My mom, Jackie, has been very sick since May and still doesn’t have a diagnosis despite countless tests and specialist visits. She’s unable to work, was denied short-term disability, and now has no income while waiting on an appeal. On top of regular bills, she has to pay $454 a month for COBRA just to keep seeing her doctors. We’re asking for help to cover her monthly expenses while she continues fighting for answers and benefits.

Any and all donations are greatly appreciated by Jackie and her family.

Jackie started feeling sick in early May with fatigue, brain fog, pain in her right ear, and a very hoarse voice. By mid-May, her neck started to swell on the right side, which caused pressure and more pain in her esophagus and ear. She also began experiencing intermittent muscle and joint pain. By June 5, her doctor had to take her off work because she was too sick to continue.

Over the following months, she’s had multiple rounds of blood work, two CT scans, an MRI, and has been seen by an ENT doctor, a dentist, an oral surgeon, a spine specialist, a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, an allergist/immunologist, and a gastroenterologist. She’s also had a swallow test, an upper GI, and on October 15 she’s scheduled for an esophageal manometry. Despite all of this, she still has no definitive diagnosis to explain her symptoms. Almost every test has come back negative, except for a few the gastroenterologist ran in September.

In the meantime, the swelling has gotten worse, spreading to both sides of her neck and sometimes up into her head and face.

When she filed for short-term disability in July, it was denied because none of the test results so far prove her undiagnosed condition. She is now working on getting an attorney to appeal the denial, since she can’t access long-term disability until she wins the appeal. The challenge is that she really can’t move forward until she has a confirmed diagnosis or at least positive test results. She has 180 days to file the appeal, and once it’s submitted, the insurance company has up to 45 days to respond. That means she is left without income for at least two more months.

Right now, she’s receiving some help with food through DHS, and a one-time payment toward her gas and electric bills. She’s borrowed money from a few family members and a friend, and even took out a personal loan. But at this point, she simply can’t borrow any more since she doesn’t know when, or if, she’ll be able to pay it back. She is in need of public support at this time.