Renae Briones Benefit Fund
Donation protected
What is your favorite food to eat? Pizza? Cheese? Steak? Maybe an Oreo cookie with a big glass of cold milk?
What if your OWN body wouldn't allow you to consume the nutrients you needed to sustain life?
For 30 year old registered dietician, Renae Briones, this is a daily struggle, due to a condition called gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is an idiopathic condition, meaning, the cause is unknown. There is NO CURE. Common symptoms are (but not limited to): extreme bouts of nausea/vomiting (think of how you feel with the flu), malnutrition, dehydration, and weight loss. Renae has the most severe form of this condition. In the last 3 months, she has lost 17 pounds and currently weighs only 93 pounds. Each day she struggles to consume a mere 400-500 calories. (Whereas most active adults need between 1200-1500 calories). Some days, her main source of nutrition comes from high calorie drinks like Ensure of Boost.
When she is able to attend work, her day consists of teaching people how to properly nourish themselves....all the while, struggling to be able do this for herself. She has worked so hard to achieve her goals and her condition is slowly stripping her of the ability to continue doing what she loves and is called to do.
Think about lunch time...that moment when your stomach starts to growl and you must eat something...or how refreshing a glass of cold water is on a hot day. Fulfilling these simple, yet necessary, tasks are daunting for Renae. Her own digestive tract wages war on ANYTHING that tries to pass through.
These circumstances have also had quite the effect on her family. Her husband of almost 5 years, Gilbert, is working double shifts to help compensate financially while Renae is out of work. The bills don't stop just because she has to. Junior, Renae's 13 year old step son, has also made changes to help the family. Sometimes missing out on extra-curricular activities to visit Renae in the hospital or to stay with her while she is home.
She undergoes frequent hospital visits where she receives IV fluid treatment to help treat dehydration, weakness, and malnutrition. She recently spent a week inpatient at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois and underwent numerous procedures including a trial of an intestinal feeding tube, as well as IV nutrition. She was then brought to Froedert Hospital, in Milwaukee, where she spent two weeks and went through even more medical testing...without definitive answers or treatment. Her fight to thrive continues.
Renae relies heavily on her faith and friends and family to help get her through these difficult times. She truly believes that God has a plan for her and she is a willing servant of His. Her faith makes those dark moments of uncertainty a little brighter.
As one can imagine, multiple hospital stays and not being able to work, create a huge financial burden on her family. Where she should be spending time with family and meeting with Doctors to find a plan, she spends her time worrying about bills, how she can keep her job, health insurance, and her home.
Please help this family. They need as much love and support as we can pour out over them. Let's come together to help them worry less about the finances of an illness and more about healing.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/renaebriones
What if your OWN body wouldn't allow you to consume the nutrients you needed to sustain life?
For 30 year old registered dietician, Renae Briones, this is a daily struggle, due to a condition called gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is an idiopathic condition, meaning, the cause is unknown. There is NO CURE. Common symptoms are (but not limited to): extreme bouts of nausea/vomiting (think of how you feel with the flu), malnutrition, dehydration, and weight loss. Renae has the most severe form of this condition. In the last 3 months, she has lost 17 pounds and currently weighs only 93 pounds. Each day she struggles to consume a mere 400-500 calories. (Whereas most active adults need between 1200-1500 calories). Some days, her main source of nutrition comes from high calorie drinks like Ensure of Boost.
When she is able to attend work, her day consists of teaching people how to properly nourish themselves....all the while, struggling to be able do this for herself. She has worked so hard to achieve her goals and her condition is slowly stripping her of the ability to continue doing what she loves and is called to do.
Think about lunch time...that moment when your stomach starts to growl and you must eat something...or how refreshing a glass of cold water is on a hot day. Fulfilling these simple, yet necessary, tasks are daunting for Renae. Her own digestive tract wages war on ANYTHING that tries to pass through.
These circumstances have also had quite the effect on her family. Her husband of almost 5 years, Gilbert, is working double shifts to help compensate financially while Renae is out of work. The bills don't stop just because she has to. Junior, Renae's 13 year old step son, has also made changes to help the family. Sometimes missing out on extra-curricular activities to visit Renae in the hospital or to stay with her while she is home.
She undergoes frequent hospital visits where she receives IV fluid treatment to help treat dehydration, weakness, and malnutrition. She recently spent a week inpatient at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois and underwent numerous procedures including a trial of an intestinal feeding tube, as well as IV nutrition. She was then brought to Froedert Hospital, in Milwaukee, where she spent two weeks and went through even more medical testing...without definitive answers or treatment. Her fight to thrive continues.
Renae relies heavily on her faith and friends and family to help get her through these difficult times. She truly believes that God has a plan for her and she is a willing servant of His. Her faith makes those dark moments of uncertainty a little brighter.
As one can imagine, multiple hospital stays and not being able to work, create a huge financial burden on her family. Where she should be spending time with family and meeting with Doctors to find a plan, she spends her time worrying about bills, how she can keep her job, health insurance, and her home.
Please help this family. They need as much love and support as we can pour out over them. Let's come together to help them worry less about the finances of an illness and more about healing.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/renaebriones
Organizer
Amber Blank
Organizer
Milwaukee, WI