Michelle's Surgery and Recovery

Hello, my name is Donna Bertao.  I hope you are blessed with a good day so far.  I'm reaching out to you because we have a mutual friend, Michelle, and I would like to share her story with you.  Michelle is 47 years old; on a single income; with a very small esthetics business.  She has been running it successfully for over 8 years. Michelle is dedicated to her business and extremely compassionate about keeping it and her clients, as many have become family over the years.  Tragedy struck in 2008 when she was bit by a tick while walking her precious dog.  Michelle starting having symptoms immediately, however, she was misdiagnosed with the "flu."  She continued to suffer from chronic migraines and neurological problems and went from working over 80 hours a week to only being able to tolerate no more that 20 hours on her feet.  Michelle fought for further evaluation and after many exhausting and expensive doctor appointments she was finally diagnosed with late stage neurological Lyme disease in 2015.  Michelle's health has continued to deteriorate and currently she works a max of 20 hours a week causing her to incur significant medical and living debt.  It is important to note that insurance does NOT cover the cost of treatment for Lyme disease.  

If this was not enough, in 2016 Michelle was diagnosed with uterine fibroids.  These three uterine fibroids  are so large that they are causing several issues and excruciating pain.  Most of the time her episodes are so bad that she is in bed for weeks trying to recover, only to become bedridden again shortly after recovering. The uterine fibroids have decreased the effectiveness of her Lyme disease treatment because the bacteria associated with Lyme is thriving on the fibroids.  Due to the size of the fibroids Michelle will need to undergo a very difficult and complicated surgery.  Because of how the Lyme disease has attacked her body, Michelle has been advised to prepare to take off at least three months for recovery and will need consistent care over those three months.  

On behalf of Michelle, together with some of her friends, I've created a GoFundMe.  We are asking for help to raise money to pay hospital bills, food, utilities, rent for both her apartment and her business space.  Michelle is desperately trying to keep her business open so that when she is fully recovered she can return to work and continue to do what she loves.   

Michelle has postponed her necessary surgery as she has no family to help her with expenses and care that is required post surgery.  Please support Michelle's GoFundMe because it is imperative that she schedule her surgery ASAP.  Our goal is to get Michelle the funds she needs to recover properly and hold on to her livelihood, her business.  I understand money can be tight, so please know that any amount you can donate would be greatly appreciated.  Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to answer them.