Hello everyone. My name is Sophia and I created this go fund me for my dear friend Alyssa Pettigrew who I’ve known since 2007 - way before she even had any medical concerns.

For those that don’t know, Alyssa’s medical journey started all the way back in 2013. She always knew there could be a chance she carried the FAP gene of colon cancer because it is hereditary from her mother’s side of the family. So she follows standard procedure and gets genetically tested at MD Anderson with her family doctor, Dr. Patrick Lynch. The results come back positive. The next step to take is running a few tests such as a colonoscopy and endoscopy. Come to find out, her medical team and family doctor found over 1,400 pre-cancerous polyps throughout her colon (large intestine), rectum and anus. Dr. Lynch then recommends she get reconstructive surgery to completely remove her colon and over 95% of her rectum and anus. After meeting with a few other doctors for 2nd and 3rd opinions, she decided with her father, of whom she is super close to, to follow through with Dr. Lynch’s medical advice. While she recovered from surgery for a few months, she had to have a colostomy bag while her body healed. That was one of the most disgusting and mentally and physically painful things she has ever had to deal with at that stage of her life. Fast forward those few months of healing, and she is back in the hospital undergoing yet another 11+ hour surgery to reconnect her organs. From 2013 after the reconnect surgery to 2021 she had no issues. It was truly a miracle!

In 2021, she decides to move back to Austin to get away from Houston aka The Concrete Jungle. In April of 2021, she decides to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Fast forward to November 2021 and she is rushing herself to the emergency room. The GP tells her that her body had created an abscess and that she needed emergency surgery. So an hour later she’s in the OR room having surgery. They placed what’s called seton’s in her body to help drain the abscess. Apparently something wasn’t right because a week later she was back in the hospital complaining of extreme pain with several other symptoms. The GP told Alyssa that she needed to go see her doctors at MD Anderson because her case was a level 10 and his knowledge of this issue only went to a level 5!! Luckily she already had appointments lined up at MD Anderson. She gets checked into that hospital and ends up having another surgery, staying in the hospital for a week! Her surgeon tells her that not only did her body create one abscess, it created TWO plus it had also developed a vaginal fistula. Let it be known her surgeon at MD, Dr. Nancy You, is one of the best colorectal surgeons in the state, if not the nation. Even she recommended Alyssa seeing TWO colorectal specialists in Dallas that had more advanced knowledge of these conditions. So then Alyssa starts that process of seeing Dr. Fichera and Dr. D (shortened due to his complicated, long Greek last name). She has yet again two more surgeries, one with each, removing old tubes that MD Anderson had placed and replaced the setons and flushed out the abscesses. Between January of 2022 through November of 2022, she underwent another seven surgeries/procedures to fight the abscesses and the fistula. Fast forward to present day and only the most difficult part remains - the vaginal fistula. They are super hard to heal on their own given their complex nature. She stopped seeing her doctors because they told her the ONLY way to heal this is to get another colostomy bag. That was too much to accept, out of the question and not happening again. She knew there was another way. She just had to keep digging.

Alyssa has made so much progress. She has always been an organic food eater. She started drinking alkaline and reverse osmosis water. She bought a PEMF mat which has all kinds of health benefits. She stopped eating dairy and gluten. She takes turmeric and wheat grass. She really wants to stick to the holistic nature of healing rather than be a science lab project for the westernized medicine world that’s controlled by big pharma.

She found a Facebook fistula support group a few months ago. That is where she saw a post by a member who had the same issue as her that had sought treatment in India with Dr. Ashwin Porwal at Healing Hands Clinic. He invented a laser type treatment that’s called “DLPL” that has been 100% proven!! What a relief she felt. This information brought back hope and comfort to her soul. So now she is seeking help and support for her treatment in Pune, India. She will have to be there for eight weeks while she recovers and needs help with costs as well as on the home front while she’s away.

Costs include:

IN INDIA

-airfare approx $3,500

-lodging accommodations for 8 weeks approx $2,500

-food for 8 weeks approx $500

-surgery is $11,000(was originally $15,000 but the clinic gave me a donation discount- price includes doctors recovery visits and meds)

IN AUSTIN

-rent for two months at $1,200 each

-utilities for two months at $230 each

Let’s help this beautiful woman by getting her life back!! She can’t sit normally, run, go for long walks, sit for too long in a chair, do most normal things that we should be able to do and that we take for granted, she can’t even feel like a woman until this fistula is gone due to its symptoms. Thank you all for your love and support.