Stand with Kim in Her Fight for Health

Hi! My name is Katie Christenson and never, in a million years, did I ever think I would have to do this, especially for my sister. If you know anything about Kim you know just how amazing she is. When you meet her, you love her! First of all, she is brilliant. She has dedicated most of her life to her community, educating herself and others, at James Madison University as an instructor, and to being an incredible mother, wife and friend. She is the first one to help others in need. Currently she is the Associate Director of Research and Public Health at JMU's Institute for Innovation and Health and Human Services, where she has worked for 21 years and she has brought in over 40 million dollars in grant funds to help address issues impacting young people and public health. Her passion is adolescent sexual health and she has helped countless children and their families. Take a look at Visionofyouinfo.org to see one of her largest projects, where she was a co-author and researcher. She has received multiple rewards for community outreach and leadership. Watching her receive the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from First Lady Michelle Obama was one of the proudest moments of my life. I wish I could list out all of her accomplishments but there isn't enough space! All of this is to highlight how much of her life has been dedicated to the service of others.

As most of you probably know, for the last 3 years, Kim has been met with a lot of health issues. Since May of 2021 she has had 12 hospitalizations that total 116 days in the hospital, 8 surgeries, and countless procedures. She finally received a diagnosis of non-uremic calciphylaxis in January of this year. What she has is incredibly rare and made even more problematic by her congenital issue that requires daily steroids, which she has been on for 40 years. Kim has always had difficulty with medical procedures and she always seems to get the rarest of rare side effects. Her doctors are always scratching their heads and find her fascinating! We wish that wasn't the case.

Her condition has taken so much from her. It's taken a large part of her hip. She can no longer drive. She has to walk with the aid of a walker or cane. She is constantly battling infections which are antibiotic-resistant. We tried to go on a vacation last week but had to call 911 within 48 hours and she spent the remainder of the week in the hospital getting treatment for yet another blood infection. She has had sepsis twice in the last year. Pneumonia. The list goes on and on. The daily pain that she endures would bring most people to their knees. There is a constant battle with her insurance company that continues to deny treatment that her doctors feel is medically necessary. She lost her teaching position which gave her so much joy. She has run out of short-term disability and is now on long-term disability which is only a fraction of her pay and does not offer job protection. If her insurance company ends up approving her treatment, we will need to procure transportation three times a week so she can receive her infusions. When I found out how much her bandages cost, out of pocket, I was in shock. $20 per day is over $7,000 a year. Just on bandages. She has missed out on so many of her kid's soccer and basketball games. And she needs help.

It is so incredibly hard watching someone you love struggle so much. It is agony to know how much pain they are in every day. And to understand the financial hardship that comes along with it seems like cruel and unusual punishment. I am asking for help for my beautiful sister and her incredible family who have sacrificed so much. If you are not able to donate, please share her story with others who may be able. And then please ask them to share. Social media is a powerful thing and I am hoping that we can put it to good use and help Kim who has helped so many others. Thank you for reading this and learning a bit more about Kim, if you aren't lucky enough to personally know her.