- K
- K
My Story
Hi! My name is Marshall Wall and I have been sick since I was 17 years old (over half of my life). I went to countless doctors, but none could tell me what was wrong or help me get better.
Despite my chronic mystery illness, I enjoyed life with my family and friends, earned a Master’s Degree, and even found an amazing woman who blessed me by becoming my wife.
The whole time, I continued to search for answers about my health as I continued to grow sicker.
The medical practitioners I have worked with believe that I contracted Lyme Disease as a boy, and a series of other infections and genetic problems have made my immune system so dysfunctional that it reacts to almost anything. They call it Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
I now have immune system reactions to almost all chemicals, medications, supplements, and foods. Additionally, I have severe temperature regulation problems, which also trigger immune reactions.
During the past year, my weight has plummeted from 193 pounds to 111 pounds and nothing has been able to stabilize it. The most promising treatments have not only failed but most have made my condition even worse.
With my lovely wife Kristi on Valentines Day 2016.
How We Would Plan To Use Your Gifts
The burden of my illness on my family has been tremendous, both emotionally and financially. My parents have sacrificed greatly to help me, as has my wife. She supports both of us on her psychology residency salary, since I can no longer work.
In an effort to ease the strain and uncertainty my family and I experience from my health problems, we wanted to provide an opportunity for those who know and love us, or who simply hear about my story and are interested, to help with our expenses.
Given the dynamic nature of my unfolding health problems and treatments, understand there would be some flexibility in how your gift was used. This is a sketch of what we are currently thinking.
With my wonderful friend Micah in June of 2017.
For Cure
For the past five months, I have been living away from my wife in specialized housing that is custom-built for those with extreme environmental sensitivities. This currently costs approximately $2800 per month. Given my current condition & the long road back to health, we believe I will need to stay here for a very long time.
I am currently pursuing what may be the last significant treatment option for the stabilization and restoration of my health. If this treatment succeeds, I will need many more months of treatment, likely including additional treatments and expenses, to stabilize and recover.
Currently, I undergo IVs twice a week to get my body strong enough to handle a new medication. This medication has to be custom compounded. This combined treatment could cost $1900 per month.
All other medications I use or even try, with only one exception, also have to be custom compounded to minimize my chance of an immune reaction against the medications.
Additional expenses include consultations with doctors and other healthcare practitioners, as well as other treatments and therapies that my doctors may recommend.
A visit from my amazing parents early in July 2018.
For Comfort
If this treatment option fails and no new option for the restoration of my health is forthcoming, we plan to transition from seeking a cure to focusing on comfort care. Our goal is to enable me to spend as much time with my wife and family as possible while maintaining my comfort and enabling me to die well.
Money would be used to allow Kristi to take as much leave from her work as she can, without needing to worry about finances. We would like to spend as much time together as we can, as well as have her care for me directly as much as possible, rather than bringing in outside caretakers.
Our insurance provides very little hospice care coverage. I would like to die at home, and your gift could help us with the cost of quality hospice treatment and caretakers.
Other ways your gift might be used in this case include helping me make the most of my time with my family, as well as any final medical costs and funeral/burial arrangements.
Living alone in Dallas, September 2018. I am 111 pounds and still losing weight.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story and share it with others. And, of course, should you choose to give a financial gift, thank you so much for your generosity!
Your gift frees my family and I from thinking about finances to focus on either getting well or dying well.
* * * * *
What is our only hope in life and death?
That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.
For none of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord's.
Romans 14:7-8
Hi! My name is Marshall Wall and I have been sick since I was 17 years old (over half of my life). I went to countless doctors, but none could tell me what was wrong or help me get better.
Despite my chronic mystery illness, I enjoyed life with my family and friends, earned a Master’s Degree, and even found an amazing woman who blessed me by becoming my wife.
The whole time, I continued to search for answers about my health as I continued to grow sicker.
The medical practitioners I have worked with believe that I contracted Lyme Disease as a boy, and a series of other infections and genetic problems have made my immune system so dysfunctional that it reacts to almost anything. They call it Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
I now have immune system reactions to almost all chemicals, medications, supplements, and foods. Additionally, I have severe temperature regulation problems, which also trigger immune reactions.
During the past year, my weight has plummeted from 193 pounds to 111 pounds and nothing has been able to stabilize it. The most promising treatments have not only failed but most have made my condition even worse.
With my lovely wife Kristi on Valentines Day 2016.How We Would Plan To Use Your Gifts
The burden of my illness on my family has been tremendous, both emotionally and financially. My parents have sacrificed greatly to help me, as has my wife. She supports both of us on her psychology residency salary, since I can no longer work.
In an effort to ease the strain and uncertainty my family and I experience from my health problems, we wanted to provide an opportunity for those who know and love us, or who simply hear about my story and are interested, to help with our expenses.
Given the dynamic nature of my unfolding health problems and treatments, understand there would be some flexibility in how your gift was used. This is a sketch of what we are currently thinking.
With my wonderful friend Micah in June of 2017.For Cure
For the past five months, I have been living away from my wife in specialized housing that is custom-built for those with extreme environmental sensitivities. This currently costs approximately $2800 per month. Given my current condition & the long road back to health, we believe I will need to stay here for a very long time.
I am currently pursuing what may be the last significant treatment option for the stabilization and restoration of my health. If this treatment succeeds, I will need many more months of treatment, likely including additional treatments and expenses, to stabilize and recover.
Currently, I undergo IVs twice a week to get my body strong enough to handle a new medication. This medication has to be custom compounded. This combined treatment could cost $1900 per month.
All other medications I use or even try, with only one exception, also have to be custom compounded to minimize my chance of an immune reaction against the medications.
Additional expenses include consultations with doctors and other healthcare practitioners, as well as other treatments and therapies that my doctors may recommend.
A visit from my amazing parents early in July 2018.For Comfort
If this treatment option fails and no new option for the restoration of my health is forthcoming, we plan to transition from seeking a cure to focusing on comfort care. Our goal is to enable me to spend as much time with my wife and family as possible while maintaining my comfort and enabling me to die well.
Money would be used to allow Kristi to take as much leave from her work as she can, without needing to worry about finances. We would like to spend as much time together as we can, as well as have her care for me directly as much as possible, rather than bringing in outside caretakers.
Our insurance provides very little hospice care coverage. I would like to die at home, and your gift could help us with the cost of quality hospice treatment and caretakers.
Other ways your gift might be used in this case include helping me make the most of my time with my family, as well as any final medical costs and funeral/burial arrangements.
Living alone in Dallas, September 2018. I am 111 pounds and still losing weight.Thank you for taking the time to read my story and share it with others. And, of course, should you choose to give a financial gift, thank you so much for your generosity!
Your gift frees my family and I from thinking about finances to focus on either getting well or dying well.
* * * * *
What is our only hope in life and death?
That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.
For none of us lives for himself, and none of us dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord's.
Romans 14:7-8