Help Kayla-CFS/FMS medical bills.

My name is Kayla. I have an invisible disability and am being denied financial assistance. I need help. I'm in a low place, but I know that when I get back on my feet, I will pay it forward. 

Here is my story.

At the age of 22, I landed my dream job: music teacher. I'd wanted to teach band to kids since I was one of those kids myself. My passion for music pushed me through a vigorous four year program at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. I knew I had made the right career choice and loved my job. Only a few months later, my co-worker (The choir teacher) and I both came down with infectious mononucleosis. Being a young, healthy lady, I figured I'd be back to work in a few weeks. Unfortunately, I only got worse. I slept days at a time, became dehydrated and malnourished because I was unable to get out of bed. The worst part was thinking about my new students at school, having to endure a merry-go-round of substitute teachers. I knew I could teach them so much, if I could just get to school. After a few months, I forced myself to teach, only driving myself into a deeper, debilitating condition. My throat and lymph nodes were swollen, my eyes glued shut, and my body in severe pain. I saw over half a dozen doctors and was repeatedly diagnosed with depression. It's frustrating being told something is all in your head, when you clearly know something is very wrong. After a year of teaching on and off (mostly off) I was finally accepted at the Mayo Clinic for an internal medicine consultation. In the few days I spent there, everything possible was ruled out, leading my doctor to diagnose me with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. A few short weeks later, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I had widespread pain all over my body, tingling nerves and huge amounts of cognitive impairment. Within the month, I was asked to resign my position at the school to focus on my health. What followed was a period of severe depression. I was bed ridden for months.

In the absolute darkest and deepest point of my depression, I made a life-altering decision to follow my true passion: making people laugh. I moved to New York City and tried to make it as a comedian. I know what you're thinking: what kind of crazy person would do a thing like that? Let me tell you that it saved me. It did wonders for my emotional health. Unfortunately, my career as a comedian was cut short when I ignored my CFS symptoms and drove myself into another diagnosis of Mono and something called coxsackievirus.

Around that time I found out that several teachers, including my successor, had gotten very ill like I had, which led to a mold investigation. Large amounts of Black Mold were discovered in my classroom. The other teachers and I looked into compensation or legal recourse, but the laws in that state regarding mold cases required more proof than we would ever be able to obtain.

I cannot work full-time. There is nothing I want more than to just work again. I'm lucky if I can even get up and leave the house once a week. Sometimes it's more. Sometimes it's less.

I applied for Social Security Disability and was immediately denied. I filed an appeal with a highly respected New York CFS specialist as my advocate, but I'm not sure what my odds of winning are. I'm young, and on the outside it looks like there's nothing wrong with me. Sadly, the people making the decisions about my future and my finances will never be able to empathize with the battle that my body, my mind, and my spirit wage every single day. My waiting time to make my case in front of a Administrative Law Judge is currently 15 months and my debts are piling up with no income.

There is another insurance company that owes me thousands of dollars of back checks but they are refusing to release them to me and I'm in the middle of my final appeal.

I guess I'm running out of options, because I never thought I would ever be desperate enough to ask anyone for money, especially strangers. But there you have it. It may be long-winded, but there is my story.

Thank you eternally for your time.