Several years ago I was sedentary, lacking motivation, and severely overweight before deciding to revise my priorities and place emphasis on health and fitness. After committing to eating clean and training hard my physical and mental wellness improved significantly. I was soon maintaining an expected weight, participating in Spartan Races (AROO!), and passionately happy about my future. My new lifestyle helped me build confidence, find purpose, and gain self-worth.

In order to continue working towards my long-term health and fitness goals, at the beginning of 2016 I sought medical attention for an injury incurred after many races over the course of 2015. Upon visiting an orthopedic and sports medicine specialist it was clear my long-term goals would be placed on hold indefinitely.

To understand why I experienced intense pain while using my arm for day-to-day activities, which became more excruciating against resistance, I received 4 MRIs revealing the following factors contributing to my symptoms:
 - Severely chronic tendon degeneration
 - Varying degrees of fraying and tearing
 - Spans of bone marrow edema
 - Many areas of impingement
 - Significant inflammation

With multiple medical opinions I ceased all training involving my upper-body and received the following treatments to support the long healing process before I could again work towards my long-term goals.
 - 2 Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injections
 - 1 Cortisone injection
 - 6 months of Physical Therapy (PT)
 - Several prescription medications and supplements
 - Significant reduction in extremity involvement

To assist these treatments and promote adequate recovery, my doctors recommended I take time off from work. As a result, I have been on medical disability leave for the past 3 months.

Unfortunately, due to the resistant and chronic nature of my injuries I still experience incredible pain despite the treatments I’ve received. Additional medical opinions suggest my injuries will require more invasive and risky procedures (options below) before I will regain pain-free use of my arm, permission to return to work, or the ability to resume training.
 - Prolotherapy injections
 - Platelet Lysate injections
 - Amniotic allografts
 - Adipose/Bone marrow aspirations and injections
 - Surgical debridement/reattachment

At the beginning of 2016, I was excited, focused, and motivated to continue working towards my long-term goals. After struggling through the past year, I feel discouraged, depressed, and hopeless. Whether I ultimately achieve my long-term goals is irrelevant; at the moment chronic injury prevents me from trying and that’s far more debilitating because I feel I’ve given up on myself.

It’s difficult to expose vulnerability, but my long-term goals mean everything to me and I don’t want to give up on them. It’s hard asking for help, but I need assistance affording the best medical care in order to live day-to-day pain-free. I’ll never be able to adequately describe how much your kindness and generosity will be appreciated or how thankful I will be for your help along my quest to achieve my long-term goals.

#HelpKyleHeal

If you're uncomfortable contributing through GoFundMe, I am also accepting donations via Venmo (@kylejgabriel) and mail.

Can you spare $1, $5, $10, or more? Please help me in anyway you can; every little bit counts!