Help Me Fight a Rare Fungal Infection

Friends and family,

I find myself in a position I never thought I’d be in, sitting in my hospital bed asking for your help. I am not a person who asks for help easily, I like to do the helping. That being said, I know times are tough for everyone these days, but I sure would appreciate anything you can do!

After getting sick two months ago, I developed a horrible sinus infection that wouldn’t go away, even with more than one kind of antibiotics and other medications. Some of you know I have had a lifetime of problems with my awful sinuses and have already had a few sinus surgeries. This time however, I have been horribly ill from the get go and in lots of pain. I broke down and went to urgent care despite the fact I had lost my health insurance. Then about a week later ended up at a local ER because I was worse and my eye was very swollen and painful.. Subsequently. I was admitted to the ICU within about half an hour of walking in the door. The infection is wreaking havoc on my body. My blood sugar and blood pressure were sky high too. They performed a couple CT scans and a couple MRIs, blood test after blood test and gave me five different kinds of IV antibiotics. After about a week at that hospital, I was transferred to a hospital in Tucson who has a state of the art ENT program as well as one of the best, if not the best ENT doctors in the country. It was determined that I have a very serious and very rare fungal sinus infection that had already spread to my eye causing a dangerous infection called, orbital cellulitis, my eye swelled shut. It was in the bones of my face, a couple teeth were infected and the big, very scary one, it had spread to my brain causing me to have fungal meningitis. So far I’ve been in the hospital around two weeks. I had surgery to remove as much of the infection as possible. They will continue to do more bloodwork, CTs, MRIs and likely multiple surgeries in the weeks to come all while I remain hospitalized. They have luckily found the correct anti fungal antibiotic for me, IV and pill form. I will need to be on these pills the rest of my life.

The hospital is working on getting emergency insurance approved, but I’m still on the hook for all kinds of things. That being said, I’m racking up bill after bill, not able to work and am still in horrible pain.

( Parts of me have improved.)

Once I’m released, probably in a couple more weeks, this will mean future trips to Tucson to see my team of doctors too.

I sit here very humbly asking for your help, no matter how big or small the donation, anything would help! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Appreciate everyone who takes the time to read this!