Hampton Roads, Jenny needs our help!

I first met Jenny in the ER where she was the surgical provider who gave me, what I considered to be, the worst news of my life, not once but twice that week. However, this story isn’t about me, it’s about her and her family. Weeks after I met Jenny in the hospital, she was diagnosed with Relapsing Polychondritis (RP) after months to years of unexplained severe pain, fatigue, shortness of breath, and sleepless nights. Every day become a battle for this young mother of three very active boys and she was forced to go out on disability from her job as a physician assistant. Relapsing Polychondritis, or RP as it is known, is an incredibly rare, possibly fatal, autoimmune disease affecting only 1-5 people per million! It is a degenerative disease that attacks any site of the body where cartilage is present including the airways, blood vessels, and heart valves. It is already affecting her ears, nose, skin, joints and airways. As a result, she is now having to use a ventilator every night and frequently during the day due to severe shortness of breath. There is a chance with the proper treatment that her disease can be put into remission. The doctors say that they can’t replace the cartilage already lost and the damage was already done but they are hoping in getting her in remission to prevent further damage and loss.

Jenny started her career as a firefighter and paramedic for the City of Portsmouth while continuing to go to school. She then transitioned to the local children’s hospital (CHKD) where she worked for 8 years before going to the Burn Trauma Center at Sentara Norfolk General as a physician assistant (PA). She continued her passion for helping others in the ICU and spent another 8 years with Sentara Pulmonary and Critical Care Team as a PA before I met her at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center. Jenny has been there for others when they needed her most… even through the Ebola scare and when COVID first hit and everyone else was hiding at home. She has made it her life mission to serve others throughout her career, in the mission field overseas, and various hospitals. She serves others the way she would want her loved ones treated and brings a sense of peace with her that comes from her spiritual walk, as she includes God in every aspect of her life.

Unable to get through her day without a ventilator, she has had to resign from work, and now needs assistance with simple daily tasks.

I experienced the most genuine care and compassion from her while I was in the hospital. I can not begin to express what she did for me, and now I want to “pay it forward”. Jenny deserves to be on the receiving end and get the type of care and compassion that she so frequently gave us. Not only will these funds help with her daily needs, but they will help offset the numerous trips from here to Pennsylvania for treatment at UPenn Medical Center. Insurance only covers so much and without income, this has been another unexpected weight on her shoulders.

ANY amount you can donate WILL help. Please share on social media and pass the word around as well so we can come together as a community for this amazing human as she has done for so many of us.

Thank you