Help Tammy fight for her life!
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Hi everyone, my name is Tammy and I created this page because I desperately need your help. I want you to know that it isn't easy for me to admit that I actually need your help, as I've always been able to take care of and support myself, but I have run out of resources and options and I have no where else to turn. Asking for you help is my last resort,so Im hoping there are kind generous people out there who are able to throw me a financial life-line, b/c If I don't get that help I will not be able to continue with the treatments I need to get better and get back to a normal life. So please please donate, even if you can only spare $5, no amount is to small and it all helps! I plan on paying your generosity forward by volunteering at the charity of your choice once I am back on my feet(this is explained in more detail towards the end of this message).
Below are just a sampling of bills I have recieved over the last 17months! (Just the bills here total roughly $50,000)
Below are just a sampling of bills I have recieved over the last 17months! (Just the bills here total roughly $50,000)
I suffer from a nasty disease called Chronic Pancreatitis (CP). While there are many causes of CP, mine was caused by a mutation of the cystic fibrosis gene and sphincter of odi disorder...Chronic Pancreatitis is particularly nasty because it gets worse and worse over time, and there is no easy cure. Over the years I have undergone countless procedures and been on numerous expensive medications all in an effort to try to deal with and manage the debilitating abdominal pain, nausea and fevers.
I first got diagnosed with CP as a child, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that it really had an impact on my life. While it hasn’t been easy, undergoing various procedures, er visits and hospitalizations I was always able to manage, but that all changed April 2013. Over this past year and a half I have spent countless hours in agonizing pain and nausea, undergone 1 major procedure, 1 surgery, spent countless hours in the ER, and been hospitalized close to a dozen time, spending roughly 90+ in the hospital. Due to my misbehaving pancreas these last 18 months have been completely unbearable and exhausting. I’m currently taking over 30+ pills each day, some for pain, others for nausea, enzymes since the pancreas can’t make them and sadly I am now on the fast track to becoming diabetic!
(Pics 1-2 are the amount of prescriptions I have to fill each month, and the amount of pills I take each day, Pics 3-4 the large bottom pics are my friend Drippy McBeeps(my nickname for my IV pump), I had to be in the hospital for my birthday and he was nice enough to wish me Happy Birthday! I am an incredibly tough stick when it comes to IV access and Pics 5-6 are to show that, and just as an FYI an IV on the inside of your wrist hurts like a b*tch!!! avoid getting it there at all costs!)
While the physical toll is taxing, the emotional toll is just as great, if not more b/c I have had to put off so much of my life and have been unable to do so many things that I want to do. It kills me that I am unable to work, working is a huge part of my identity, I have held a job since I was 16, and up until this past year, the longest I have gone without working is a month, but because of the constant pain, nausea, and frequent hospital stays, I have not been able to maintain a job or career, and my quality of life is greatly diminished. The thing that breaks my heart the most, is that I can't fullfill my dream of having kids( I have to wait until I am off all of my meds, especiallyl the pain meds until I can even think about having them). All of my life I have wanted to have children, but the timing was never right, I always thought I would have time, and now my biggest fear is that I won't get better in time and I will miss that chance.
This leads me to where I am now… I’m down to my last 2 options, either to have an ERCP or to have a surgery called a Total Pancreatcomy with Auto Islet Cell Transplant or TP/IAT for short. This is so specialized; it is only done in a few places in the US, and is at least a year long process. While there is NO CURE for my disease these options are the closest thing to one and will allow me to live a LONG normal life.
These options WILL SAVE MY LIFE!
I have a Dr.’s appointment coming up at the end of Sept. to discuss the options, but I won’t be able to choose either option, if I can’t raise the money to help cover the costs. Which is where you come in, I need the help of kind and generous people to be able to get better and get back to my life. There are so many things I want to do with my life and sadly everything is on hold until I can get my CP resolved. So I created this fund is to help pay for my upcoming treatments, numerous monthly medications, and my insurmountable medical debt (40-50,000+)
All I want to do is get better and if you can help me get there I will be forever grateful. To pay your generosity forward, my plan is that once I am healthy and financially stable I will either volunteer and/or make a donation in your name to your favorite charity, so when donating please remember to leave the name of a charity your support.
Thank you in advance for all your help and know that there are no words that will be able to express how grateful I am for your generosity.
To learn more about Chronic Pancreatitis here are a few links from the National Pancreas Foundation and The Cleveland Clinic:
http://www.pancreasfoundation.org/patient-information/chronic-pancreatitis/
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/gastroenterology/chronic-pancreatitis/
(Pics 1-2 are the amount of prescriptions I have to fill each month, and the amount of pills I take each day, Pics 3-4 the large bottom pics are my friend Drippy McBeeps(my nickname for my IV pump), I had to be in the hospital for my birthday and he was nice enough to wish me Happy Birthday! I am an incredibly tough stick when it comes to IV access and Pics 5-6 are to show that, and just as an FYI an IV on the inside of your wrist hurts like a b*tch!!! avoid getting it there at all costs!)While the physical toll is taxing, the emotional toll is just as great, if not more b/c I have had to put off so much of my life and have been unable to do so many things that I want to do. It kills me that I am unable to work, working is a huge part of my identity, I have held a job since I was 16, and up until this past year, the longest I have gone without working is a month, but because of the constant pain, nausea, and frequent hospital stays, I have not been able to maintain a job or career, and my quality of life is greatly diminished. The thing that breaks my heart the most, is that I can't fullfill my dream of having kids( I have to wait until I am off all of my meds, especiallyl the pain meds until I can even think about having them). All of my life I have wanted to have children, but the timing was never right, I always thought I would have time, and now my biggest fear is that I won't get better in time and I will miss that chance.
This leads me to where I am now… I’m down to my last 2 options, either to have an ERCP or to have a surgery called a Total Pancreatcomy with Auto Islet Cell Transplant or TP/IAT for short. This is so specialized; it is only done in a few places in the US, and is at least a year long process. While there is NO CURE for my disease these options are the closest thing to one and will allow me to live a LONG normal life.
These options WILL SAVE MY LIFE!
I have a Dr.’s appointment coming up at the end of Sept. to discuss the options, but I won’t be able to choose either option, if I can’t raise the money to help cover the costs. Which is where you come in, I need the help of kind and generous people to be able to get better and get back to my life. There are so many things I want to do with my life and sadly everything is on hold until I can get my CP resolved. So I created this fund is to help pay for my upcoming treatments, numerous monthly medications, and my insurmountable medical debt (40-50,000+)
All I want to do is get better and if you can help me get there I will be forever grateful. To pay your generosity forward, my plan is that once I am healthy and financially stable I will either volunteer and/or make a donation in your name to your favorite charity, so when donating please remember to leave the name of a charity your support.
Thank you in advance for all your help and know that there are no words that will be able to express how grateful I am for your generosity.
To learn more about Chronic Pancreatitis here are a few links from the National Pancreas Foundation and The Cleveland Clinic:
http://www.pancreasfoundation.org/patient-information/chronic-pancreatitis/
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/gastroenterology/chronic-pancreatitis/
Organizer
Tammy Thomas
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA
