Help Kate Stay Afloat & Heal

Hi, my name is Kate Cunningham and my family has had one heck of a health journey... Our story is pretty complicated, but I will do my best to explain it here. Before I explain how he got here, you should know that this year:

- Our 8 year old son, Otto, had a serious knee procedures this year (many more to follow) to correct his leg length and spine. He has 2 rare diseases (Hemihypertrophy & Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome).

- Our 3 year old daughter, Fern, was diagnosed with autism, Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome & severe sleep apnea. In September she underwent a very risky procedure to clear her airway remove her tonsils and adenoids. Her oxygen levels were at 88% before surgery, and she was stopping breathing over a hundred times an hour and her sleep.

* Both children have recovered beautifully, but their health journeys are far from over. Our 6 year old son, Ancil, is doing great!

This year, we discovered that I have some pretty serious health issues going on... I will tell you about where I currently am and what our plans are, but it is also important for you to know my health history so you know how risky my upcoming procedure is...

For past 3 years, I have been experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding non stop. I have gone to the emergency room a handful of times where I was very close to needing a blood transfusion. I have had an excruciating abdominal and pelvic pain, non-stop nausea, chest pain, migraines, and very suspicious growths in my breast, uterus and cervix. After seeing several different specialists, tons of blood tests, imaging, etc... We have discovered that I have been bleeding way too much for way too long and it is becoming extremely dangerous for my other organs. I already have a heart condition and device in my heart, so losing that much blood (especially for that long) is not good. I have a uterus that is full of polyps and tumors. I have a cervix that is covered in cysts. My right breast has some growths that we are going to keep watching. I have been on Eliquis (blood) now for 3 years and I have to be on it lifelong (will explain below), we know that contributes to the bleeding, but that is not the only reason why I'm having so much blood loss.

Last week, I went to Cleveland Clinic main campus to meet my specialist who will be performing my surgery. He only performs high risk hysterectomies. I was supposed to get my surgery today last week, but after reviewing my chart and medical history --- he is making me get a procedure on December 6th is being extremely cautious with my case. he basically told me that if I do not get this procedure, I'll continue to keep bleeding and having to complications serious situations down the road, but if I get the procedure I could die and I have a very high chance of having complications (some of which are very life-threatening). Why? Let me explain...

In 2011, I had a stroke. A blood clot from my leg went through a huge hole in my heart and straight to my brain. I had a heart procedure where they implanted a device called an Amplatzer (to close the hole in my heart).

In 2018, after giving birth to my daughter, I flatlined and they had to bring me back. I lost over 3 L of bloodneeded a life-saving blood transfusion. Due to the blood loss I went into cardiac arrest. While I was recovering in the hospital, my gallbladder almost exploded and I had to have it removed. After I had been home for a week, I had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in your lung) that almost killed me. As a result of all of my birth trauma and all of the procedures that they had to perform to save my life, I developed severe PTSD and went into postpartum psychosis. because I have had two life-threatening blood clotting events, I am on Eliquis (blood thinner) for the rest of my life. Without it, I have a high probability of developing and life threatening blood clot. Which brings me to why this procedure is so risky...

In December, I am going to have a full hysterectomy. My hysterectomy is not your run of the mill hysterectomy... it is extremely high risk and complicated. For starters, you have to be on a tilt table for the procedure. You are positioned so that your head is tilted down and the lower half of your body is up. while you were in that position blood rushes to your brain. If you have a history of stroke, this is extremely dangerous. I have a device in my heart. I need to be off blood thinners at least a week before surgery (I will be in the hospital for this), to prevent me from bleeding out like I did last time... When I tell you that I bled to death, I literally mean that I bled to death. but when I'm not on blood thinners, and when you have any type of surgery you increase your chance of developing blood clots, the chances of being developing a blood clot during this procedure are very high. Because my blood situation is so complicated, they want you keep me in the hospital for a week before surgery, I will have a week of recovery in the hospital after the surgery where they will start introduce my blood thinners again and make sure that I don't have any bleeding issues while I am at the hospital. This also risky because it will be my 8th abdominal surgery.

My recovery is not going to be fun. both of the size of my uterus and all of the growths (which they are biopsying on December 6th), it means that my hysterectomy cannot be minimally invasive. I cannot lift anything due to my risk of bleeding. I am being set home with a lot of things that will make sure that I have the least chance I possibly can for developing a blood clot at home. I will require a lot of care and assistance. they told me to plan on at least 8 weeks of recovery, two of which will be in the hospital.

We are a family of 5. My husband works full time and has already missed so much work because of Fern and Otto's health needs and procedures this year. I will be out of commission for at least 2 months and unable to bring in the extra income with my business. While my husband is working, I am in bed recovering, we will need help with child care and pet care. I own a small business in town that is thriving and doing great, but I have a lot of overhead and an amazing employee. The medication that I take is very expensive. This is all happening during the holiday season.

I should have taken care of myself 3 years ago, but part of the reason I didn't was because I was so afraid about how my family was going to be taking care of order for me to take care of myself. it has become abundantly clear that the longer this goes on, the longer that I put it off, the riskier it becomes and the less likely it will end on a positive note.

If I'm being honest, I'm scared to death. The Iast time I almost died I didn't have anything in order, so I am doing my best to prepare for both outcomes and still remaining positive. I have been doing my best to make sure I'm getting everything organized on my end, but I know I will not be able to focus on my own care and getting better so that I can be here to physically take care of my family if I am so worried about keeping everything afloat. We are very fortunate to a successful small business and for Kristoff to have a great job, but the cost of living is ridiculous and we are not in a position where either of us can lose income for 2+ months. I want to be able to focus on getting healthy. I want to make sure that we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, lights and heat... That my business stays afloat... I can't put my health off any longer. If I do, I won't be here for my children.

Nobody wants to ask for help. I have a lot of pride, but I love my beautiful kiddos more. we love our community, and we have always enjoyed helping others in our community and have been so grateful when we have been helped in the past. I'm hoping that if you are in a position to donate, you will. If not, I totally understand because this is an incredibly difficult time for so many. Either way, please share our story. I am going to attach some photos of my beautiful family. If you have any questions feel free to reach out. If you are someone who is going through something similar, reach out. If you are coming across this and you have a child with a rare disease and you need support, reach out. Sending you all lots of love. Thank you for reading our story.