Stand with Noella

You might not realize it by looking at her but Noella has a chronic medical condition.  But she just wants to be a normal teenager.  

Noella has several different diagnoses and here are a few of the more significant ones.  

First off is dysautonomia which causes her organs to not work well together.  As a result she experiences chronic chest pain along with many other challenges. It also prevents her body from being able to regulate temperature properly.

Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) is responsible for her dizziness and passing out along with fatigue and weakness.

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) results in chronic pain and regular joint dislocation and soft tissue injury.

Mast Cell Activation Disorder (MCAD) causes regular anaphylactic, anaphylactic like symptoms and creates regular stomach problems with nausea vomiting and pain.

These challenges interact with each other and have similar symptoms and when combined with a long list of allergies, makes it difficult to pinpoint what the actual challenge is at any given moment.  This makes most days difficult for Noella to function like
a normal person.

This has been a long and tedious eight-year journey to get to today.  O ver the last several years Noella has seen dozens of doctors and specialist with hundreds of tests and procedures.  Because she has such a rare condition getting insurance to pay for the extensive tests, procedures and therapies is a constant challenge with much of it being disallowed by the insurance company forcing the payments to come out of pocket.

It wasn't until early 2017 that we finally started getting some real answers. This has been a difficult journey for Noella and her mom and dad are exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally and financially trying to get her healthy and living a normal life.

By the way this is a genetic condition and Mom has many of the same symptoms.  Her symptoms started manifesting after an accident when Noella was younger.

We continue to have hope and are very excited that Noella has been bumped up the waitlist to be seen by a team of doctors in Wisconsin that specialize in her condition.  This appointment originally wasn't going to happen until the spring at the earliest but was moved up due to the severity of her condition.

Through it all, Noella just wants to be a normal teenager. To help in this, her doctor is encouraging her to have a service animal to help.


What could a service animal do for Noella?  A service animal could help stabilize Noella while she is walking.  It could also retrieve items out of Noella's reach and prevent her from needing to bend over.  With specialized training it could also help Noella recognize when she might be about to have a blackout. in general it can help keep her safe and independent.  Properly trained service animals are not cheap.

Noella has a dog reserved for her.  But we need the funds to receive her and to continue the training specific to Noella.  

Noella is very active in her own health care and is working hard to create her independence.  Her doctors say over and over again that she's a rockstar.  And she keeps smiling through all the pokes prods and procedures.

Now Noella is looking for a few rockstars to help her in her quest for help and Independence.  

Our initial goal is $5,000 to cover the immeadiate costs of the trip to Wisconsin for the specialist and to receive her service animal.  Any additional funds will be used for the additional training for her dog and on-going medical costs.  

Any amount you can give will be greatly appreciated.  Help us reach other people by sharing on social media and with others.  Thank you!

#StandWithNoella