Help Stephanie Restore Her Health
On my journey of finding normalcy and health once again, I’m looking to friends, family, and even the kindness of strangers to lean on during this trying situation.
Seven years ago in 2014, I began having flu-like symptoms and constant diarrhea that proceeded to get worse by the day. After seeing my doctor, he referred me to a gastrointestinal doctor where after months of tests, a pill camera to take pictures of my intestines and colon, and a colonoscopy later I was diagnosed with severe Crohn’s Disease; an autoimmune disease causing extreme pain and inflammation from mouth to anus mainly affecting small intestine, large intestine, and colon. At this point, I was getting violently ill multiple times a day and rarely left my home because I could never be too far from a bathroom. My relationships, education, and work suffered extremely, while my social life tanked and I was starting to feel hopeless.
From there, it became a guessing game of healing to no avail. Steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs were no good for me due to the litany of side effects physically, mentally, and emotionally. On top of feeling so much confusion, my gastrointestinal doctor had zero empathy and bedside manner. Feeling so alone and confused, I changed GI doctors only to experience the same horrific quality of care no matter where I turned.
Feeling lost, I turned my attention to things I could control, like my diet, trying Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, and plant based. This had some great impact until a really bad flare up came on in 2019 that caused the start of my weight loss and intensified symptoms (night sweats, nausea, brain fog, abdominal pain, joint pain, aches, stiffness, eye pain, hair thinning, extreme body temperature fluctuations, skin issues, lack of energy, and the list continues). This eventually put me in the hospital, and was hospitalized for four days. I was approaching death, watching myself slowly die and wither away. My depression and anxiety increased heavily due to my mental health completely tanking, having to quit my job, having to go on bedrest, and felt as if life was passing me by. That was until late December of 2019 when I received the news I was pregnant, and things started to turn around a few months later. The pregnancy had put my body in a temporary state of remission which allowed me to gain all of my weight back and my symptoms were much more tolerable. I was overjoyed with this feeling I hadn’t felt in years, it was as if Crohn’s was no longer what I felt was my identity, however; that all came to a screeching halt 2 months after my son was born in August 2020.
I noticed all of my previous symptoms returning with a vengeance and the weight loss started back up as well. I am know almost 6 months postpartum and am down 25 pounds of healthy weight due to malabsorption. My internal organs are suffering tremendously causing constant pain, nausea, brain fog, lethargy, and the inability to process food and water. My risk for colon cancer is also 20% higher due to my Crohn’s inflaming my colon. Despite me trying healthy foods and supplements on my own, drinking no alcohol, no caffine, and certain medications I have not been able to get into remission…
If anything things have been going downhill, and my doc only pushes for pharmaceutical drugs and surgery. The side effects would be devastating, including a possible colostomy bag, a greater risk of infection, and an increased chance in developing additional autoimmune diseases.
Essentially, these proposed solutions would only treat the symptoms and not the root of the issue, and would merely be bandaids until the next flare up occurred. I want to truly heal my small intestine, large intestine, colon, liver, gallbladder, spleen, and all other areas affected by this disease. And to that end, I have researched extensively all avenues and joined many health and wellness communities and Facebook support groups to find some form of reprieve.
A normal day for me includes a restless night of waking up every two hours (that is if I even fall asleep at all) to use the bathroom and/or so drenched in night sweats I have to change clothes, nausea in the morning, and constantly running to the toilet (despite not eating anything). The byproduct of having poor sleep and a difficult morning leads to no energy and brain fog, which makes being productive and efficient incredibly difficult, especially as a new mother. Only mustering the hunger for one meal at the end of the day is still hard to do as it is painful to digest that food in my inflamed, ulcerated stomach. Once I do go to sleep, I know it’s not for long as the Crohn’s is most active at night and in the morning, and the cycle repeats. My physical, mental, emotional, financial, and social health are completely drained, debilitated, and exhausted.
They say the darkest is before the dawn, and I truly believe I’ve finally found a path towards total and complete remission with the guidance and knowledge from a nationally sought after naturopathic doctor with 40+ years of experience in healing autoimmune diseases such as mine. Dr. McElwee holds a Ph.D. in natural sciences, a degree in naturopathy and homeopathy, and a degree in nursing. She is a chapter leader for the Weston A. Price Foundation and a homeopathic study group leader with the National Center for Homeopathy. Dr. Ella McElwee has successfully helped many others with my condition not only reach complete and total remission, but they now live normal, healthy, joyful lives with their families. With the help of family and close friends I was able to schedule and have my first appointment with Dr. McElwee and was completely blown away at her knowledge of this disease and her confidence in healing me within a year. I have been following her treatment protocols for only a short time and can already see and feel that its working! Unfortunately, healing naturally is incredibly expensive and all of my funds are completely exhausted. I would have to cancel the treatment, and I know without it things will decline very quickly for me and possibly could become fatal eventually.
This is something I’ve never tried before and I have great faith it could be the treatment I’ve been seeking for the last seven years! Because this is something that is out of reach for me financially, and not covered by any form of insurance, I need help in order to fund my medical costs which includes: expensive monthly supplements ($800+/mo), labs/tests, travel, medical food ($200/week), doctor visits, and all other supplemental fees associated with this treatment. I am so grateful to my husband, my parents, family, and friends that have stuck with me through this illness and constant flare ups. I am hopeful this treatment will not only get my Crohn’s into remission, but it will also give me my life back and allow me to be here to raise my son and watch him grow with my husband. Thank you for reading my story and for your consideration in helping me fund my cause.
Respectfully, Stephanie