My name is Carly, and I have set up this GoFundMe on behalf of my brother, Sheldon, and his family. I asked him to share their circumstances and their needs below. Thank you for your love and support.

I am writing this with a heavy heart to ask for help during an incredibly tough time for our family. My wife, Michelle, has been battling serious health challenges for years. Since her stroke in 2021, she's worked hard with physical therapy, speech therapy, and other essential treatments to regain her strength and independence. Those therapies are so important to her recovery and quality of life, but recent unexpected charges and overdue medical bills have made it impossible to keep up without falling behind.

Michelle's knee has no cartilage left, causing constant pain and limiting her mobility. She's scheduled for a tibial tubercle transfer (TTT) osteotomy on March 17th—this surgery is our best hope to preserve her knee and avoid a full replacement at her young age. It's a major procedure with hospital costs, recovery needs, and follow-up care that will add significant expenses we can't cover on our own.

We've also received new diagnoses of dysautonomia and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which explain so much of her chronic pain, fatigue, instability, and other symptoms. Starting the recommended treatment plan—specialist care, additional therapies, medications, and monitoring—will be essential but costly over the coming year.

This whole journey has been emotionally exhausting. The constant worry, pain, and limitations have taken a real toll on Michelle, on me as her primary caregiver, and on our entire family—including our oldest daughter, Mercedes, who just started working, which is wonderful for her but unfortunately reduced our state benefits at the worst possible time. I've had to limit my own work to be there for Michelle's daily needs, appointments, and flare-ups, which has strained our finances even more. We had to stop using non-traditional CBD treatments for pain because they became too expensive, and switching to prescribed opioids has created more physical and mental challenges without the relief we hoped for, deepening her depression and adding to our family's burden.

We're humbly asking for support to reach $20,000. This would help cover:

The upcoming TTT (tibial tubercle transfer) osteotomy surgery and recovery costs

Overdue medical bills and recent unexpected charges

Starting and sustaining her new treatment plan for dysautonomia and Ehlers-Danlos over the next 6 months to 1 year.

Every contribution—big or small—will ease the pressure so we can focus on Michelle's healing instead of constant financial fear. Your kindness, shares, or even just thoughts and prayers mean the world to us. God has a plan for Michelle and it's not to suffer mentally and physically forever. We believe in His plan as we wait for fuller healing. Miracles happen through the hands and hearts of others, and we're grateful for all the love we have received. We'll post updates here on her surgery progress, treatments, and how your support is making a real difference.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading this and considering helping. Michelle is incredibly strong and keeps fighting every day for our family—we just need a hand to keep going.

With deep gratitude, Sheldon (and family)