THANK YOU ALL! This need has been met!

Anna is a bright, kind eighteen year old. She has been diagnosed with a cascade of medical issues over the past four years... unfortunately, she continues to live in chronic and excruciating pain. She is at the point where she is limiting activities that she used to enjoy- including horseback riding and playing cello-because her pain is too severe to continue at the level she would like to be at. Instead of two hours a day playing cello, it's twenty minutes- and that wipes her out. She wants to do endurance rides on her horse, but is limited to very occasional, limited rides.

She spends part of every day in tears, because her pain is unbearable. She has not had one pain-free day since August 2021. She feels as if she's lost her high school years to pain, and she is so very tired. It's relentless. A healthy person would be on the floor howling with the pain she wakes up in- and she gets up and functions like that. Day after day.

So far, she has seen an OBGYN, rheumatologist, cardiologist, ophthalmologist, neurologist, two different gastrointestinal docs, geneticist, hematologist-oncologist and a NORD doctor.

She has been diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers Danlos, Celiac Disease, Hemochromatosis (she is loading iron in her organs), dysautonomia, pelvic congestion syndrome, and her primary care provider believes she has Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.

There is a medical group in Manhattan who specialize in diagnosing rare disorders- some of which have treatments that could potentially help improve her quality of life. We had a tele-visit and discussed the possibility of them being able to help her- at this point, she has seen so many different specialists that we are overwhelmed and exhausted. Many of them practice on the other side of the state. (Wait 6 months, see a doc for an hour and maybe get diagnosed with a new misery...)

Unfortunately, none of her diagnosed conditions explain the type and location of pain that she has in her joints and muscles.

Focus Diagnostic Medicine does not accept insurance, because insurance does not cover the type of puzzle-solving work that they do. They charge a one-time fee that covers hundreds of hours and up to a year of their time working on a patient's case. After listening to her story and asking a lot of great questions, the physician we spoke to said that he believes they can help her.

We are hoping to raise money towards the up-front cost of figuring out "the rest of the puzzle." There is a phrase in medicine: "When you hear hoofbeats, think "horses."" Sadly, in Anna's case, nothing is simple or straightforward. Her "hoofbeats" are from ZEBRAS! She needs a physician with a knack for figuring out puzzles and the time required to do some digging. We've taken the traditional route to seeing individual specialists, but are still digging for the cause of her pain.

Thank you all for considering supporting Anna in her search for health and wellness...and, hopefully, relief from pain. Any funds donated will go directly towards paying the up-front fee for Focus Diagnostic Medicine, and towards any expenses her health insurance does not cover. The fee is $15,000. We are able to pay $5,000 of that fee ourselves, so have adjusted our fundraising goal accordingly.