Help Skye Pay Medical Bills

Andrea A. is organizing this fundraiser.

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Since childhood, Skye has experienced numerous painful symptoms and physical disability issues that had gone undiagnosed until adulthood. Since last April, Skye has been finding specialists to determine the extent and prognosis of her disabilities, which have only degenerated her health due to insufficient research within the relevant fields. Of course, this was only made significantly more difficult because women and young people routinely have their symptoms and pain minimized by medical professionals. For example, Skye had to go through over a dozen different gynecologists before she could find one that would agree to perform the hysterectomy she received at age 21, despite them all agreeing the procedure would significantly reduce her pain levels and that it would be extremely unsafe for her to attempt to carry a child.

But despite receiving a hysterectomy (due to severe endometriosis), the surgeon did not remove her ovaries at that time. This surgeon also failed to advise her that the endometriosis could continue to appear on other organs, and the scar tissue from lesions has affected her digestive system and immobilized an ovary. After the surgery, she started showing other symptoms for PCOS, but it has taken until this year for a full diagnosis, as it required more specialized testing and a laparoscopic surgery to fully assess the severity. She is now set to have her ovaries removed due to recurring ovarian cysts from PCOS, which have frequently ruptured since she was 22, causing regular hospitalizations and treatment due to the excruciating pain and the danger of fluid in the abdomen. The severity of the PCOS and Endometriosis will still require treatment and monitoring over the remainder of her life, even after the ovaries are removed, as the hormonal changes and scarring put her at risk for other severe complications.

Listed below are just a few of the additional major health issues Skye is dealing with:

Severe Generalized Dystonia – an incurable hereditary disease that was not diagnosed until this year, well after the onset of severe symptoms that progressed quickly in the past few years. This neuromuscular disease causes all her muscles to be in a constant state of spasms and tremors, causing severe pain. On some days, the symptoms leave her unable to walk or stand, and severely impair hand coordination for tasks as simple as writing due to the tremors.
Severe Fibromyalgia – an incurable condition with few current treatment options other than pain management. The severity of her condition requires monitoring by a rheumatologist and her neurologist. The disease causes errors in communication between the nerves and brain, causing her constant debilitating levels of fatigue, narcolepsy, severe pain and sensitivity to touch, numbness in feet and hands restricting activity, and impairs cognitive functioning and memory.
GERD & Digestive Restriction – over the last few years Skye has battled with severe nausea and daily vomiting. The initial response to this from doctors was just to prescribe her small amounts of antinausea without further investigation. Additional specialized testing with nuclear medicine, including a HIDA scan, revealed that her GERD was severe and her gallbladder was malfunctioning at dangerous levels. Immediate surgery in January was required to remove it, and she is only now transitioning to a specialty diet with solid food.
hEDS – Ehler's Danlos Syndrome is a degenerative connective tissue disease that causes hypermobility and frequent dislocation of joints along with extreme skin sensitivity to light and bruising. It also has a degenerative effect on her eyesight, which now requires an opthamologist to treat due to deformation of her eyes. She must wear knee, ankle, and wrist braces with this condition to reduce dislocations as those areas have a long history of injury and trauma between the two major disorders.
Migraines – Skye was diagnosed with chronic migraines at age 11, however they have progressed with frequency and severity. We have learned that Generalized Dystonia is the biggest cause of these migraines, as it affects the neurological system and cervical muscles. She is on two top of the line medications from the neurologist to reduce the migraines, and an adjunct to treat migraines when they appear, though they all cause a side effect of fatigue, amplifying the fatigue already caused by her other disabilities (particularly Fibromyalgia).

Skye has been to many doctors and specialists over the last year and has done an extreme amount of testing, lab work, and medication trials to diagnose these issues finally, and the resulting diagnoses have been terrifying. These disorders have cost Skye her career and home, and she has had to move across the country to be in the full-time care of her grandmother, who has gone through all of her savings due to the treatments and medical bills. Skye has even applied for Social Security Disability 3 times and has been denied each time despite her extensive and overwhelming list of disabilities.

With the upcoming ovariectomy, various spine surgeries to pay for, and the cost of her med pickup being a few hundred dollars each month, this is a tremendous financial load for Skye and her grandmother to bear. We ask that if anyone has anything to spare to please donate, and 100% of all money made will go to Skye's medical expenses.

Thank you.