Ya'at'eeh everyone. My name is Derrick Watson and I have been diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis in April 2023. Myasthenia Gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease where my antibodies are now destroying the connection between my nervous system and my voluntary muscles. The results of that affect everything from moving around, my eyesight, breathing, chewing, and swallowing food. I have to have infusions monthly in order to live a somewhat normal life now.

Since then, this disease has been nothing but a curse upon my life. I've been unable to hold a job, I've had to relocate home to Arizona to have my family care for me, and I no longer leave my home due to full body weakness. It's something that I've been trying to deal with on my own, but everything changed last month.

I was hospitalized and admitted to St. Joseph's Hospital on December 17th, 2025, and admitted to the ICU with a severe case of pneumonia which nearly ended my life in the process. Thanks to my neurologist and the ICU team for saving my life, I ended up on a ventilator while being pumped with antibiotics. My lungs were not responding to the treatment properly once I was taken off of the ventilator and unfortunately had to be administered a tracheostomy in my throat in order to help me breathe. But now I have lost the ability to speak, eat, or drink.

Throughout this process, I unfortunately lost my job once again due to my hospitalization. And as of today, I have been in the ICU for 30 days now just trying to get back to normal. And the next step for me would be acute rehabilitation so I can walk and speak again.

As you can tell, I'm in dire straits and need some help. I am in the process of applying for disability, but do not know if I will be approved for it or how long it will take. And I want to be able to still buy much-needed groceries and medications for myself until then, as well as paying off my storage unit so I am able to recover my items and furniture that I had moved from Ohio back to Arizona.

I rarely ask for help, but in this case, I've got no choice anymore. So if you can help, please do because I don't know what my future beholds.

Ahéhee.