Hi!

My name is Devon and I am raising money towards my major lifestyle transition. I made the decision to complete gastric sleeve surgery due to the rising costs of medical bills, chronic pain, and continued decline of my health.

I am hoping to change my life and live longer and healthier. For the past decade, I have done dieting, exercise, and changed my eating behaviors. I have had some success and also experienced some major roadblocks. In the last year, I have struggled to keep up with rising medical bills, which are substantial. To keep up with the cost of my care, I Doordash nights and weekends to survive. During this time, I have experienced consistent pain throughout my body, particularly in my knees and back.

I have done everything I can, including selling most of my valuables, picking up Doordashing, significantly cutting back on food and other necessities, and still have struggled. A lot of these rising costs are being compounded by weight-related ailments such as higher doses of medications to help make them effective, consistent and necessary chiropractic care, and seeking support from my doctor on knee and back pain. Ultimately, my weight has caught up with me and doing bariatric surgery would change both my health and wallet.

I have been working with a dietitian to help restructure my relationship with food and I plan to continue this support after surgery. However, the lifestyle changes including medical/dietary care, clothing, food restructuring, and other items related to the significant lifestyle change I am going to experience will be financially challenging.

I want to live. I have done my best with diet and exercise and plan to continue to do these. Bariatric surgery will help me continue to progress to a healthier lifestyle in collaboration with diet, exercise, and medical/mental health support. This is a true investment in myself and will change my life forever. I am asking for support to help financially through the pre/post-surgery transitions.

Things I will use these funds for:

- Medical/mental health/dietary bills & support

- Food and food storage for dietary transition

- Medications and vitamins

- Financial support with bills during leave/recovery [There will be 2-4 weeks that I will not be able to Doordash during recovery]

I am happy to answer any questions you may have about this process and what funds are going to. I did not make the decision for surgery, or to make a fundraiser lightly. I am being vulnerable and putting myself out there because I genuinely need support and I hope to better myself for the rest of my life. Thanks so much for your support! Kind words and resharing go a long way.

Wishing you all the best!

Sincerely,

Devon