Some of you who find this page will know me very well, and others of you may not know me at all. Welcome. Thank you for considering a donation or for sharing this GoFundMe! I appreciate all of you so much and no words will ever fully express the gratitude I have for your kindness and generosity. If I survive this year and you contributed even $5 or shared this page with one person in your life, please know that you have participated in me (with all hope) living long enough to see age 34! I turn 33 on August 29th and my greatest birthday wish is to be able to afford my life-saving medical care so this isn't my last birthday. I'm also currently in the hospital for the second time this month- it's the pits!

Hi, I'm Fox!

Most people in my life have kind things to say about how silly, empathetic, loving, curious, expressive, and supportive I am. I like to dance, hike, write music, read books, make dietary friendly comfort food, and spend as much time as I can laughing with my loved ones. I'm a mental health provider with over a decade of experience. I grew up in Chicago and almost exclusively worked with homeless folks. I have a fairly tumultuous back story: my single parent (who died 11 years ago) was a heavy substance user who never learned she was worthy of partners who did not abuse her. My early years and upbringing are a large part of why I am a mental health provider, and why I am deeply passionate about providing care to those with limited access. I moved to Seattle to obtain my Master's of Social Work right before the pandemic hit, and during my 5 years here I have done crisis work at DESC and Swedish Hospital.

My health issues forced me to take unpaid medical leave this month, but I look forward to surviving my life-threatening health issues and returning to work at my current career home: Self Space!

At Self Space, I provide one on one, psychodynamic therapy. I work with individuals and couples. It's quite different than all the crisis work I've done most of my life, and it is a tremendous gift to provide consistent care to clients who are not always in crisis. I miss them all so much already and I've only been on medical leave for a few weeks!

I've created this gofundme because my life depends on it. The reality of my life right now is that if I can afford to see a lot of expensive doctors, pay for my 24 daily, expensive medications, figure out how to combat the malnourishment, and get my surgery in September, I will live to see my 33rd birthday and 2025. If I cannot see my medical team, cannot quickly figure out how to become nourished enough to undergo surgery, and do not get my surgery? I will die this year. I cannot afford to lose any more weight and I am in severe levels of pain every moment that I'm awake, even while on morphine. The only chance I have at a quality of life worth living, or even surviving this year, is if I can afford this life-saving medical care.

Why is my goal so high??

As I continue hearing from my care team, I will continue being extremely transparent about my medical costs. I was hoping I could share more photos as I would be happy to share documents proving these costs. The fee for Dr. Trista Newville, my Endometriosis surgeon, is over $5,000 out of pocket, and if that is not paid in full by September 10, 2024 I do not get my surgery.

On Thursday, July 25th Dr. Newville told me she is worried I may have Endometriosis on my diaphragm and my small intestine. This requires that TWO additional, specialty surgeons be present for my hysterectomy and excision on September 24, 2024. I have been doing my best to get quotes regarding the additional costs for their presence and possible expertise. I am anticipating that my out of pocket fees for the additional surgeons will be no less than $10,000 total. One of the additional surgeons is the head of Dr. Newville's office, Cindy Mosbrucker, and one of them is Doctor Linda Pai. I am scheduled to meet with Dr. Pai on August 28, 2024. I will continue trying to get a quote from her office and post what I am allowed to (many surgical contracts state clearly on them that you cannot share specific information or you risk having your surgery cancelled).

I am on unpaid medical leave, have no family, no partner, and I live alone. I do not live an extravagant life. That said, Seattle is an expensive city and my rent is $1,995/mo. I pay $600/mo for my marketplace health insurance (that I need because of how much medical care is required for me to be at baseline). I have a car payment, car insurance payment, and the other usual monthly expenses we all have. My medications alone are costing me $300/mo out of pocket and that may increase as I am being diagnosed with and treated for additional medical issues.

It has been surreal and terrifying to become this debilitated by the age of 32. I have lived with chronic illness my entire life and the surgery I need in September is for my Endometriosis and Adenomyosis. I received my first excision surgery and confirmed diagnosis for these disorders in 2020, by Doctor Trista Newville of Pacific Endometriosis and Pelvic Surgery. I am scheduled to have my second excision surgery and a partial hysterectomy with Dr. Newville on September 24, 2024. I could spend a very long time detailing the horrors of Endometriosis and Adenomyosis. I could spend hours talking to you about how the average amount of time someone goes misdiagnosed or undiagnosed before getting treatment is 10 years (which is what happened to me). I could spend hours telling you about why it is essential to see trusted specialists, and why it is only safe to see surgeons who are on the list provided by Nancy's Nook Endometriosis. I will spare you, but please believe that I am only seeing Dr. Newville (who does not accept insurance of any kind) because she is the cheaper of the only two trusted experts in all of Washington state. The only other surgeon in the state who is safe to get this surgery with is the woman who trained Dr. Newville and who is the head surgeon of Pacific Endometriosis and Pelvic Surgery: Dr. Cindy Mosbrucker.

In addition to my usual debilitation from Endometriosis and Adenomyosis, I have become extremely ill the last three months. I have effortlessly lost 33lbs and have not been this light since I was 15 years old; a child. For some reason my body can no longer absorb nutrients from the food I'm eating, which is why I am currently medically malnourished and cannot stop losing weight. I was discharged from UW Montlake on August 3, 2024 after a week long stay. While there I was able to receive a lot of IV nutrients and I am now taking opiates daily to manage what is otherwise crippling pain. I have been seeing doctors since January 5th of this year with new health issues that do NOT fit the symptoms of Endometriosis. While I have numerous upcoming doctor appointments and am waiting for confirmed diagnoses, right now all of my doctors suspect I have at least two of these issues, in addition to Endometriosis and Adenomyosis:

1) POTS - Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. For the last three months I have hardly been able to walk 20 steps from my couch to my bathroom without fainting. POTS would explain this. Many people with Endometriosis have POTS. My doctors suspect that I have potentially had POTS for years, but the presentations of it are impossible to ignore now because of how malnourished I am and how much weight I have lost. Either way, my heart rate escalates to about 170bpm when I go from sitting to standing, and that happens in about 30 seconds. Between this issue and being on opiates, I am unable to drive. I went from going for a 5 mile run multiple times a week to needing a walker and a wheelchair everywhere I go! I am working with providers on this diagnosis but to diagnose it, you have to trigger it, and my doctors have not wanted to do that because of how sick and weak I currently am.

2) SIBO - Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. The overlap between SIBO and Endometriosis is almost a complete circle. It would make a lot of sense if SIBO is what is causing my body's inability to absorb nutrients, and it is likely contributing heavily to my Endometriosis and Adenomyosis pain. It would potentially explain the seemingly endless and rapid weight loss as well! Some people have SIBO chronically, some get it off and on, and others get it once and never have it again. I am currently seeing a Naturopath and am waiting for a SIBO test to come in the mail.

3) Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - Some of my newer health issues this year are pointing heavily to this being a possible diagnosis of mine. It is also linked with POTS, and many people with POTS also have Mast Cell. This year I cannot go a month without some new, weird, "alergic" type reaction in my body. Examples of this are: I currently have polka dots all over my abdomen and torso! No idea why. They showed up in April of this year and never went away. One of my upcoming doctor appointments is with a dermatologist, but my Naturopath will continue assessing me for Mast Cell as my day-to-day health allows.

Any of these health issues on their own create big problems and can debilitate someone. Having them overlap and all be severe at the same time is very dangerous!!

It is painful and deeply sad to me how high my goal has to be in order to access the life saving medical care I need this year. I will say that a massive part of why I am this sick now, is because of how inaccessible effective, trustworthy, and consistent medical care is. Part of why I am this sick now is because not enough doctors know about Endometriosis or any conditions that exclusively impact people with a uterus. Part of why I am this sick and need this much money now is because last year (when I needed a second excision surgery) I didn't get it because I've never had $8,000 laying around to spend on anything in my entire life and it was truly inaccessible to me.

If you've made it this far, THANK YOU! If I survive this year and you contributed even $5 or shared this page with one person in your life, please know that you have participated in me (with all hope) living long enough to see age 34!

Big love to all,

Fox