*** Help Me Fight for a Healthier Life for Me and My Girls

Hi, my name is Kelsey, and asking for help like this is not easy for me.

I am a single mom living with multiple debilitating chronic illnesses that affect nearly every system in my body. After years of doctors, specialists, medications, hospital visits, procedures, and treatments, I am trying to raise the money necessary to continue pursuing medical care that I simply cannot afford on my own.

More than anything, I want the chance to feel like me again.

I want to be able to live—not just survive each day managing symptoms.

And I want to be able to be the mom my girls deserve.

* What I Live With Every Day

I have Dysautonomia/Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome/Hypermobility (EDS), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), Lyme disease, gastroparesis, and other related complications.

Dysautonomia means that my autonomic nervous system does not function properly.

The autonomic nervous system controls the things our bodies are supposed to do automatically—heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, temperature regulation, sweating, breathing, sleep, vision, and many other functions.

Most people never have to think about these things.

My body makes me think about them every day.

My heart rate can climb over 150 beats per minute while doing very little. I become dizzy and can faint. Standing and walking can be difficult. Heat and sunlight can make me extremely sick. My digestive system does not always function properly, which can make eating difficult.

I experience chronic pain, joint instability, and frequent problems with joints moving out of place because of EDS. I deal with neurological symptoms, memory and executive-function difficulties, vision problems, severe fatigue, chemical and smell sensitivities, and days when even breathing feels harder than it should.

And the hardest part is that I never completely know what kind of day my body is going to give me.

Something that seems simple to another person—taking a shower, making dinner, walking through a store, standing for an extended period, being outside in the heat, cleaning the house, or taking my kids somewhere—can have physical consequences for me afterward.

I cannot simply push through without my body eventually making me pay for it.

* I've Been Fighting This for Years

I was officially diagnosed with dysautonomia in 2012, although I experienced symptoms long before anyone understood what was happening.

Over the years, instead of improving, my health has become increasingly complicated.

There have been injuries from fainting, hospital and emergency-room visits, IV treatments, countless appointments, medications that didn't work or caused significant side effects, and more and more limitations on what my body can tolerate.

I have seen primary-care doctors, specialists, naturopathic and functional practitioners, and even specialists at Vanderbilt's Autonomic Dysfunction Center in Nashville.

I have kept searching.

I have kept trying.

I have kept getting back up.

But after years of medical expenses and increasingly complex health problems, I have reached a point where I cannot financially continue doing this alone.

*Why I'm Raising Money

My hope is to pursue additional treatment through the Biologix Center, a clinic that works with patients dealing with complex chronic illnesses and offers approaches that differ from much of the conventional care I have already tried.

Because this care is not covered by my insurance, the financial cost is significant.

The initial deposit alone is approximately $8,550 to schedule treatment.

From there, treatment can involve approximately one to three weeks of care, followed by reassessment and additional treatment roughly two months later depending on my needs and progress. There may also be ongoing follow-up care and treatments recommended afterward.

My goal is to raise $45,000–$60,000 to help cover:

* Initial evaluation and treatment

* Follow-up treatment and continued medical care

* Travel and expenses associated with receiving treatment

* IVs, functional medicine, supplements, testing, and other medically necessary out-of-pocket care

* Care related to my daughter's similar health conditions

* Basic living expenses while I undergo treatment and am unable to work consistently

* Help towards our own rental or apartment

I want to be transparent that there is no promise that any one treatment will cure these complex conditions.

My goal is improvement. Stability. Function. More good days. More independence. More life.

*This Isn't Only About Me

One of the hardest parts of chronic illness has been watching it affect my children.

My youngest daughter experiences some of the same conditions and symptoms, which means I am not only trying to navigate my own health—I am trying to make sure she receives the care she needs, too.

As a mother, there is an entirely different kind of heartbreak in wanting to give your children everything while your own body sometimes prevents you from doing the simplest things.

I don't need a perfect life.

I want to make dinner without wondering whether standing in the kitchen will make me sick.

I want to take my girls places.

I want to laugh with them, make memories with them, and participate in their lives without constantly calculating what my body can tolerate.

I want them to remember their mom living, not just being sick.

*We Are Also Rebuilding Our Lives

This medical journey is happening during another enormous rebuilding season for my family.

After leaving domestic violence and going through a divorce, my girls and I lost much of the stability we once had.

We are trying to rebuild.

I am trying to create a peaceful, safe life for my children, eventually have a rental home of our own again, regain as much health and independence as possible, and move forward from years that have taken so much from us.

But chronic illness doesn't stop because life gets hard.

The appointments still come.

The treatments still cost money.

The bills still have to be paid.

And right now, I cannot financially carry all of it.

*What Your Help Would Mean

This fundraiser isn't about asking someone else to fix my life.

It is about asking for help getting access to the care and stability that may give me a better chance to rebuild it myself.

If you are able to donate, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

If you aren't able to donate, sharing this fundraiser means just as much. One share may reach the person who can help, and every person who takes a moment to read our story helps us feel a little less alone in this fight.

After everything my girls and I have been through, I am still fighting for the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm fighting for better health.

I'm fighting for independence.

I'm fighting for a peaceful home.

I'm fighting for my girls.

And I'm fighting for the chance to participate in my own life again instead of constantly watching it from the sidelines.

I don't expect anyone to carry us the whole way. I just need some help getting there.

Thank you for reading our story, sharing it, praying for us, donating, or supporting us in any way.

It means more than I can put into words.