Hope's Infusion Therapy

As many of you are aware, our dear friend Hope has been suffering from a mysterious and debilitating disease for the past two years. Her symptoms include tightness in her vocal chords, hands, legs and feet, joint pain and the steady loss of manual dexterity, balance and speech. We know Hope as an enthusiastic  and physically active woman who loves to ski, swim, kayak, row and, especially, dance. She has thrived in the outdoors. After years of working for the US Post Office and rising to a position of significant responsibility, she retired and looked forward to being able to do the things she has always loved.  She moved to Port Townsend, WA where she fell in love with a wonderful man whom she recently married. At the same time her symptoms began to appear and she commenced a two year journey to discover what was happening to her body . Getting a conclusive diagnosis has been like the search for the Holy Grail.  After various neurological diseases had been ruled out and her condition continued to deteriorate Hope was at an impasse . Out of the blue a friend wrote to tell her that  after a three year long unexplained illness she had been treated by an Immunologist on Long Island  and had begun to  recover.  In April Hope came to New York to meet with  him and after extensive testing  she has been diagnosed  with a rare motor neuron disease related to Guillain Barre syndrome.  Her doctors believe that it is treatable and that she can heal with Vitamin C and Glutathione  infusion therapy.

What she has learned upon her return to the west coast and her effort to begin the  treatment is that these infusion therapies  are not FDA approved and therefore not covered by health insurance.  As you can imagine this is a huge blow to Hope and her husband, Jeff.  The past two years have depleted their savings  as they have pursued  alternative treatments when conventional medicine  was ineffective.  They are committed to the therapy but they just don't have enough money at this point in their lives to stay the course for the next 9 months.

Hope and I have been friends since we were 14  through thick and thin and I can't imagine a better friend. I'm sure many of you share my feelings and that those of you who haven't known her as well or for as long love her for her strong spirit, her determination and her compassion. Hope's positive view of the world and her struggle lift me up and I want to be able to lift her up now when she needs us.  As you can imagine, Hope is adamant that no one gives beyond what is entirely comfortable and mostly desires your energy to visualize her healed, active body strolling confidently down new new trails and waters for years to come.

Our deep gratitude to  each of you.