Hi everyone, my name is Karina and for the last year, I've lived with constant pain. We thought this pain was related to a recent diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), though no cysts could be found and an exploratory surgery ruled out endometriosis. Despite not having a clear answer for this chronic pain, I did my best to adapt under the assumption that it was PCOS and nothing more.

Then on May 12 of this year, my birthday, I tweaked my back while cleaning and started a whole new wave of increasingly worrisome symptoms such as swelling and numbness in my extremities, dizziness and weakness, and excruciating pain that started on my lower spine, that has since spread. Since then I've been to the emergency room multiple times. I've had an MRI of my spine taken and an X-ray of my hips. These came back normal. I've seen a general physician who was worried about the numbness and weakness in my extremities that has started to occur and recommended I see a neurologist as soon as possible.

Due to being in more of a rural location, there was a bit of a wait for this to happen and I had to go to the emergency room once again, only to be told that there was nothing more they could do and I had to wait for one of the two neurologists in the area to accept my referral.

By the time this happened, my symptoms had worsened to the point that I was having difficulty walking. What started as lower back pain had spread all throughout my back, legs, shoulders, and upper arms. I had difficulty feeling my feet and had waves of numbness radiating throughout my legs. My hands and feet were swollen and discolored. I often felt weak and far away from my own consciousness. I felt as if there was fire burning and spreading just below my skin, throughout the majority of my body. And every time I tried to sit, stand, or walk, it felt as though my spine was collapsing on itself. The speed at which these symptoms progressed terrified me.

During my appointment with the neurologist, she explained that I have multiple vitamin deficiencies. She thinks I may have fibromyalgia, but wants me to get more MRIs, this time focusing on my brain, and complete some other tests to test for autoimmune diseases and rule out disorders that are similar to fibromyalgia before giving a final diagnosis. She's given me vitamins to self-inject for now, to help get my levels back to normal as much as possible. These vitamins have been helping my weakness, but the majority of these issues are still present and there has been no change in my pain.

These tests require an estimated payment of $7,500 upfront. I have no insurance, and I've accrued a large number of expenses from the multiple emergency room visits as well as seeing the physician. The emergency room visits have totaled $19,065 thus far, and seeing the physician and completing lab work there has totaled $3,574. The prescriptions I've been given have completely drained what little money I had left from my student loans. I've been unable to work for more than a year at this point, and it's just been really hard to stay afloat through all of this. I know the amount I'm asking for is a lot, but I'm hoping to raise this amount to cover the upcoming tests, and prescriptions, and to help cover some of the backlogs of what I owe the hospital. I'm just so tired. And I'm scared. I don't know what's going on or if it will ever get better. More than anything I want to be able to function and to be able to get outside and do things that I enjoy again. I hope that you'll consider helping, and I hope you realize how grateful I'll be if you do. Thank you all for reading, I truly appreciate it.