- B
Hello, kind strangers, friends, family and new friends. For those who do not know me, my name is Kristi - and I have been on quite the journey these past several years.
I am updating my campaign, because I'm still in need of desperate help due to the curveballs of life -- and while I hate asking others for help, I know that there is no shame in humbling yourself and asking, because miracles can happen, and people want to help. I know I want to help others, but I have no ability to help others financially right now as I cannot help myself due to my current circumstances as I'm drowning in medical and cost of living expenses as a result of the medical debt.
About four years ago, my life and health suddenly and mysteriously changed. My life was in danger, and I found myself unable to digest any form of vegetable or other food. All foods made me ill. It wasn't too bad at first - I had an annual wellness check at work and checked out healthy, with a healthy weight.
By end of that summer, I felt sick, and I was out of my mind due to stress, anxiety and illness. I had lost my ability to cope. I went to see my GP. The nurse weighed me, and to our shock, we discovered that from April to September I had dropped from 133 lbs to 105 lbs and I'd made no changes to my diet or exercise plan. I was referred to a gastroenterologist for testing. I had to wait a month.
By the time I saw my specialist and they weighed me, I was down to 95 pounds. I had to convince the specialist I wasn't anorexic. I was trying to eat food, but it was violently exiting my body and leaving me exhausted and afraid. I was put through every test over the next couple years. I've lost count of how many vials of blood that were drawn.
I tested negative for cancers. I tested negative for autoimmunes including Celiac. I went through endoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsies: they all showed normal. I had MRIs, CTs, MREs of my abdomen. I had many, many, many other tests, one of which finally confirmed what the primary problem behind my weight loss was: SIBO, or Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. The wrong type of bacteria was in my small bowel where nutrients are absorbed, and it had taken over, preventing my body from absorbing the fats I need to survive. I was put on a strong course of antibiotics to kill the SIBO. It worked - for now. Unfortunately, SIBO doesn't happen as an isolated event. There is a cause, and it cannot be cured until the cause is found. Unfortunately for my case, I tested negative for all those causes. We can only make a presumptive diagnoses that it is caused by the progression of a genetic disorder I was born with. I am "ahead of" medical science at this point - there is no test to prove this is what the cause is, and if this is the cause, there is no cure. I will have to be monitored for SIBO for the rest of my life. This means repeated visits to specialists and my GP to monitor the SIBO and my weight. I struggle to maintain it, and am in a very precarious position - if I lose anymore weight, I risk my life. Things I can do to try and prevent flare ups of SIBO include stress reduction - however this is hard because I have incurred tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt despite having an incredible benefit plan through the employer I had at the time, and then subsequently lost. I also have to eat an extremely specialized diet which is expensive. This doesn't help as I am yet again between jobs. Which of course, doesn't keep my stress low.
That brings me to this request that I have been putting off for far too long, because I don't want to burden others, and I know many who have it far worse than I. But - I need your help.
I will be using any donations towards paying down the medical debt that was incurred mostly within the first year and a half of the diagnosis and treatment phase. Anything that comes in that is over my fund-raising request, I will, in turn donate to another person who needs help paying of medical debt.
This is an on-going fundraiser - any money helps, as right now, with cost of living rising, I'm finding myself having to put rent and food on credit cards, while still paying on credit cards.
In addition to the struggle with medical debt, and trying to keep my body and organs functioning and fed with whatever nutrients my body is capable of absorbing, I have suffered repeated job losses due in part to my health challenges and the brain fog that results as a part of being consistently malnourished. This has caused me to fall further into debt as I've had to rely on credit cards to pay for expensive medical care, as well as housing and food. I desperately need help to get on top of my medical expenses so that the little income I make through freelance work can be extended beyond paying rent and gas, and buy me food to live off of and avert hopsital stays due to weight loss -- or worse, being admitted to eating disorder programs I can't afford.
I am grateful beyond words for any help you can give - it would mean so much to me, any way you can help, whether it is by prayer, sending your love or light, your gifts of money - would all lift me up as I struggle through this difficult time trying to balance both my health and keep a roof over my head.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this long introdcution. I appreciate you all so much.
Love and Blessings,
Kristi
I am updating my campaign, because I'm still in need of desperate help due to the curveballs of life -- and while I hate asking others for help, I know that there is no shame in humbling yourself and asking, because miracles can happen, and people want to help. I know I want to help others, but I have no ability to help others financially right now as I cannot help myself due to my current circumstances as I'm drowning in medical and cost of living expenses as a result of the medical debt.
About four years ago, my life and health suddenly and mysteriously changed. My life was in danger, and I found myself unable to digest any form of vegetable or other food. All foods made me ill. It wasn't too bad at first - I had an annual wellness check at work and checked out healthy, with a healthy weight.
By end of that summer, I felt sick, and I was out of my mind due to stress, anxiety and illness. I had lost my ability to cope. I went to see my GP. The nurse weighed me, and to our shock, we discovered that from April to September I had dropped from 133 lbs to 105 lbs and I'd made no changes to my diet or exercise plan. I was referred to a gastroenterologist for testing. I had to wait a month.
By the time I saw my specialist and they weighed me, I was down to 95 pounds. I had to convince the specialist I wasn't anorexic. I was trying to eat food, but it was violently exiting my body and leaving me exhausted and afraid. I was put through every test over the next couple years. I've lost count of how many vials of blood that were drawn.
I tested negative for cancers. I tested negative for autoimmunes including Celiac. I went through endoscopy and colonoscopy with biopsies: they all showed normal. I had MRIs, CTs, MREs of my abdomen. I had many, many, many other tests, one of which finally confirmed what the primary problem behind my weight loss was: SIBO, or Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. The wrong type of bacteria was in my small bowel where nutrients are absorbed, and it had taken over, preventing my body from absorbing the fats I need to survive. I was put on a strong course of antibiotics to kill the SIBO. It worked - for now. Unfortunately, SIBO doesn't happen as an isolated event. There is a cause, and it cannot be cured until the cause is found. Unfortunately for my case, I tested negative for all those causes. We can only make a presumptive diagnoses that it is caused by the progression of a genetic disorder I was born with. I am "ahead of" medical science at this point - there is no test to prove this is what the cause is, and if this is the cause, there is no cure. I will have to be monitored for SIBO for the rest of my life. This means repeated visits to specialists and my GP to monitor the SIBO and my weight. I struggle to maintain it, and am in a very precarious position - if I lose anymore weight, I risk my life. Things I can do to try and prevent flare ups of SIBO include stress reduction - however this is hard because I have incurred tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt despite having an incredible benefit plan through the employer I had at the time, and then subsequently lost. I also have to eat an extremely specialized diet which is expensive. This doesn't help as I am yet again between jobs. Which of course, doesn't keep my stress low.
That brings me to this request that I have been putting off for far too long, because I don't want to burden others, and I know many who have it far worse than I. But - I need your help.
I will be using any donations towards paying down the medical debt that was incurred mostly within the first year and a half of the diagnosis and treatment phase. Anything that comes in that is over my fund-raising request, I will, in turn donate to another person who needs help paying of medical debt.
This is an on-going fundraiser - any money helps, as right now, with cost of living rising, I'm finding myself having to put rent and food on credit cards, while still paying on credit cards.
In addition to the struggle with medical debt, and trying to keep my body and organs functioning and fed with whatever nutrients my body is capable of absorbing, I have suffered repeated job losses due in part to my health challenges and the brain fog that results as a part of being consistently malnourished. This has caused me to fall further into debt as I've had to rely on credit cards to pay for expensive medical care, as well as housing and food. I desperately need help to get on top of my medical expenses so that the little income I make through freelance work can be extended beyond paying rent and gas, and buy me food to live off of and avert hopsital stays due to weight loss -- or worse, being admitted to eating disorder programs I can't afford.
I am grateful beyond words for any help you can give - it would mean so much to me, any way you can help, whether it is by prayer, sending your love or light, your gifts of money - would all lift me up as I struggle through this difficult time trying to balance both my health and keep a roof over my head.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this long introdcution. I appreciate you all so much.
Love and Blessings,
Kristi