I’m in the darkest place of my life with no light at the end of the tunnel. August 2020, I began feeling stomach pains every few days or so and didn’t think much of it as I thought it was just indigestion. Just before the start start of the new school year the pain frequency was every day and my stomach ballooned out to almost triple it’s size when we went to the hospital. I was admitted right away and a tube put down my throat to relieve the pressure from my gut. A CT scan and X-ray showed I had a partial blockage of my small intestines and the doctors said it will basically go away and to eat only liquids such as rice congee. They sent me home after a week but the pain and abdominal distention didn’t go away. I worked for a few weeks taking pain meds and in constant agony until I couldn’t take it any longer and then went to another hospital where I was admitted again and have a tube inserted down my throat. CT scans, X-ray, colonoscopy and an endoscopy showed nothing wrong with my stomach or intestines on the inside. Stayed in hospital for 3 weeks while begging the doctor to operate. They didn’t want to do they again sent me home in pain. I tried to go back to work but lasted all of a few days and was back in hospital again, this time a 3rd hospital. My wife and I begged them to operate and only after 2 weeks and IV nutrition injections did they finally perform a laparoscopic surgery. By this time it was December 3rd I was admitted. The surgery was done just before Christmas. Originally they said they removed part of my small intestines but because of lack of translation with the Chinese doctors I was told later that they removed my appendix. Apparently my appendix was inflamed which caused an inflammation around a part of my intestines which caused the area of my intestines to stick or adhere together so that part wouldn’t move. I was sent home on Christmas Day even though I was still in extreme pain but given pain meds. I tried to go back to work but the pain was debilitating and kept me off my feet so I took a leave of absence. We went to another internal medicine doctor who could speak English and she immediately took me off the pain meds because they were actually making the pain worse by making me more constipated. All the while my stomach looked like and felt like I was carrying a basketball or a 20 pound bag of rocks. Extreme pain and lack of nutrition had me bed ridden for weeks and no meds would help. By this time it is the middle of February and during Chinese New Year— 6 months since this ordeal began. Again I tried to go back to work for a day but simply couldn’t because of the agony and weakness. Our doctor then said the only way to relieve tiis would eventually be to detach my intestines from my stomach and carry an ostomy bag for the rest of my life. Soon after I was rushed to the emergency and again a tube down my throat and IV nutrition infusion while I begged to have the ostomy procedure to be done. The Doctor didn’t want to do it so I was sent home again with the same medicines I have been prescribed since August of 2020. This time the size of my stomach went down slightly and I had some relief from the pain but it was still bothering me. I was able to go 1 week with pain at about a 5 out of 10 on the scale and it seemed I could manage daily activities even with the pain. By now it is March 2021. I went back to work for 2 days that week and struggled and labored just to get through the day but was able to do it. The pain however and my weakness from lack of being able to eat anything had me bed ridden this past weekend which was my daughter’s 6th year birthday party. It is now March 7th, nearly 7 months since my ordeal began and I can’t see me getting any better. Doctor still got me on the same meds and nothing helps with the pain or my weakness. We have spent thousands on Doctor visits, hospital stays, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and medicines with no relief. My friends and colleagues here in China have been awesome and so supportive to me and my family that I don’t know how I could ever repay them with their generosity and kindness. My marriage has suffered dearly because of my illness and I am not sure if ever it would be normal again. I may lose my job because some schools here may not want to keep a teacher on contract if they are sick and can’t teach. If I lose my job here, the life my family and I built over the past 7 years would be gone because our house is supplied as per my work contract with the school and would be taken away. We can’t rent the place because rent is double what my wife earns in a month. My daughter will lose her education and basically we would have to go back to my wife’s “village” in the countryside to live with her family. I also have been waiting for 4 years to get my little inheritance from my mother’s estate so I can give to my wife and daughter so they may be able to at least have some money to put towards a home for when I pass away but that has been a struggle with the estate trustees back in Canada. To end this post I just want to share that at this point in my saga, the pain is so excruciating I struggle just to get through teaching one class. My only hope is that I can get the inheritance I am entitled to and give to my wife so I can begin to go onto a long term disability as I’m physically unable to work. Such sadness that I have such a beautiful family and wonderful daughter that  endure this agony to the point that each minute of each day is a struggle just to survive. My friends see me and say I look better than before but little do they know that I am masking the pain behind a fake smile and bravado when I am at work and that as soon as I get home, I curl up on the bathroom floor crying out in shear agony for some sort of relief.  I though I was strong enough to endure but I was wrong. I battled cancer (lymphoma) 3 years ago and survived but this battle is too much to bear. I’m asking the kind community out there to help to donate to my go fund me to help with future medical expenses and financial help to secure a solid base of a future for my wife Cici and daughter Matilda to have enough to buy them a house in her home province in China. In the meantime I continue to try to find any relief for the pain and regular hospital and emergency room visits. Thank you all for your kindness.