My name is Carrie. I'm a chronically ill and disabled Canadian who lived in Taiwan for 20+ years. I've just repatriated to Canada suddenly and under extraordinary and unanticipated circumstances on December 28, 2025.

After a lot of thought, I’m sharing this with care and honesty. I'm not going to let someone do this for me. I need to do this for myself to rebuild my life by asking for your help.

I’ve survived many years in Taiwan under difficult and urgent circumstances while managing complex chronic illness and disability.

I did not get to say good-bye or leave Taiwan the way I thought I would. I had no idea I needed to leave until early December 2025.

My move was sudden and necessary. My decision happened days after my first disability transport ride to the hospital and after qualifying for 32 hours of at home personal care.

Relocating internationally while sick, alone, and disabled is expensive — medically, physically, and financially. My life savings have been demolished in paying for healthcare and arthritis medications. The small amount of savings I had to leave Taiwan was from art-funded fundraisers and art sales. Between travel, logistics, medical needs, and starting over, my savings are gone. I ended up leaving close to 20,000CDN in assets in Taiwan plus my power wheelchair.

I MUST rest and try to recover from my journey and the impact it has had on my mostly med-resistant inflammatory arthritis.

I suffer from severe and difficult to treat Axial Spondyloarthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis with complex fibromyalgia and MECFS; a rare autoimmune clotting disease called Antiphospholipid Syndrome, and other autoimmune related problems. In 2025, my arthritis started attacking my organs and I was diagnosed with a heart condition. Then I developed cysts in my legs that ruptured.

I have no job or income.

I am using this fundraiser as a bridge for safety. Right now my only priority is my health and getting healthcare set up. There is no way to move forward without assistance.

If you’re able to help, your support will go toward:

• Continuity of medical care and escalating medical expenses. (My worst case scenario is one year of my primary axSpA medication is $20,000CDN alone. This does not include treatments for anything else.)

• Disability assistance including mobility aids

• Stability including immediate living and transition costs

• Enough breathing room to rest and recover while I re-establish care and income supports in Canada

Any support — financial or through sharing — helps reduce the pressure during this critical rebuilding phase.

If you can’t contribute financially, I still appreciate you being here, reading this, and holding me with kindness. Sharing means more than you know.

2025 reminded me that even the hardest worlds can show you your own strength. I didn’t break. Instead I survived and reclaimed my power.

To those of you who know me, thank you for being part of my life and part of my several worlds. Thank you for reading and for helping me take this next step with dignity and care.

Chronically yours,

Carrie

PS>> The day before my 51st birthday, I posted on my site to provide an update about why I've been silent. You can read it here: The Next Chapter.

I will update you as I move forward. #KeepOnGoing