hi guys!

my name is steph i am a pediatric registered nurse and I was born with a genetic autoimmune disease that has resulted in multiple life-long, and sometimes debilitating, chronic illnesses. I have struggled with the consequences of this my entire life, and I just recently underwent my 20th surgery.

I was in the hospital for 4 days (after spending a night in ICU) and this unfortunately came with a whole lot of complications. I went home and was readmitted a day later. Unfortunately, this time was much more serious. I ended up intubated and on a ventilator for 3 days in the neurological ICU at Northwestern Hospital. I was not prepared to be in the hospital for an entire week, with 3 different ICU admissions, and consequently I am going to be off work for longer than expected.

I have been managing all of this on my own my whole life, but I live independently and now require home health services and physical and occupational therapy to help me get back to day-to-day functioning.

However, this has become incredibly expensive. Between the gas to get to my almost daily appointments, paying for parking each time, medical equipment, medications, co-pays and shared costs for all of the imaging and hospital bills, it has become almost impossible to keep up with all of the bills.

I know everyone is in the midst of their own battles, and the world is not kind to anyone at the moment, but anything that can be shared is greatly appreciated. Even just some kind and encouraging words can go a long way (:

Thank you, and with so much love,

Steph❤️