been diagnosed with a condition called DYSAUTONOMIA.You can visit this URL for information on the condition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysautonomia. It causes body functions you do not consciously control like digestion, blood flow, body temperature and sweating to severely malfunction.
I will never forget calling my sister and telling her that Cole was diagnosed with Dysautonomia. Her response was "that's what my friend Annmarie has". Annmarie is 44 years old and has been battling this condition for three years. She is unable to work and passes out frequently due to “brain fog”, which is symptomatic of Dysautonomia. My sister often told me about Annmarie's rough days and my typical response would be "wow, that's so sad". Maybe my son is being used as a vessel to make a differences in this arena and I am committed to paying it forward by including Annmarie in this journey. A procedure called TVAM has provided hundreds of patients with relief from this debilitating illness. Dr. Michael Arata, profile here: http://autonomicspecialists.com/dr-arata/
who is based out of Newport Beach,California has successfully performed hundreds of these procedures. Cole’s Angel, Dr. Wendy Gallego arranged a consultation with Dr. Arata who explained the procedure, answered all our questions and put us at ease about moving forward. Cole isanxious to have this done so he can look forward to living a healthy and productive life. Unfortunately our insurance does not cover the TVAM procedure so we are humbly and sincerely asking our friends and family to assist us with raising the funds for this life saving procedure. We have already fulfilled the requirements of the initial deposit and Cole is scheduled to have this done on October 26th, 2015 in California. Total cost for travel, procedure and associated medical expenses is approximately $15,000.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Cole’s story.Any amount that you are able to contribute will be welcomed and greatly appreciated. We will be eternally grateful to everyone that has provided assistance thus far, both financially and emotionally and we will keep you apprised of Cole’s progress. May God bless you abundantly and keep you in His Grace.
-Donnare (Cole's Mom)