Help Zachary Beat his Illness
Donation protected
I am starting this account for my brother, Zachary Lovelady. He has been extremely ill since July 2012. Ever since he could speak he was focused on joining the Army. Just 2 weeks shy of heading for the recruiter’s office, his life changed dramatically. He began to have intense stomach pain and endless bouts of vomiting. This went on for 5 months undiagnosed, causing him to go from 205 to 120 pounds during that period of time. He was then diagnosed with a life threatening infection known as C. Diff (Clostridium Difficile). It was so advanced that the damage it has done to his G.I. tract is difficult to determine. After large doses of an antibiotic called Flagyl we were led to believe the nightmare would be over. Unfortunately, the issue has only compounded upon itself to include supplementary undiagnosed medical issues, in addition to debilitating anxiety and depression for Zachary. The toll that this has taken on Zach, and the rest of our family, physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially has been catastrophic. The amount of medical debt that Zach has incurred in the last three years, before his life has even begun, is astronomical.
When most of us wake up each morning wishing they didn’t have to work; my brother dreams of a day when his body will let him. A typical day for Zach starts with being woken from his extremely infrequent sleep (usually between 2 and 4 am) to horrific pains in his stomach and the horrendous and usually uncontrollable urge to vomit. This makes walking and talking very difficult for him and at times nearly impossible. This will be his first attack of many for the day. I sleep with my phone in my hand most nights so as not to miss his call in the middle of the night to aide him through his attacks. I bolt out of bed without even answering and grab the few medications that seem to assist in quelling an attack. The first words I speak to my brother are generally the same, “Hey buddy, it’s ok, and everything is going to be alright. You will feel better soon.” I sit next to him and rub his back while trying to get his mind off the pain and waiting for the very limited mixture of medications to work, if they are going to at all. It is not uncommon for the seriousness of the attacks to be so intense and unrelenting that they last upwards of 36 hours with me, our mother, and father taking turns caring for Zach and comforting one another. The severity of Zach’s condition can cause up to and exceed 6 emergency room visits in a 10 day period. If we are able to avoid the hospital he usually lives with at least a twinge of pain all the time. It is unrealistic for Zachary to live on pain medications constantly as his tolerance rapidly advances to the point where they are useless. The suffering and fear of greater pain and attacks leave him with the constant fear of food as we are still unclear as to what the triggers of the attacks even are. They vary greatly. We have seen every specialist in every branch of medicine available with second and third opinions in each.
He has finally reached the point where the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona has set an appointment for us to come and have a work up done on October 30th. It has taken a long time to get to where we are and the hope of finally sitting in front of some of the best doctors in the world at a renowned facility known for solving the puzzle of undiagnosed disease is very powerful, if we can afford to make the trip. Our funds as a family are extremely limited due to the strain his illness has been on the family finances for such a consistent period of time. We have been struggling with this largely alone for some time now and, as much as it hurts our pride, we need to ask for help now. So please, if you can spare anything at all to help my brother it would mean the world to us all. It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to give someone hope and show them support in this way. If you could pass this on to anyone else who would consider helping my family during this difficult time or even just share this campaign on your Facebook I couldn’t thank you enough. I hope that one day soon when I say, "Hey buddy, it’s ok, and everything is going to be alright. You will feel better soon.", it will be true. Thank you in advance on behalf of my entire family.
Here are a few statistics and facts to illustrate the breadth of the undiagnosed and rare disease problems worldwide.
*The typical physician will only be knowledgeable of roughly 500 common diseases.
*On the other hand, about 6,500 rare (and unfamiliar) illnesses are known to exist. "Rare diseases" are defined are those that strike fewer than 200,000 Americans. They often occur in the absence of reliable diagnostic tests or clear clinical definitions.
*Trickier still are the so-called "extremely rare" diseases, those affecting fewer than 10,000 patients. And then there are the wholly unknown illnesses: new diseases that have yet to be identified and named.
*30 million people in the United States are living with rare diseases. This equates to 1 in 10 Americans or 10% of the U.S. population
*80% of rare diseases are genetic in origin, and thus are present throughout a person’s life, even if symptoms do not immediately appear or are brought to the surface through infection.
*Approximately 50% of rare diseases do not have a disease specific foundation supporting or researching their rare disease
When most of us wake up each morning wishing they didn’t have to work; my brother dreams of a day when his body will let him. A typical day for Zach starts with being woken from his extremely infrequent sleep (usually between 2 and 4 am) to horrific pains in his stomach and the horrendous and usually uncontrollable urge to vomit. This makes walking and talking very difficult for him and at times nearly impossible. This will be his first attack of many for the day. I sleep with my phone in my hand most nights so as not to miss his call in the middle of the night to aide him through his attacks. I bolt out of bed without even answering and grab the few medications that seem to assist in quelling an attack. The first words I speak to my brother are generally the same, “Hey buddy, it’s ok, and everything is going to be alright. You will feel better soon.” I sit next to him and rub his back while trying to get his mind off the pain and waiting for the very limited mixture of medications to work, if they are going to at all. It is not uncommon for the seriousness of the attacks to be so intense and unrelenting that they last upwards of 36 hours with me, our mother, and father taking turns caring for Zach and comforting one another. The severity of Zach’s condition can cause up to and exceed 6 emergency room visits in a 10 day period. If we are able to avoid the hospital he usually lives with at least a twinge of pain all the time. It is unrealistic for Zachary to live on pain medications constantly as his tolerance rapidly advances to the point where they are useless. The suffering and fear of greater pain and attacks leave him with the constant fear of food as we are still unclear as to what the triggers of the attacks even are. They vary greatly. We have seen every specialist in every branch of medicine available with second and third opinions in each.
He has finally reached the point where the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona has set an appointment for us to come and have a work up done on October 30th. It has taken a long time to get to where we are and the hope of finally sitting in front of some of the best doctors in the world at a renowned facility known for solving the puzzle of undiagnosed disease is very powerful, if we can afford to make the trip. Our funds as a family are extremely limited due to the strain his illness has been on the family finances for such a consistent period of time. We have been struggling with this largely alone for some time now and, as much as it hurts our pride, we need to ask for help now. So please, if you can spare anything at all to help my brother it would mean the world to us all. It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to give someone hope and show them support in this way. If you could pass this on to anyone else who would consider helping my family during this difficult time or even just share this campaign on your Facebook I couldn’t thank you enough. I hope that one day soon when I say, "Hey buddy, it’s ok, and everything is going to be alright. You will feel better soon.", it will be true. Thank you in advance on behalf of my entire family.
Here are a few statistics and facts to illustrate the breadth of the undiagnosed and rare disease problems worldwide.
*The typical physician will only be knowledgeable of roughly 500 common diseases.
*On the other hand, about 6,500 rare (and unfamiliar) illnesses are known to exist. "Rare diseases" are defined are those that strike fewer than 200,000 Americans. They often occur in the absence of reliable diagnostic tests or clear clinical definitions.
*Trickier still are the so-called "extremely rare" diseases, those affecting fewer than 10,000 patients. And then there are the wholly unknown illnesses: new diseases that have yet to be identified and named.
*30 million people in the United States are living with rare diseases. This equates to 1 in 10 Americans or 10% of the U.S. population
*80% of rare diseases are genetic in origin, and thus are present throughout a person’s life, even if symptoms do not immediately appear or are brought to the surface through infection.
*Approximately 50% of rare diseases do not have a disease specific foundation supporting or researching their rare disease
Organizer and beneficiary
Erin Lovelady
Organizer
Royse City, TX
Julie Lovelady
Beneficiary