Join My Fight to Reclaim My Life!

HI, My name is Allison and I'm doing something really hard for me.... asking for your help. I have been sick for 7 years and a good portion of my medical treatment has not been covered by medical insurance. I am in a race for time as I have suffered organ damage and continue to at an increasingly rapid pace. It is crucial that I continue treatment for the known diseases I am currently fighting and any and all testing needed to diagnose a systemic disease that has remained a mystery to the medical professionals and myself for 7 years. At any time I could suffer a neurological, cardiac or respiratory episode that has the potential of becoming fatal. To give you an idea of what I am facing and how it all started, I am going to tell you a little bit about the last seven years and my life.

In 2017 I was standing in the kitchen and suddenly I felt really dizzy and tired. My husband,Rick, had to carry me to bed because I couldn't make it on my own. From that day forward, I would always feel tired, my stomach would hurt and my back, muscles and joints would, as well. It became difficult to eat as swallowing became extremely painful. I lost 50 lbs in a matter of months and became malnourished and anemic. My anemia is severe and hospitalizations for blood transfusions became a regular part of my life. Finally, Stanford Hospital diagnosed me with Strongyloids Sterocalis, a parasitic infection. It took me a minute to process the whole idea of parasites living inside of me, but I was very happy to hear that there was a quick fix. I was given a prescription and 4 pills and it would be that simple.... I kept getting new symptoms and the ones I already had kept getting worse. During this time I was found to have necrosis of the bone in my jaw, resulting in massive decay. I started to experience difficulty remembering things and my cognitive thinking just didn't work the same.

Needless to say, things didn't work out that easily. I took those four little pills ,but I never got better. I have been diagnosed with more than one infection since then, but there is one underlying condition that has yet to be diagnosed . The doctors have told me that unless they can figure out what it is, I will die. I am not able to access treatment that I urgently need because it is not covered fully by insurance . Further testing and treatment from infectious disease, blood and gastrointerology specialists to treat and diagnose the parasitic infections are urgently needed, but we do not have the funds. The type of medical professional I require at this point is a specialty within a specialty and it means travelling to The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio or The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for diagnosis and treatment. Insurance will not cover the treatment or diagnosis and we have exhausted our savings on all of the medical professionals, clinics, hospitals and treatment over the past seven years. My specific circumstances make me ineligible to receive disability, and my husband is my full time caregiver , so as a result we have no income . All we had was our savings and it is gone.Then we were dealt some really heavy blows.... a tumor was found on my kidney and a diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma. Then I developed sudden onset scoliosis. I need to have 11 discs operated on. This is where I have turned to Gofundme because our savings is gone but I still need to combat the renal cell carcinoma, the parasitic infections and crippling scoliosis. Then , there is the cost of travel, treatment and testing and that's where I have had to face my reality. The doctors have told me that I, "fail to thrive", which in layman's terms means that I am dying. The thing is if I can continue testing and treatment there is hope, but without it I will die. Seems like a no brainer, but as I have already written, most of the testing and treatment needed is not covered by insurance and we no longer have any savings left to pay for it. So, I have been faced with the awful reality that money is what stands between life and death, for me.

It's a devastating feeling to know that there is a possibility of being healthy again, but money, rather a lack of it, will cause my fate to be death. I'll never understand how it is that the amount of money in my bank account could determine whether I live or die. It's a very ugly thought and ugly revelation about the world we live in, but that is another story for another time. I thought that maybe if I ask a whole lot of people , for a very little, I will get a chance to try and make that happen? Thank you friend, from the bottom of my heart for helping or even just taking the time to read this. With your help, my kids can have their mom, my husband can have his wife , my parents can have their daughter and I can have , me!! I am so very genuinely grateful........

Ps. I know we are all dealing with life and finances are rough for a lot of people, so if you are not able to donate, a positive comment is just as much appreciated. I value your good wishes and they mean a lot to me. Real talk!

Allison