Heal Evie's 5 years of chronic pain
Donation protected
I'm making this Gofundme to coincide with the benefit show I'm booking for my partner. You can find out more about that on our instagram as well as hear her yell about these struggles (@cluelesshardcore) She has been in chronic pain for 5 years now, been to more doctors than every single person I've ever known combined, and still has no answers or solution. It's been hard to watch someone suffer through this and not be able to do anything, and to watch the people you are supposed to go to for medical answers treat her less than human and shoe her away when they can't figure it out. We have finally found a pretty uncommon (but promising) possible solution that is both expensive and not available in our immediate area! Since we have friends all over the country who will not be able to make it to the show but might want to show support I've made this Gofundme! Read her story below and contribute what you can. ANYTHING at all is appreciated!
I got an IUD put in 5 years ago. As soon as it was in I knew something was wrong, but the doctor told me I was just sensitive, and that everything was fine. I was in excruciating pain for 4 months until they finally took it out. I convinced myself I was overreacting for a few years even though my pelvic pain continued to be horrible during my periods. Fast forward a few years, I shut down the vegan bakery I owned to move across the country and work at a dog rescue. Several months in and I was starting to have a hard time walking. After a year I had to leave that job because of the pain, and I moved to the Bay Area to be closer to health care. It wasn't until I started having GI issues that I started going to doctors again. I had convinced myself the uterus pain was normal and I was just overreacting, because that's what I was told. Explaining everything that's happened with all the doctors I've seen would be a novel, but in short, they've all told me that nothing is wrong with me. Not that they can't find what is wrong, but that nothing is wrong. From telling me that birth control has no side effects and women just "want something to blame" to just sending me home after going to urgent care. Last time I went to the doctor, they asked if I had constipation, I said no, and they sent me home with a pamphlet about constipation. That's all they did! The only thing any one will tell me now is that I am in pain because I have mental illness and I need to go on psychiatric medicine. I can't even believe the way I've been treated. I've spent $10,000 myself on medical care, flying to specialists out of state, only to be stuck with no answers and more importantly, no help. I found out about FMT (Fecal Microbial Transplant) from a friend of a friend who did it and changed their life. I put it on the back burner again, not trusting my body, not trusting my pain, my own guts. The past 6 months working with myself and an amazing therapist, I have finally FINALLY come to the point where I can believe my pain even through everyone trying to convince me it's not real, all because they can't figure out the source. It is real, and there has to be an answer. I am hoping FMT will help a lot, it seems like it will, it should, and I would do anything to have a normal life.
What does FMT have to do with pelvic pain? Maybe nothing, hopefully something. My pain started as exclusively pelvic. A couple years ago I started having extreme bloating on top of it. That’s when I started seeking help again, because years before the doctors had convinced me that the pelvic pain was normal. I had a 6cm ovarian cyst but “that is normal”, there was “nothing to do about it”, “it shouldn’t hurt that bad” “take ibuprofen, drink water”. Anyway, when doctors started telling me women were crazy (actual quote “women want something to blame for gaining weight or being emotional so they say that it’s side effects of birth control”) I started doing my own research. Endometriosis causes GI issues that on average are misdiagnosed for 10 YEARS. Everything added up and I was going to beat the average. I haven’t, and I won’t, if that’s what it is, but no one wants to perform the surgery to diagnose endometriosis because they don’t believe anything is wrong with me. The 2nd best option was from a specialist in Washington, to remove my uterus. FMT is the step before that, to see if there is pain after GI issues are cleared, and to rule out that being the main cause.
Dealing with depression on top of chronic pain and stomach issues has been very scary. I'm strong as hell, but 3 years of DAILY pain, would make the sanest of person go crazy. Here's hoping putting other people's poop in my butt changes my life for the better.
Cost breakdown
$1000 deposit
$5400 FMT
$1300 plane tickets to Canada
$300 pre- FMT colonic and colon cleanse
$1000-2000 air bnb for 2 weeks
$1000 rental car (necessary where it is)
This is not including lost wages, which is incredibly important in the Bay Area! If this magically reaches above the goal, rest assured it will be used for follow up care, which will continue. Currently I spend anywhere from $1000-2000 every month on doctors, naturopaths, supplements, and medicines, fingers all the way crossed this will go down some after FMT.
I got an IUD put in 5 years ago. As soon as it was in I knew something was wrong, but the doctor told me I was just sensitive, and that everything was fine. I was in excruciating pain for 4 months until they finally took it out. I convinced myself I was overreacting for a few years even though my pelvic pain continued to be horrible during my periods. Fast forward a few years, I shut down the vegan bakery I owned to move across the country and work at a dog rescue. Several months in and I was starting to have a hard time walking. After a year I had to leave that job because of the pain, and I moved to the Bay Area to be closer to health care. It wasn't until I started having GI issues that I started going to doctors again. I had convinced myself the uterus pain was normal and I was just overreacting, because that's what I was told. Explaining everything that's happened with all the doctors I've seen would be a novel, but in short, they've all told me that nothing is wrong with me. Not that they can't find what is wrong, but that nothing is wrong. From telling me that birth control has no side effects and women just "want something to blame" to just sending me home after going to urgent care. Last time I went to the doctor, they asked if I had constipation, I said no, and they sent me home with a pamphlet about constipation. That's all they did! The only thing any one will tell me now is that I am in pain because I have mental illness and I need to go on psychiatric medicine. I can't even believe the way I've been treated. I've spent $10,000 myself on medical care, flying to specialists out of state, only to be stuck with no answers and more importantly, no help. I found out about FMT (Fecal Microbial Transplant) from a friend of a friend who did it and changed their life. I put it on the back burner again, not trusting my body, not trusting my pain, my own guts. The past 6 months working with myself and an amazing therapist, I have finally FINALLY come to the point where I can believe my pain even through everyone trying to convince me it's not real, all because they can't figure out the source. It is real, and there has to be an answer. I am hoping FMT will help a lot, it seems like it will, it should, and I would do anything to have a normal life.
What does FMT have to do with pelvic pain? Maybe nothing, hopefully something. My pain started as exclusively pelvic. A couple years ago I started having extreme bloating on top of it. That’s when I started seeking help again, because years before the doctors had convinced me that the pelvic pain was normal. I had a 6cm ovarian cyst but “that is normal”, there was “nothing to do about it”, “it shouldn’t hurt that bad” “take ibuprofen, drink water”. Anyway, when doctors started telling me women were crazy (actual quote “women want something to blame for gaining weight or being emotional so they say that it’s side effects of birth control”) I started doing my own research. Endometriosis causes GI issues that on average are misdiagnosed for 10 YEARS. Everything added up and I was going to beat the average. I haven’t, and I won’t, if that’s what it is, but no one wants to perform the surgery to diagnose endometriosis because they don’t believe anything is wrong with me. The 2nd best option was from a specialist in Washington, to remove my uterus. FMT is the step before that, to see if there is pain after GI issues are cleared, and to rule out that being the main cause.
Dealing with depression on top of chronic pain and stomach issues has been very scary. I'm strong as hell, but 3 years of DAILY pain, would make the sanest of person go crazy. Here's hoping putting other people's poop in my butt changes my life for the better.
Cost breakdown
$1000 deposit
$5400 FMT
$1300 plane tickets to Canada
$300 pre- FMT colonic and colon cleanse
$1000-2000 air bnb for 2 weeks
$1000 rental car (necessary where it is)
This is not including lost wages, which is incredibly important in the Bay Area! If this magically reaches above the goal, rest assured it will be used for follow up care, which will continue. Currently I spend anywhere from $1000-2000 every month on doctors, naturopaths, supplements, and medicines, fingers all the way crossed this will go down some after FMT.
Organizer
Mike Assatly
Organizer
Oakland, CA
