Donovan was diagnosed with pediatric Crohn's Disease at the age of 12. Crohn's is a chronic, inflammatory, autoimmune bowel disease. Although he has been on treatment since very shortly after his diagnosis, we have struggled to find a medication combination that works best for him. Due to the severity of his disease, Donovan is currently on one of the most aggressive forms of treatments available for his condition, which requires him to receive infusion therapy at UVa Children's Hospital every four weeks. As of his last treatment, the disease is still active. Donovan is also autistic, so he has an innate ability to mask his pain, which is unbearable at times.

Unfortunately, like many Americans, Donovan recently lost his health coverage. The out-of-pocket cost for his treatment is nearly $14k every four weeks. With UVa's self-pay discount, the cost of treatment is right around $8,300. Insurance is available but would not cover any of his autism care and leaves me with $2,200 a month in out-of-pocket expenses once insurance premiums, copays, and self-pay services are all taken into account. As a single mom, this obviously creates a huge financial hardship and also puts our housing in jeopardy.

I am hoping to raise $25k to help cover these expenses for one year as we work towards getting his disability approval. Without these treatments, Donovan will become extremely ill and rapidly begin to fail to thrive. As I mentioned, his disease is currently active and I already work full-time, so picking up a second job when he requires the level of care needed when dealing with an active disease is just not a possibility for me. I have personally seen the power of community, so I am humbly coming to you asking for you to help me keep Donovan healthy. Please consider contributing as generously as possible, even if that just means sharing this widely amongst your networks. Thank you so much in advance for your consideration in this matter.