✨ Help Amanda Avoid Surgery & Heal Her Shoulders With Regenerative Medicine ✨

Hi everyone, my name is Amanda Jo, and I’m a single mother of three, a tattoo artist, and someone who is doing her best every day to navigate life with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and long COVID. Last year, I finally received both diagnoses after a lifetime of unexplained pain, dislocations, and exhaustion. Accepting these conditions — and learning how to live with them — has been a wild, humbling, and sometimes frightening journey.

Recently, things took a harder turn. I was diagnosed with a stage 3 labral tear in my right shoulder, and my left shoulder has been dislocating at least once a week for most of my life. I only just learned why — Ehlers-Danlos. These shoulder injuries cause extreme pain, constant flare-ups, and a level of unpredictability that affects every part of my life: my ability to work, to be present with my kids, and even to enjoy simple everyday moments.

As many people with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome know, surgery isn’t a safe or effective option for us. Our bodies simply don’t heal the way they should after surgical interventions. So even though the damage in my shoulders is severe, surgery is off the table.

The Good News

I’m incredibly lucky to have found an amazing regenerative medicine doctor who treated my cervical spine this past summer with PRP therapy — and it completely healed my neck. For the first time in so long, I felt hope. Now he’s recommending a bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) procedure for my shoulders — a regenerative treatment that could prevent surgery, reduce my pain, stabilize my joints, and truly improve my quality of life.

Why I’m Asking For Help

The treatment is not covered by insurance, and as a single mom and full-time tattooist, this cost is overwhelming. But being able to lift my toddler when he reaches for me, to keep working in the career I love, and to reclaim the joy and energy that chronic pain has slowly dimmed… that would be life-changing. I’m hoping to have the procedure in December, and anything you’re able to donate — even a few dollars — brings me a step closer to healing, stability, and relief. If you can’t donate, sharing my story would mean the world to me as well.

Thank you, truly, for taking the time to read this. Thank you for seeing me. And thank you in advance for helping me move toward a safer, healthier future.

With love and gratitude,

Amanda Jo