If you've ever met Erin, you've probably experienced her care, and calming presence.

As the owner of Nettle Acupuncture in Nanaimo, Erin has dedicated her career to supporting people through pain, illness, stress, and difficult chapters of their lives. Her patients often describe feeling truly listened to, supported, and cared for in her presence. Caring for people is not simply what Erin does for work, it is woven into who she is. Outside of work, she has always been the kind of person who was always moving through life fully — hiking, hanging with her sweet pup Goji, gardening, painting, and spending as much time learning as she could.

So having the tables turned has been incredibly difficult.

Erin is now the one who needs to be cared for.

When this fundraiser was first created a few months ago, I put together a brief description of what she had been experiencing. At the time, we believed Erin would need to step away from her acupuncture practice for a short period while she sought answers, received treatment, and gave her body some time to recover.

We didn't know then that four months later, she would still be unable to work, or that her symptoms would have become so much more severe.

There is still no diagnosis. And no clear treatment plan moving forward. We are in a place of trial and error, and still searching for answers and treatments that help her.

Since stepping away from her practice and continuing the process of pursuing answers, Erin has undergone extensive testing, including an MRI of her brain and neck and many other investigations, including ruling out serious neurological conditions such as MS ("I'm so grateful for ruling that out!" says Erin). Despite all of it, no one has been able to identify the cause. Her physical world has become incredibly small as a result.

One of the most debilitating symptoms has become severe eye pain, pressure, and sensitivity. On a good day, she may only be able to keep her eyes open for four or five hours. Driving has become extremely difficult. Screens can be impossible. Feeding herself, getting outside, spending time in nature, or doing many of the ordinary things that make up a day can become overwhelming or simply out of reach. She has expressed an exhaustion with just waiting for the day to be over so she can try and sleep the pain off, which is not the Erin I know. Though, she still jokes around and tries to laugh it off, which I think is why people haven't understood just how difficult this has been for her. And it's why I'm sharing more details now.

She is also experiencing persistent burning sensations and numbness through her face, mouth, tongue, arms, and hands, along with weakness and joint pain that make even small physical tasks difficult. She has profound brain fog and significant difficulty finding and stringing words together. Even communicating can take an enormous amount of effort, and Erin has been entrenched with such chronic fatigue that makes anything requiring effort nearly unfathomable.

Her sensitivity to heat, sunlight, cold, and other environmental stimuli has made the world increasingly difficult to navigate.

This is not a little break from work.

Erin is not taking the summer off to rest and recharge. She is not choosing to slow down. She is in the thick of a physically painful and debilitating health crisis, without a diagnosis, without a clear timeline, and without knowing when she will be able to return to the work (and the people) she loves.

And then there is the isolation.

We recently moved to a new community, which means that while she is going through something incredibly difficult, she is also trying to build a support network from the ground up.

For someone whose life has always revolved around caring for others, being unable to participate in community and now being the person who needs so much care herself has been incredibly hard.

The emotional toll has been significant. The uncertainty, loss of independence, physical pain, isolation, and inability to participate in ordinary life have brought anxiety and depression into an already overwhelming situation.

And financially, the pressure continues.

Erin has now been without income from her practice for over four months and needs to remain off work for an extended period; the timeline is still very unclear right now. Meanwhile, the costs of pursuing answers and finding some measure of relief continue to accumulate: appointments, investigations, treatments, travel, and everyday living expenses all continue while her ability to earn has stopped.

When this fundraiser was first created, we were preparing for a short period away from work and intensive health treatments, and the goal reflected that. Since then, it's become clear that Erin needs an extended, open-ended period away from work to get real answers and the care she needs — and the honest cost of that is closer to a new goal of $50,000. That's a big number to put on a page, and we know a number that size can make a single donation feel small, like it won't really move the needle. So instead of setting the whole goal here at once, we're raising it in stages, tied to the different ways we're fundraising: this GoFundMe, an online silent auction (coming up Oct 2nd-4th which we will link in the updates here), and other creative efforts as we go. You'll see the number here rise as each stage is reached, so I want to be upfront about that. Every stage is real progress toward what Erin needs, and every donation, whatever the size, is what gets us to the next one.

This goal is intended to create some financial breathing room over the coming year while Erin continues to pursue answers and access the care she needs. It will help with essential living expenses, healthcare and treatment costs, investigations, appointments, travel, and the unexpected costs that come with being unable to work.

But more than anything, it gives Erin something she desperately needs right now:

Time.

Time to pursue answers, and to receive care.

Time to rest when her body demands it.

And time to get through each day without carrying the additional weight of wondering how everything will be paid for.

How You Can Help

If you're able to contribute financially, every donation helps.

But money isn't the only way to support Erin.

Share this fundraiser. Send it to a friend, post it on social media, or simply pass it along. Reaching the right person can be just as valuable as a donation.

Come support our upcoming silent auction fundraiser. We'll be sharing details soon, and there will be many ways to participate.

Meals are also deeply appreciated. When daily activities like preparing food can become difficult, a meal delivered with care can mean more than you might imagine.

And if you're someone who simply wants to check in, send a message, sit with her, or remind her that she isn't alone, that matters too.

Asking for help has not come easily to Erin.

She is used to being the caregiver. The nurturer. She loves person who holds space for everyone who needs it.

Now the tables have turned.

So this is an invitation to help hold some space for her.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated, shared this fundraiser, brought food, checked in, offered care, or simply reminded Erin that she is not alone.

We don't know yet what the answer is.

We don't know how long this will take.

But we do know that Erin shouldn't have to navigate it alone.

With gratitude,

Erin's partner, Pavel