Hi, I'm Ami. An Endometriosis Warrior.(Click that for a video of me explaining my GoFundMe that was made pre-surgery)

If you know me, you know. If you don't know me, I'm not sure how you found this page, but thank you for pausing to meet me.

Endometriosis has always been in me. This fundraiser is to help with the cost of eliminating it.

I've spent many years looking for the right person and team to take care of me given that my case has infiltrated many parts of my body and is at stage 4. But there are very few doctors that truly understand endometriosis (and trust me, I've met some "specialists" that shouldn't have that title). Optimal Excision is my only hope.

Excision cuts endo out at the root, and a proper specialist has an eye for doing that PLUS eliminating the smaller signs of endo forming that are often missed by general gynecologists. And with a case like mine, there's even more complexities.

Since I was a teenager my body has had to adapt to the extreme symptoms; I've been gaslit by doctors, and had my pain ignored or belittled. Average time for a woman to be diagnosed with endo is 10 years. My official diagnosis came when I was around 28, and then I had an uneducated romp with ablation in 2016 - which my doctor claimed would help me - the endo all grew back immediately and worse than ever. Come to find out, burning the endo doesn't stop it from coming back and, in fact, would only create more adhesions, which binds together organs, causing even more pain and problems...

Between the endometriomas, hemorrhaging, organ pulling, chronic fatigue, ovary glued to my stomach pressing on nerves, tubes clogged, a heavily weakened immune system, and more, my quality of life hasn't been great for a long time.

But I finally found the gold standard operation my body deserves with a clinic, Restore Center for Endo, in St. Louis. Dr. Yeung has performed over 4 thousand surgeries in the last 15+ years. He's out of network. Of course. But he's one of only a few doctors in this country that can do Optimal Excision surgery.

With his methods, nearly 98% of his patients have only needed this one surgery over the course of a decade or longer......

One surgery to end the endo? Feels a little Lord of the Rings, but I'll take it!

The problem is I've been quoted a very high amount for this surgery. It has a 2 year repayment plan. And that is what I'm seeking donations for.

*Edit, There was some misinformation given to me at the start of this journey, so the details of what insurance will cover and the dollar amount has changed.

For the removal of....

Left ovary

Both tubes

Uterus

Adhesions

Optimal excision of all Endo from all organs

+ Everything provided by the hospital (Anesthesiologist, facility, tools, medications, nurses, etc)

+ Appendectomy

+ Ekg & Bloodwork

+ a bowel surgeon to help with removal of endo on the bowel

The cost is: $43,091.87

My surgery was in May. I was only informed 2 weeks before surgery that the hospital I'll be in does not provide financial aid to people out of state.

My "goal amount" reflects the actual bill I received to be paid back in the next 2 years. Feeling thankful what was originally quoted ($82,120.70) was not the end cost and it is actually half that amount! Any amount raised will go directly toward making the payments for this surgery possibly.

If you took time out of your day to read this, thank you. Please help me bring awareness to how damaging endo can be - if not by sharing my story and gofundme, then by advocating for others like me to be taken more seriously by doctors. I am 1 in 10 women. But we have far too few excision specialists capable of handling the monster endo can and will turn into if it is left to grow inside of us.