Hi!

 

Amanda and Kim put their heart and soul into everything that they do, whether it's at their job, giving back to their community, fundraising for others, and so much more. As many of you know, Amanda and Kim go above and beyond for everyone in their lives, and it's time that we do the same for them! Amanda is always the first to lend a helping hand to anyone in need, whether it's a family member, a friend or somebody she's only met once. She has a heart of gold and carries a tremendous burden of her own while trying to put a smile on everyone else's face. Amanda has been showing signs of endometriosis since she was 15 years old and was not formally diagnosed until she was 19. At 22, she had her first abdominal surgery. Since then, she has had four more abdominal surgeries, including a total hysterectomy.

 

On top of that, Amanda has had multiple procedures, including surgery to implant a port into her chest. The port gives her medical team access to her veins since they are impossible to find after all of this trauma. Not to mention, she is also IV fluid dependent and receives fluids through the port. In total, she has had over 15 surgical procedures, and more than half have occurred in the last year and a half. I know you think this is insane, but it gets worse. On a day-to-day basis, Amanda feels constant nausea, vomiting and other GI issues, along with severe abdominal, pelvic and chest pain. She has flu-like symptoms 4-7 days per week, along with brain fog, shortness of breath, irregular heart rate, food intolerances and permanent disfigurement post surgeries. Yesterday, Amanda went into surgery, hoping it would be her last. When the surgeon opened her up, things were much worse than he thought. He successfully removed the endometriosis from her colon and intestines. However, he described her ureters as being full of concrete. He could not get close enough to fix them without leaving her with a permanent urostomy bag. Therefore, she has to fully recover from this surgery and has her subsequent surgery scheduled for the first week of March. During this surgery, he will attempt to chisel away at her adhesions and preserve the function of her urinary system. She will also be evaluated for additional endometriosis on her diaphragm, chest wall and lungs. If confirmed, a cardiothoracic surgeon will be present to go in through her chest wall and remove it.

 

As many of you know, Amanda graduated last May from Suffolk County Community College's Nursing Program and officially passed her boards as of July 13th, 2021. Amanda is officially an RN, but is unable to work at this time due to her chronic medical issues. Not only did she go through all of this medical trauma, but she CONTINUED to do so while taking classes and completing her clinical rotations. We are so proud of her!!! Unfortunately, she will not enter the field until everything is cleared with her health. Kim works full-time as a social worker for Suffolk Independent Living Organization while taking care of Amanda full time. Kim often has to take off work for doctor visits, surgeries, and post-op recoveries while maintaining their house and keeping their head above water.

 

Please consider donating to Amanda and Kim as they face a highly stressful financial time during all of this chaos. I hope to raise enough money to keep a roof over their head until Amanda can work full time. Thank you for your time and for reading this.

 

With Love,

Jules (Amanda's chronically ill bestie)