2026 UPDATE:

Hello and warm greetings to you all,

I would like to start by thanking everyone who has helped and contributed to my journey with my health thus far. Every dollar made a huge difference and helped me secure the following since last year:

1. My own apartment, wifi, utilities, and phone services.

2. Transport to and from numerous doctors appointments.

3. Food and personal resources for myself and my home.

On October 20, 2025 I underwent surgery at UC Colorado Health in Aurora, Colorado for a partial hysterectomy due to D.I.E (Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis), Adenomyosis, and to test for cancer/additional suspected diseases. The surgery was immediately followed by severe and life threatening complications. I bled out internally the night of my surgery in my home (I was not aware of what was happening but thankfully a dear friend of mine who came out for the surgery noticed something was wrong) and had to be rushed back to the hospital and re-admitted. I received a blood transfusion that saved my life after suffering two hematomas in my abdomen. Two weeks later, I developed an infection around one of the hematomas and had to be hospitalized again. Two weeks after that, toxic fluid was accumulating in my abdominal cavity so I had to be re-admitted and had a drain inserted in my back to remove the fluid. The months of October-December was something out of a horror story and took a huge toll on my mental countenance. I upped my mental health services and appointments/group therapies to 5 days a week. This made a huge difference in my attitude and courage to keep fighting the good fight.

In January of 2025 I began noticing concerning symptoms that worsened over February and March. Since January I have been in the ER or admitted to the hospital over 16 times. In the month of March I had had enough and made a tough choice to transfer my healthcare from UC Colorado Health to Advent Health. Within the first two days of being admitted at their Littleton Hospital location, and switching care over, I had more answers about my health than I had been given in 10 months at UC Health.

I'll start with the positive-- The Endometriosis and Adenomyosis are completely gone. This is a HUGE win and the best part is I get to keep my ovaries for several more years!

I did, sadly, learn that in the absence of those diseases others have now been able to be diagnosed and treatment plans have been explained to me. I have severe Pelvic Congestion Disease as well as a disease stemming from the amount of scar tissue adhesions I have in my abdomen (from contracting Pelvic Inflammatory Disease twice in the past 5 years and scar tissue from my surgery in October of last year). I will need to undergo Isolated Radiation Treatments in my abdomen to lessen the severe pain/symptoms from these diseases. I also had an ANA panel ran on my blood which turned up 3 distinct markers for Auto-Immune diseases. I will need additional testing for these before treatment can be discussed.

At this point in my journey, I am no longer able to live alone and properly care for my body or health conditions. The pain is so excruciating at times it will cause me to faint/go unconscious. Last month I fainted in my apartment, alone, from pain and hit my head against the hardwood floor. This resulted in a hospital stay for a serious concussion and other complications. Sadly, none of my diseases or health issues are considered as "approvable" for in-home health care services per my Medicaid insurance. This means I have to relocate to another state where I have a loving, kind and supportive network of individuals who can help me while I tackle radiation, treatment plans, and further testing. I am beyond fortunate to have these individuals in my life and on my team as I continue down this very arduous journey, and truly feel more motivated and encouraged than ever to keep fighting for my health and life.

I have slightly increased my end goal for this fundraiser to help fund the following costs:

Moving out of Colorado and relocating into another state for medical treatment and testing. Funds from your donation will be applied to moving truck/supplies/gas, utility payments and rental payments in my new state, my phone bill and assistance for attending all of my appointments and treatments (transport). I currently am still in step 3/5 of the appeals process for SSI/SSDI and am working hard with social workers to expedite this process, as my claim started in 2022 and was fully submitted in June of last year. Truly anything helps at this time immensely and I appreciate each and every one of you for taking time out of your day/schedule to read this. Blessed be to you all. I wouldn't be here without your generosity and compassion!

-Alyssa

2025

Hello everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to be here and to read/engage with my story. In 2021, I became very ill and sought out medical care/treatments. At the time in my state of residency, Texas, I was able to be pre-emptively diagnosed with a condition known as Endometriosis. I was considered "genetically pre-disposed" because my mother suffered from the same disease when she was younger. In 2022, the state of Texas passed legislation that stopped my healthcare journey in it's tracks. In order for me to be diagnosed "officially" with Endometriosis and receive further treatment, I would have to undergo hormone therapy measures to help in the diagnostics. My insurance at the time required this treatment before they would approve a laparoscopy (robotics surgery) to officially diagnose and remove the disease. Given the state legislation blocked this "gender affirming healthcare", I was turned away from dozens of OBGYN/Endocrinology practices in Texas due to legality from 2022-2024. In June of 2024, I moved back to my home state of California and began transferring my healthcare to a state where I could receive the necessary medical care I required. Over the next 8 months, I attended over 30 doctor's appointments, spent countless nights in the ER due to severe symptoms, as well as sought help in community resources and case management for my medical needs. I finally was granted a surgery date for a Hysterectomy at age 34 which was supposed to take place in April of this year. I was called two days before my surgery and notified that my insurance would not approve the surgery. My OBGYN/Endocrinology team in San Diego did everything they could to advocate and got me back on the surgery books for May 24, 2025. I received a call last week informing me that due to the extreme intricacies on my case (my reproductive system is fused to my gastric system, and both systems are fused to my lower back) insurance has once again denied my surgery. They have also found cancerous cells, though they are unsure of from which system it originates in (Cervical, Uterine or Colon) I have recently relocated to the state of Colorado to seek the medical care I need in order to survive this disease and it has been moving forward as best as it can. I am a Medicaid recipient and have been since 2022 when I had to leave my work sector due to my ailing health/symptoms. I am doing this on my own, and while I have been able to achieve amazing things with my insurance in Colorado, community programs/organizations and crisis relief while seeking medical sanctuary, I am no longer able to handle this solo.

As I am attending appointments here in Colorado (I was able to transfer my medical case/chart/treatment plan from San Diego to Colorado, and have scheduled appointments with the correct departments necessary for furthering my care here) I am humbly asking if you do have anything to give in the next month before my surgery consults begin, or at anytime along this journey, to please know these are the areas of my life that funds will be allocated to:

1. Temporary independent living so that I may continue my healthcare journey with in-home assistance. I do not have a place to live at the moment in Colorado to seek this healthcare. Due to the intricacies of my medical needs, I do not qualify for any type of communal shelter. I am currently homeless and at the grace of friends and the community in Denver to stay sheltered. I have an in-take appointment with community resources on May 22, 2025 that will assist me in finding safe and accessible temporary housing while I am awaiting surgery. They will also be assisting in pushing forward my application for SSI/SSDI (as I stopped teaching and went on FMLA for this condition in 2022) so that I may live independently and receive proper in home health-care/assistance with the resources I have through disability.

2. Phone bill/utilities. Without an income it has been incredibly hard for me to have a steady line of connection between myself and my medical team. I must have access to a phone line to continue my treatment plans.

3. Transport/travel. This includes ride shares to get me to my doctors appointments or to go to the labs/imaging I will need to complete.

Here is more information on the health condition Endometriosis if you wanted to do some further research/have questions Endometriosis Information

I genuinely appreciate your time and love in reading this. I am truly very fortunate to be alive and want to continue to make the strides necessary to move forward with my healthcare.