Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E.) is a seriously debilitating and complex neuroimmune disease with 200+ symptoms. It has the lowest quality of life score, and in its severe forms, it is one of the most profound states of disability found in medicine. 

Shortly after her 22nd birthday, Mae’s body collapsed due to this disease. She has been bedridden ever since and unable to care for herself. She cannot walk, talk, eat, or bathe. She has been without proper care or medical help for almost a year, leaving her condition to rapidly deteriorate.

She does not have access to necessary interventions and is relying on the support of others to survive. There are only a handful of specialists worldwide, and hospitals are not equipped to treat this. Without prompt treatment, her condition can be fatal.

Mae still has a chance to regain her ability and be a part of life once more. She is an artist and writer—all she wants is to be able to create again. She only recently came to the scene but quickly made her mark on the art world, with several gallery exhibitions, publications, and awards. She wants the world to know she is not done being an artist and still has so much more to create and offer.

Please help her by donating what you can and sharing her story with others.

“I still have life to me—I deserve to live it. Keep the artist within M.E. alive.” - Mae

Your donation will go towards covering the costs of necessary treatments, such as: specialty medications, hypoallergenic formula & tube feed, full-time caregiver, medical services, and more.

It will also hopefully give Mae a chance to regain her ability and create once more—helping to keep the artist in her alive, making sure her gift isn’t lost from the world.

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**Mae is in IMMEDIATE NEED of a CAREGIVER/HOME HEALTH and KNOWLEDGEABLE PHYSICIAN(s).

If you have information regarding a physician who can help/has dealt with complex conditions and offers home visits/telehealth or doesn’t require in-office, please contact the provided email

and include “MECFS Physician Info” in the subject line.

If you have information regarding a caregiver who can help, or someone who assists with accessing disability services, please contact the provided email

and include “Caregiver/Home Health Info” in the subject line.

| Contact: https://linktr.ee/MaeHeartsArt

Mae welcomes messages of all kinds but has to conserve her energy. If you have pertinent information regarding MECFS, caregiver, disability services, or housing, please include “MECFS Info” in the subject line.

She thanks you for your support.

| Artist Info

Website: www.KenzieDoodleArts.com

Socials (IG/FB): @Mae_Hearts_Art

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| More About Mae and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Mae has been severely ill with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis since age 16 and hasn’t been a part of the world ever since. She went from being valedictorian, attending a top school in the country, to being unable to read long texts or perform basic algebraic equations. She was the varsity player you could count on and place in any spot, now she gets lactic acid from using eye drops, opening pill bottles, or typing on her phone. People from her past described her as “athletic” and “sporty,” now doctors who have never once been as active as her call her deconditioned. Now, people only see a sick girl—one without any color, energy, or life.

Since 17, her life has been nothing but doctors’ offices and hospitals—navigated all alone without the support of another. She watched as her peers graduated and went off to college; meanwhile, she was stuck in life and couldn’t figure out why. Others her age got to form new connections and build life experiences, but the only time she saw a new face or traveled somewhere was when she was seeing a new provider. She has been dealing with enormous grief for the past six years, witnessing the loss of her life and having it labeled as a personal shortcoming, rather than receiving the support and care she deserves.

All her free time was spent between messaging physicians or researching conditions and treatments—trying to find an answer. The average doctor told her all her concerns were “psychosomatic” and would go away if she stressed less. The good doctors told her that her conditions were too severe for them to manage, so she needed to find help elsewhere.

Now at 22, Mae’s situation is dire. After years of being failed and dismissed by medical providers—leaving her without proper treatment or care—her body finally gave out. She needs life support but is unable to access it. She cannot travel due to her severity, so her specialists have stopped prescribing her medications, and she is left without help from providers or any medical care. She has extreme sensitivity to sound, scent, vibration, touch, and light. She cannot make facial expressions, laugh, or cry. She cannot consume any form of media, including: music, television, reading, audiobooks, social media, etc. She can only use her phone a few seconds at a time when necessary. She cannot be upright and has to be completely reclined at all times. She spends all her time managing symptoms in an isolated room that is kept dark and quiet. Left alone with her thoughts and anger at all who let her get to this point.

The doctors who told her it was all in her head, who have now left her for dead as she is confined to her bed. Her family who only prioritized school/work and never her health or wellbeing. Her friends who left her behind, knowing all that she was going through. She got to this point because of being continuously failed and neglected by the systems and people around her.

For the past several years, Mae’s life has been nothing but a Severe survival. She needs support now more than ever to help her survive and ensure she gets to continue on with her life. That despite all she’s been put through, she gets to continue on with a better life—one with proper support, treatment, and care.

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From Mae:

“Imagine you are confined to your bed—You have all your dreams of life still circulating about within you, but you are unable to do anything about them. While others can rest in their bed, yours has become an open wound that never seems to heal you. You want to do something—anything—but your body will not let you. You cannot communicate or advocate for yourself, and if you can, it is several months too late. Only you know how you feel and what you need, but you have to rely on others to assume; you cannot get upset each time they get it wrong because you are left without energy to do anything about it.

The world moves at an everlasting pace that you cannot keep up with. You are an hourglass that’s been knocked over surrounded by ticking clocks that never stop. You are a lead block in a world of feathers telling you to ‘just float.’ Others tell you life is about simple things—to stop and smell the roses—but you do not have the privilege. You cannot hear the morning birds or watch sunsets. You cannot gaze up at the stars at night or hear the crickets chirp. You are not a part of the world. They tell you to keep a positive attitude, even though you have been left behind. To keep hope, but you forget the sky is blue.

You remember all the negligent doctors who failed you and have now left you to die. They get to say they help people, though you know it is a lie. Your prescriptions have stopped being filled, and you’re left to manage everything alone, just like you have been from the start. You have alarming symptoms that you cannot share with others because they will tell you it’s all in your head. You need hospital-level care and life-saving interventions, but once you reach this level of severity, you’re treated like you’re already dead. Everyone you reach out to ghosts you, whether it be healthcare workers or those you thought you were close to.

Light, whether artificial or natural, is enough to send your heart rate through the roof. The sound of someone sneezing, or a plastic bottle popping, jolts you and sends a wave of pain throughout your whole body. The smell of something from three rooms away is enough to make you entirely nauseous and even cause a severe allergic reaction. Your body is in anaerobic exhaustion 24/7, leaving you with constant lactic acid pain through your legs and arms, making doing anything nearly impossible. Digestion is a full body workout—even if it’s only liquid—since you can’t eat solid food.

Everything wants to make you cry out, but you don’t have the energy for this. Your body has become a cage to your soul. You experience muscle spasms so intense, you almost wonder if the disease is trying to escape, trying to find a way out to offer you peace. You wonder if you will ever get peace. Will it come through life or death? You don’t know.”

Even with all these descriptors, this disease cannot be truly understood until you live it yourself.

Spread awareness of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis—there are countless others just like Mae. They are all part of the #MillionsMissing

Don’t forget what she says;

“I still have life to me—I deserve to live it.”