Help Me Travel for Specialized Rheumatoid Arthritis Care

This is uncomfortable for me to write because asking for help has never come easily to me. But so many of you have followed my health journey, prayed for me, encouraged me, and reminded me not to give up, so I am finally allowing myself to ask.

Over the past two years, I have gone through an exhausting amount of testing, procedures, appointments, and treatment, not only for progressive seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, but also for the other health problems that have developed alongside it.

I have undergone extensive blood work, heart monitoring, a tilt-table test, stress testing, cardiac imaging, a right and left heart catheterization, CT scans, MRIs, and additional testing that ultimately identified POTS/dysautonomia, a PFO with an atrial septal aneurysm, and other complications. At the same time, rheumatoid arthritis has continued affecting my spine and extremities and making everyday life more difficult.

I have tried several rheumatoid arthritis medications. Some did not help, some caused severe side effects, and others helped my arthritis but created complications that made it difficult or unsafe to continue them. Between medical bills, medications, appointments, procedures, travel, and missed time, the financial and emotional cost of trying to find answers has added up significantly. I have tried to handle it on my own and take it all in stride, while parenting and working full time but the weight of it all is really getting to me.

After searching for what feels like forever, I found a female rheumatologist in Glendale, California, who is also trained in integrative medicine.

What gave me hope is that she does not appear to be offering a miracle cure or asking patients to abandon conventional treatment. Her approach combines traditional rheumatology care with a more complete look at inflammation, nutrition, lifestyle, medication tolerance, and the whole person.

She has agreed to see me and can provide follow-up appointments through telehealth while I am home in Missouri. However, because I live out of state, I first have to travel to California for an in-person appointment to establish care.

The appointment is $300 and not covered by insurance. Once airfare, lodging, transportation, and basic travel expenses are included, I am hoping to raise approximately $2,000.

I considered putting the entire trip on a credit card, but after everything our family has already spent navigating my health over the past two years, I am trying not to create another financial burden.

I also want to be transparent that our family has a modest Florida trip coming up that was planned and largely paid for before this medical opportunity arose. It is important to me to still make memories with my children while I am able, and canceling that non-refundable trip would not provide the amount needed for this separate medical trip.

I cannot promise that one appointment will fix everything. I am simply hoping for another qualified medical opinion, a more complete treatment plan, and a doctor who is willing to look at the full picture instead of treating every problem separately.

Please do not feel pressured or obligated to donate. Sharing this fundraiser, praying for me, or simply continuing to encourage me means more than you know. Every donation and share will help me get closer to accessing this specialized care.

Thank you for continuing to remind me that my health and my ability to remain active and present for my children is worth fighting for.

Jackie