Support Noelle’s long COVID battle and financial hardships!

As a child it is impossible to comprehend the horrors life can hold.

I had seen pets die, but animals, sadly, have shorter life spans than humans. We weren’t supposed to have to set up a hospital bed in the living room for dad. We were supposed to have decades left of life to live with him. My father died of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma one week after I turned 21. Almost immediately afterwards my mother got sick. Doctors found a rare form of cancer in the biliary ducts of her liver. We were able to get her a liver transplant, which we hoped would be a cure. She died one month later. Her death was sudden, unexpected, and traumatic. In the span of twenty minutes my only sister and I became unfathomably alone. We were young, life was tumultuous, and we needed our parents.

I still need my parents. I miss them every single day.

I got sick at the same age my parents were when they received their diagnoses. I have Long Covid but with an assortment of unexplained medical oddities I inherited from my family. The future is an uncertain and frightening thing to contemplate at the moment.

I was raised in a small town in Michigan, surrounded with love. My parents instilled a strong moral compass in me. I got my first job at the age of 14 and have loved working ever since. The Butzlaff’s have a strong reputation in Michigan, a reputation that I fit right into.

In 2014 I moved to California to be by the most important person in my life, my sister. She and her husband had their first baby, Tristan, and little Aidan would be soon to follow. I transitioned comfortably into a Californian. I was with my tribe. I got a job and worked hard to expand my support system. My social circle grew, and before I knew it I had a large network of friends.

Six years later, covid hit. Working in the service industry it did not take long for myself and my coworkers to become affected. My first round of Covid took me out of commission for three months. I do not even remember the first month of my illness. Covid transitioned into Long

Covid. Fevers, uncontrollable shaking, and full body aches became a nightly routine. My immune system, already weak from the genetic lottery, responded to Long Covid with GI and liver issues, pneumonia, bronchitis, kidney infections, and kidney stones. It became the worst

year of my life.

I’ve done everything in my power to keep my life on track, but I simply have not felt like myself since my initial infection. Despite getting every vaccine and booster, religiously wearing a mask, and self isolating as much as humanly possible, I was still somehow catching various strains of Covid as the pandemic rages on. My symptoms, both physical and cognitive, are continuing to worsen and no one seems to know how to slow it down. It’s terrifying.

Things took a turn for the worse when I was no longer able to keep food down. I was forced to go on disability as my health team and I looked for answers. A new host of problems presented themselves. I had H-Pylori (which required three rounds of treatment), a gallstone blocking my bile duct, and a bacterial infection in my gallbladder that lead to its subsequent removal. Since then I’ve been undergoing a barrage of tests: HIDA Scans, MRIs on my brain and abdomen, an

ERCP, Ultrasounds, colonoscopies, the list goes on. My health team consists of a GI specialist, a neurologist, a rheumatologist, therapist, psychiatrist, PCP, and UCLA’s long Covid specialist.

I no longer have any idea what is in store for me each day. Doctors are still learning the full effects of long covid on the human body. Some days I feel mostly fine, convinced the fifteen pills I now take daily are finally having their intended effect. Other days the fever returns and I find myself sweating and doubled over in pain. I want desperately to return to the person I used to be, but my body doesn’t know how to yet. California has an unfortunately high cost of living but I must remain here for both my insurance and my various doctors.

Every day I wake up and cry. I no longer have a plan. In two months I will not have the money to pay for my bills, my doctors, my insurance, my rent, anything. My partner has a minimum wage job and contributes what she can, but my mounting medical debt is overwhelming both of us. This is the time I wish my mom and dad were here to provide extra love and support. My parents would be so proud of my found family. I’m so grateful to all of my friends, but especially my sister, Beth, and her husband. They’ve provided me with so much guidance, love, and

support. I am forever grateful to them.

My Michigan friends and family, my Sheraton Crew, my Disney Team, and my restaurant friends are truly my family. I cannot express what these people have done for me. I could not have survived these past two years without them. I am so so thankful for them.

If you’re reading this, I’m thankful for you, too.