Sami "Strong" Needs Your Help

Sami started at age 13 having severe migraine headaches and pain that has been so debilitating she has been hospitalized over 68 times in the past 2.5 years.  She developed other physical ailments that were a mystery to most every doctor they saw. She would suffer the pain and horrible discomfort almost daily and it began to affect her to the point where she was in the hospital more than at home.  Her Mom, Lisa, started on the journey of discovering what strange and unknown condition or conditions could be causing this to happen to her little girl.  Lisa finally found, through research, questioning, and countless visits to specialists that Sami has several different diseases. One is called POTS and it stands for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia and the others are Chiari malformation, gastroparesis, occipital neuralgia and cervical instability. For Sammie, these are life altering and difficult conditions to deal with. She has been unable to attend regular school, she’s missed out on the social activities a young girl should be enjoying, she’s been isolated from friends and she has had to endure countless tests, uncomfortable procedures and now has a permanent port to receive fluids that help to alleviate some of the pain.  She has seen a specialist who suffers from POTS himself and often they have had to drive for hours to see him only to find out he too has had a recurrence of this awful disease and is unable to see them. Her mother, a school teacher, has exhausted much, if not all of her leave and sick time and now has to find the resources and the funds to help her daughter participate in a ground breaking treatment for pain management at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.  The Cleveland Clinic has established a successful treatment plan for POTS sufferers that has helped many POTS patients manage their pain.  Despite all of this the family has worked hard to educate people about POTS and even traveled to Washington, DC to lobby for more research funding for POTS with Sami in a wheelchair. They do not have the resources for what lies ahead. They will need assistance with hotels, meals, a rental car, air transportation, because Sami could not endure the long car trip otherwise, and incidentals that are not covered by insurance. Lisa will be unable to work as a school teacher during this time and has had to take countless unpaid leaves in order to care for Sami. Of course Sami is going to have to endure the treatment so that she may live as normal a life as possible.
 Please consider opening your hearts to Sami’s plight. Even one dollar to this family will help them through the next few months.  Sami needs this to live a life we all have and take for granted.  Thank you for your help for Sami and with spreading the word about POTS.