Help Save SPC Phillips' Life and Health

Help SPC Phillips Survive After Medical Negligence

Hi, my name is Selena, and I’m reaching out to ask for your help in supporting my incredible friend, SPC Tacinda Phillips. Due to medical negligence and failed leadership in the military with her care, her life has been turned upside down, and now she’s fighting every day just to stay alive.

Her journey started with a terrible decision by leadership: AT basic training, she was issued boots that were 3 sizes too small. Despite the excruciating pain and foot injuries this caused, they refused to let her get new boots. She ended up enduring broken bones and torn tendons, but leadership continued to ignore her pleas for proper medical treatment. By the time she finally got the care she needed, the damage was permanent. She pushed through unimaginable pain just to avoid being medically discharged. Her dream was to help others as a nurse and combat medic and all she did was want to help others.

Unfortunately, that was only the beginning. From medications prescribed to manage pain and surgery, she developed adrenal insufficiency, a life-threatening condition where her body no longer produces enough cortisol. Without cortisol, her heart rate, blood pressure, and other critical functions can fail, and now puts her at constant risk of adrenal shock, which could kill her without immediate treatment. She now takes medication every day just to stay alive, and she has to carry an emergency injection with her at all times. There have been multiple times where she has almost lost her life.

Although she finally received proper care after arriving at her current unit, it was too late—the damage to her body was already done. She has had numerous surgeries to reconstruct the damage. In the past year alone, she has had 5 surgeries, which resulted in hospitalization, two DVT's, and multiple adrenal crisis. In her most recent surgery, an anesthesiologist made a mistake with her medication and sent her into a week-long adrenal crisis. Then, a person supposed to be assisting her forgot her medication, triggering another adrenal shock that nearly killed her. In addition to this craziness, an endocrinologist (whom she no longer is seeing due to this event) failed to prescribe the emergency steroid. Luckily, another provider of hers did, and her friend was there to administer it.

As if this weren’t enough, the overuse of steroids has caused permanent heart and liver damage. She recently suffered a heart attack, which her cardiologist attributed directly to the steroids she had to take. Now, she’s also dealing with hyperthyroidism (caused by adrenal insufficiency), insulin resistance, infertility, and dangerously high heart markers. Her overall health is declining, and she’s struggling with extreme fatigue, dizziness, migraines, blurred vision, nausea, and cognitive issues.

She is now wheelchair-bound and can no longer work or take care of herself. Her husband is currently deployed, and they have no idea when he’ll be able to come home. Despite his unwavering emotional support, she’s facing this nightmare without him by her side. With only his income, and facing mounting medical bills, she needs urgent help to survive.

Right now, she requires close to 24/7 on call care, but she simply can’t afford it. She’s paying over $2,000 a month for part-time caregiving, out of pocket costs for her current endocrinologist, and more. The VA has refused to cover the cost of a $10,000 medical alert service dog, which could actually save her life by detecting adrenal crises. As of now, they won’t cover her caregiver costs, leaving her and her family drowning in debt from medical expenses and caregiving fees.

Continuous failures have put her in this position, and now she’s paying the price with her health and her life. Her dream was to bravely serve her country and was not given a chance. This time, she’s the one who needs help.

Please, if you can, donate to help cover her service dog, caregiving expenses, and medical bills. Any amount you can give will help ease the burden she’s carrying and provide her with the care she desperately needs. Thank you so much for your support and kindness.