Only Mayo Clinic Has the Program I & Others Need

Hi, everyone. My name is Teresa Wells and I write this on the 67th anniversary of my birth :) As someone who battled breast cancer then colon cancer within 18 months (2020-2021) and later survived 2 bouts of COVID despite being triple vaxxed and boosted, a car accident, and cervical spine surgery over the next year, I am beyond grateful to be here to celebrate another one. Even I look at all that plus my new referral to a long COVID Clinic in a semi state of disbelief while also acknowledging how blessed I am not to have been through far worse. (UPDATE 2/23: New diagnoses have been added to the list of my existing problems by a Mayo Dr. A rare pulmonary syndrome was missed by a Tallahassee specialist which left me under- oxygenated upon exertion and as a result, permanently damaged my heart.)

I do believe God has a reason for me to still be here and I hope one of them is to help others like me in my community who have to travel for medical care to Jacksonville as I've had to do for 2 1/2 years now and will need to continue doing for the foreseeable future unless or until I'm forced to leave the community and people I love to move to Jacksonville. The video above was from a recent visit to Mayo Clinic. A 2 3/4 hour car trip took over 6 hours without one.

The catch to being able to help others is first being well enough myself so I'm doing something I never dreamed I'd do which is asking for help for myself. I've been the caregiver most all of my life for those I love, the volunteer fundraiser for new hospitals, and the around-the-clock free counselor to newly diagnosed cancer patients for 40 years, but my body now demands that I care enough about myself to ask you to help me help myself. Since May, I've tried to find a way to afford going to Mayo Clinic for a 3-week intensive program offered through their Pain Management/Rehabilitative Medicine Division. Drs tell me I have something called Central Sensitization Syndrome (CSS) which simplified just means that although my cancer is gone, my neck is repaired, the COVID test is negative, hematomas from the accident are almost healed, my brain doesn't get it and there is no way to convince it otherwise. So I hurt a lot, I'm super fatigued, and more. Mayo Clinic Drs tell me they can teach me tools to use to work around what my brain can't grasp. They can begin gently strengthening my full body by putting me in their gym 3x a day, help me learn to nourish my body properly, live with chronic pain, and probably most importantly, rid me of my "push and crash" way of approaching life through cognitive behavior therapy. I thought jumping right back into the fray and going full speed ahead for 70 hours per week right after surgeries and treatments was something to pat myself on the back for until my body screamed no more. My medical team will also bring in Integrative Health Drs/psychologists to help me figure out what I can do to hopefully prevent a 3rd or 4th cancer as we look into possible causes for the repeated dis-ease in my life. There are no causative factors like family history, chromosomal or environmental reasons anyone can identify to explain the findings of 2 different primary cancers in my body.

So beyond the CSS (see explanation from my Dr here : https://youtu.be/vJNhdnSK3WQ)

,long COVID, I have pre-myeloma right now, severe arthritis and worse in my lumbar and thoracic spine, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and a condition called DISH which turns tendons and ligaments into bone and deposits calcium other places it doesn't belong. The update above mentions new diagnoses to add to the list that involve my lungs and heart .

I've done so well considering all that until the accident which they say triggered a lot of inflammation in my body. 

Since that time, other then pet/house sitting on occasion, my ability to earn money screeched to a halt, despite ever increasing medical/travel expenses. I'm cutting where and how I can, but there is no way in this world I can go for what I'm told by one of my local doctors has been a life changing/life giving program for her patients who have gone through it. Medicare/my supplement will pay for the medical part, but none of the related costs such as lodging and travel or the recommended complementary care/supplements.

I'm like everyone else - I want to live, to give, to show my love for others, but right now I'm so puny I'm doing well to take care of just my basic needs alongside alot of rest. I haven't admitted that to anyone, even myself, until just this minute :(

So if you have it to give without jeopardizing your own health and well being or that of someone else you love, I'd really appreciate your help to get me to the only place I think can help me be better. I know needs are great right now and I lift up others who are suffering as well. May there be a road to better health for us all.

Be blessed,

Teresa

PS - if you read my updates below, I am in Jacksonville now getting care at Mayo Clinic for new problems while waiting for my 3 week program to start. Interestingly, the recommendation to deal with those is the same program your $$ makes possible for me to do. After it, pulmonary rehab has been ordered for 6-8 weeks. I am already at Mayo Clinic more days than not which appears to be my new norm with upcoming appts with cardiology and neurology scheduled between the pain and rehabilitative medicine clinic and pulmonary rehab.