On behalf of my lovely friend, Maria Castillo, with a heavy heart, I am setting up this GoFundMe as an effort to help raise funds for infusion treatments for her. We all know Maria to be a fun-loving, goofy, beautiful soul. She's selfless and cares for others and their well-being.

Maria often goes out of her way to help others, but now she needs our help.

 

A quick backstory from Maria, explaining the complications of her illness. I hope everyone can donate; every little bit helps!

 

Maria:

"Hello, everybody!

 

This is very hard for me to do because of who I am as a person, but I am running low on options.

 

tl;dr: I need $20,000 for two infusion treatments for my lupus.

 

More in-depth story:

I've been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) since 2006. Symptoms of the disease started showing up in the winter of 2003/2004, but due to the nature of this mystery illness, it took several years to get an official diagnosis. Two years may seem like a while to wait for an answer, but the avearage amount of time is six years, so I got lucky.

 

I was also very lucky by having a rheumatologist who knew what she was doing. She was able to keep the lupus under control until her retirement in 2015.

 

In 2016, I wasn't so lucky and had my first flare up.

 

In 2018, I had another flare up, got annoyed, and went to a better doctor. That rheumatologist, my current rheumatologist, was able to tell me more about my current condition, and also informed me that I was showing signs of lupus nephritis, or kidney disease caused by lupus.

 

In March of this year, I went to the emergency room with lower back pain. After a few follow up visits with my rheumatologist and nephrologist, they informed me that my kidneys are flaring up again and my best shot to get them to stop is with infusion treatments.

 

I will need at least two of these infusion treatments to see results, but the downside is that each infusion session runs in the ballpark of $10,000. Due to my preexisting condition, my only options for health insurance are the overpriced junk plans through the healthcare marketplace, which does not cover this treatment, or anything, really. I applied for financial assistance through Rush and my rheumatologist is also helping me look into financial assistance options to cover this treatment. We have yet to hear anything back and we are also running out of time, because we are currently unsure of: 1. The extent of the current damages due to the lupus nephritis and 2. The rate of the development of the disease.

 

If I reach even half of my goal, I can at least get the ball rolling on the first treatment. If I reach the total goal, or surpass, and end up getting some form of financial aid, the money will be used toward any additional medical expenses.

 

Thank you for your time, everybody!
- Maria
"