I'm supposed to introduce myself, which seems weird, and tell you what this fundraiser is for. It seems weird because I don't expect people who are strangers to us to ever see this, but here goes.

My name is Christen, and like many people who create Gofundme's asking for help is not my forte, however I'm not asking for myself exactly. Those of you that see this first know I'm Elly's wife. This Gofundme is for her so she can stay on top of bills while she's convalescing.

As a Type 1 diabetic Elly always runs the risk of infection and slow healing when it comes to sickness, injury or surgery. No different from any other diabetic or autoimmune warrior. This past January she had an extraction. Her right lower wisdom tooth was removed. She completed her antibiotics and even though she is no longer a smoker she noticed it took a long time for the gum to heal. Diabetes right? She had a follow up appointment, had a second round of antibiotics from her PCP and the gum appeared to heal. By late February, a month later, she began having pain in the right side of her face. She was told that the follow up xrays taken at the dental office looked good, and that she had TMJ or lock jaw. It would take time and she may need medication or injectable treatment for it to resolve. She was accepting of this information.

Over the next month going into March the pain worsened. She developed increasing difficulty opening her mouth to eat or brush her teeth. She called dentists, the oral surgeon and her PCP for advice. This past week her cheek and the side of her face up to her temple began to swell, she sought help at the emergency department without any real answers or pain relief. We hosted Easter Sunday and she was barely able to eat. Overnight the pain became too much and early Monday I took her back to emergency. While there they completed a CT and when asked she begged to be admitted to the hospital and to not be sent home in unmanageable pain. The CT is where things get weird. There is obvious damage to the bone in area where the tooth was extracted, suggesting delayed healing as well as possible chronic osteomylitis, but osteonecrosis, a cyst or a tumor is also possible.

Osteomylitis is an infection of the bone. Necrosis is the death of tissue, in this case, bone. A fluid filled cyst could be a pocket of infection in the extraction site. The CT noted the inflammation in her cheek. On Wednesday April 23rd she will go to the OR and there under sedation an ENT surgeon will force open her mouth to look for well, anything. She's currently receiving IV antibiotics and her pain had finally been managed as of this afternoon. We don't know what to expect with tomorrow's OR visit, if they will surgically open up her cheek, or her gum. If they will remove a small portion of jaw bone to biopsy, or even remove a large section. We have no way of knowing how long she will be off of work or what recovery will look like. She is decidely nervous about tomorrow. I'm naturally a ball of anxiety but I may publicly panick at some point.

So, that is the long version of our honest and humble request for monetary assistance so that she can continue to pay bills at home while out of work recovering, keep the house and vehicles paid and the ourselves and the dogs fed. No amount is too small and if you can't donate, sharing is a recognizable act of kindness. Your love and prayers are also welcome and appreciated from us as well as our families.

Thank you for taking the time to read and share Elly's story.

❣️ C