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Hello there. My name is Brian Corker and as I am writing this, I am a 19 year old college student who happens to have two chronic diseases, Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). As of now, there are no cures for either disease, only medications to help relieve symptoms and pain, but not stop progression. Eventually, I am told I will have to have a liver transplant because mine will become too bad and too unstable to keep functioning properly.
Having three siblings- an older brother going through PT's doctorate program, two younger sisters in school, a stay at home mom who takes care of the family and our problems, and a construction worker dad who provides us monetarily- we have our fair share of struggles, especially when it comes to me.
I never thought that I would be making one of these GoFundMe pages, but just three days ago, I was undergoing a Remicade infusion and had a reaction to it. 6 weeks ago, I also had a reaction to my infusion. I have been on Remicade for almost a year, maybe a little longer, but because I had back to back reactions, which I believe to be Anaphylaxis (not confirmed as the doctors never gave a name for what was happening, just freaking out and asking a million questions a minute as it was happening), my IBD specialist doctor said that we will no longer be doing Remicade.
The reason I am creating this GoFundMe is because I don't know what's next. There Remicade infusions have been costing upwards of $35,000+ (insurance only pays part), paying $3,000 every 6 weeks for the past year, and my family does not have the money to keep paying that and keeping other bills covered. Not to mention. Remicade was our third treatment option. The 1st was Sulfasalazine, 8 pills a day at 100mg each, which I did for about 3 years but showed no progress of keeping inflammation down. The 2nd treatment was biweekly Humira shots which my body rejected completely and didn't work once, which put me into the hospital for a week with a severe flare up and lead me to miss almost three weeks of college classes. now with a 4th treatment coming up and my family not knowing the costs which have been rising with each treatment, there's no telling our capability of paying whatever the cost, nonetheless paying for me to get a new liver within the next decade.
I come to the community around me to ask for help in my endeavors. Being a full time college student away from home, and not having much financial support or aid, I need help with my medical issues. I have survived thus far but have had my fair share of hospital visits and flare up scares that my family and I just aren't able to pay without waiting paycheck to paycheck.
I ask for $50,000 because honestly I don't know the amount I need or how much my next treatment will cost me before I am able to graduate college and get an actual, good paying job. Just based off of this year alone, my parents spent around $30,000 (true value, minus medical insurance coverage) on my medical occurrences alone, not including the rest of my immediate family. I pray to God every day that my body will heal and I won;t have to worry about the monetary costs, and I believe that He is doing his work, but it's taking time.
The main struggle with this whole ordeal is it's so hard to pinpoint what needs to be done for my treatments as my body hasn't shown any symptoms for the past couple of years, aside from the blood tests and actual tests ran on me. I don't have pain. I don;t have the constant bloody stools, I no longer have cramps every other day. And because of this, it's hard to determine the next steps, which is also why I'm asking for the help because the less we know about my severity even after 5 years of diagnosis, the more money my family is pouring out to find out what needs to be done.
To anyone that donates, I am eternally grateful! Whether it's one dollar or one hundred dollars, every bit will put a smile on my face. Every penny that I receive will go straight into paying for the next steps in my medical journeys until God puts an end to it. My senior year book quote was "Doctors say I have UC and PSC, but I'm pretty sure Under Christ, Pernicious Sicknesses Crumble." This is something that I believe in every day and will always continue with it. All help is welcomed, be it prayers and support or money to cover the costs. But most of all, agree with me and my family for complete healing in my body as we stand on God's Word. I thank you all.
By his stripes we are Healed.
Isaiah 53:5
With God All Things Are Possible.
Matthew 19:26
Having three siblings- an older brother going through PT's doctorate program, two younger sisters in school, a stay at home mom who takes care of the family and our problems, and a construction worker dad who provides us monetarily- we have our fair share of struggles, especially when it comes to me.
I never thought that I would be making one of these GoFundMe pages, but just three days ago, I was undergoing a Remicade infusion and had a reaction to it. 6 weeks ago, I also had a reaction to my infusion. I have been on Remicade for almost a year, maybe a little longer, but because I had back to back reactions, which I believe to be Anaphylaxis (not confirmed as the doctors never gave a name for what was happening, just freaking out and asking a million questions a minute as it was happening), my IBD specialist doctor said that we will no longer be doing Remicade.
The reason I am creating this GoFundMe is because I don't know what's next. There Remicade infusions have been costing upwards of $35,000+ (insurance only pays part), paying $3,000 every 6 weeks for the past year, and my family does not have the money to keep paying that and keeping other bills covered. Not to mention. Remicade was our third treatment option. The 1st was Sulfasalazine, 8 pills a day at 100mg each, which I did for about 3 years but showed no progress of keeping inflammation down. The 2nd treatment was biweekly Humira shots which my body rejected completely and didn't work once, which put me into the hospital for a week with a severe flare up and lead me to miss almost three weeks of college classes. now with a 4th treatment coming up and my family not knowing the costs which have been rising with each treatment, there's no telling our capability of paying whatever the cost, nonetheless paying for me to get a new liver within the next decade.
I come to the community around me to ask for help in my endeavors. Being a full time college student away from home, and not having much financial support or aid, I need help with my medical issues. I have survived thus far but have had my fair share of hospital visits and flare up scares that my family and I just aren't able to pay without waiting paycheck to paycheck.
I ask for $50,000 because honestly I don't know the amount I need or how much my next treatment will cost me before I am able to graduate college and get an actual, good paying job. Just based off of this year alone, my parents spent around $30,000 (true value, minus medical insurance coverage) on my medical occurrences alone, not including the rest of my immediate family. I pray to God every day that my body will heal and I won;t have to worry about the monetary costs, and I believe that He is doing his work, but it's taking time.
The main struggle with this whole ordeal is it's so hard to pinpoint what needs to be done for my treatments as my body hasn't shown any symptoms for the past couple of years, aside from the blood tests and actual tests ran on me. I don't have pain. I don;t have the constant bloody stools, I no longer have cramps every other day. And because of this, it's hard to determine the next steps, which is also why I'm asking for the help because the less we know about my severity even after 5 years of diagnosis, the more money my family is pouring out to find out what needs to be done.
To anyone that donates, I am eternally grateful! Whether it's one dollar or one hundred dollars, every bit will put a smile on my face. Every penny that I receive will go straight into paying for the next steps in my medical journeys until God puts an end to it. My senior year book quote was "Doctors say I have UC and PSC, but I'm pretty sure Under Christ, Pernicious Sicknesses Crumble." This is something that I believe in every day and will always continue with it. All help is welcomed, be it prayers and support or money to cover the costs. But most of all, agree with me and my family for complete healing in my body as we stand on God's Word. I thank you all.
By his stripes we are Healed.
Isaiah 53:5
With God All Things Are Possible.
Matthew 19:26