catastrophic illnesses

(AUG 8, 2017: ******CLOSED******)

I am no longer asking for help toward my bills. I have kept this page open solely for the education purposes about the illness of Gastroparesis since I had used this site as a blog about my illness.

SO, PLEASE DO NOT DONATE, JUST READ
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Oh boy...what a year 2016 has been. I am in dire need of help, assistance, kindness, good thoughts, good vibes, prayers...whatever I can get. As if my illness wasn't horrible enough (and it is detailed below), but on 10/27/16, my boyfriend of 10 years was diagnosed with double pulmonary embolism and DVT again (first being in 2014). It is doubtful that he will ever go back to work again. He was an automotive tech by trade. On top of the blood clots, 11 lung nodules were found as well as COPD. We're putting our house up for sale but greatly need help until it is sold. I am struggling to make the mortgage payment. Please...we are trying our best to take care of ourselves but this has been a horrible year. My health with an incurable illness, my father passed away, my house caught on fire, boyfriend out of work and now his blood clots forming again... This year is so ridiculously bad, that I'm expecting M. Night Shyamalan to jump out at me and for there to be some weird plot twist about my life...maybe I bumped my head really hard and this entire year has been a bad dream...

*******ANYONE WHO'D LIKE TO DONATE DIRECTLY TO MY MEDICAL BILLS VS. GOFUNDME, PLEASE VISIT:   MyIUHealth.org and click on "Quick Pay" and use account# 5007***** (EDITED NUMBER OUT AS I AM NO LONGER SEEKING HELP FOR PAYMENT OF MEDICAL BILLS)


Gastroparesis...It is like having the stomach flu but for life. Your appetite is lost because the food you ate hours, days or even weeks ago is still sitting in your stomach because your stomach muscles are either too weak or no longer contract to push food into your small intestine. If you make yourself eat, after a bite or two, your gut hurts as though you had eaten a very large meal. When your stomach is full of festering food and you try to eat, you vomit.

I spent 18 days in a row vomiting every bite of food and every sip of water. I became dehydrated and malnourished. I was so dehydrated, my IV failed when I had surgery and I was awake and aware as I had the feeding tube ran through my stomach and into my small intestine.

I am deficient on some vitamins and my other organs are stressed from dehydration, malnourishment and vomiting. There is no cure...only distractions...things to hopefully manage the symptoms. Those who are still lucky enough to eat, their diets are limited. Low residue diet... No fiber, no veggies, no nuts or wheat products, no dairy, no caffeine, no chocolate, no fried foods, no red meat, no alcohol....

July 1st of this year, I was fine. I had noticed a loss of appetite but figured it was stress as I was working 60+ hour weeks for 6 weeks prior. Then I began feeling tired and short of breath. July 1st, I was me. I could eat. I wasn't sick.

As of today, I am connected to a feeding tube and must crush and dilute my medication and use a syringe to push it into my feeding tube. I am no longer able to eat or drink anything. I have begged the doc to let me die after my feeding tube surgery. So much pain. Agonizing pain.


I was diagnosed in October 2015 after much time suffering abdominal pain, loss of appetite, feeling full after a couple bites of food and vomiting. My gastric emptying study showed that 63.7% of food remained in my stomach 4 hours after eating. The normal is less than 10%.

Symptoms kept progressing for the worse. Vomiting increased to vomiting every bite of food and sip of water between November 28, 2015 thru December 15, 2015... I had to have surgery on December 16, 2015 for a GJ feeding tube (and spent 4 days in the hospital).This means that I have a tube in my small intestine (jejunal) and in my stomach (gastric). The jejunal tube feeds me 24/7 and the gastric tube allows stomach acid, that builds up, to drain out of my body into a plastic bag I must have on me at all times.

I have health insurance (for now, as long as I still have my job...i am currently off work for a while) but I have a high deductible that I will not have at the beginning of the year and not all costs will be covered. I must be provided new IV bags to use for each feeding and cans of food (Osmolite 1.2 Cal), syringes to flush the tubes in my gut and to flush in medications, gauze pads to cover the site where the tube enters my body and plenty of bottled water.

I also require 2 visits a week from a home health care nurse, a dietician (which insurance doesn't cover) and have future doc appointments and surgeries so maybe I can once again eat.

Not including doc visits, surgery and home health care nurse, this condition is costing between $100-150 a day just in medical supplies and equipment rental alone. I could greatly use help either financially or in the form of a shoulder to cry on the nights I wish I would just die. Gastroparesis is very ugly and painful. It is slowly starving to death despite eating.

Every penny helps. Every share helps

Thank you

*****Update 5/17/16: on top of the lovely, chronic and incurable disease mentioned below, my house caught on fire 5/16/16. I do have insurance but a $1500 deductible I cannot meet for repairs because I am still out of work due to my illness.*****

*******ANYONE WHO'D LIKE TO DONATE DIRECTLY TO MY MEDICAL BILLS VS. GOFUNDME, PLEASE VISIT:   MyIUHealth.org and click on "Quick Pay" and use account# 5007*****