Hello Everyone, this is a fundraiser to help our friend Joy’s recovery from a complex illness, brain injury, and cancer diagnosis.

She has a condition called chiari malformation, which is a structural defect in the base of the skull and brain, wherein part of the cerebellum extends down into the spinal canal through the opening at the base of the skull. This is compressing her brainstem and spinal cord and will require surgery to remove a portion of her skull and upper neck vertebrae to relieve pressure in that area, as she has been experiencing worsening symptoms recently. Her father was a combat veteran who was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, which may possibly have contributed to her development of this condition.

In March 2024, she developed long covid dysautonmia (a post-viral dysfunction of the nervous system) that caused a myriad of ongoing cardiac and neurological symptoms, which further compounded the neurological symptoms that she was already experiencing from the chiari malformation. 

Then, in August 2024 she sustained a concussion and upper neck injury that caused acute trauma to her brain and rendered her unable to function. The injury triggered sudden mental changes, confusion and difficulty speaking, burning nerve pain in her head and arms, difficulty walking, sleeping, and eating, and other distressing symptoms. From the day of the injury forward, she has not been able to work and had to immediately close down her acupuncture practice. Although she has thankfully made some improvements over the past year, she is still experiencing dizziness, vertigo, loss of balance, head and neck pain, vibrations in her brainstem, nerve tingling throughout her body, loud ringing in her ears, vision issues, heart palpitations, numbness in both hands, and extreme fatigue.

In July 2025, while coordinating care with her team of doctors to address her neurological condition, she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma breast cancer and must now postpone the surgery for her brain condition for at least 6 months while she undergoes chemotherapy and surgical cancer treatment, double mastectomies, followed by longterm medical management to prevent the cancer from recurring.

She has already drained a great deal of her resources over the past year while she has been ill with her brain injury and needs help paying for ongoing health care expenses as well as general living expenses, such as rent, food, and gas for at least the next 1-2 years.

After recovery, if there are any remaining funds, they will be used to help rebuild her acupuncture practice, so that she can continue her lifelong work of being of service to others. 

In addition, a small portion of your donation will go towards caring for the kitten that Joy found sick and abandoned outside last winter (you can see a photo of little Lily in the accompanying pictures). Lily has been a great companion for Joy during this challenging time and has helped keep her spirits up!

Joy wants to express how incredibly grateful she is to all those who have come forward with support and caring! She adds that she “much prefers treating patients than being one” and looks forward to the day when she can return to helping others.

Please share this GoFundMe fundraiser on social media and with anyone who you believe would be interested in donating. Thank you so very much!