This started as a family fundraiser but it has quickly grown into something more, which makes sense because Sara deserves more. Much more.

For those of you who know my cousin Sara, there are many versions of her. The daydreaming, nature loving child who came home with bugs and other little friends in her pocket. The athletic, soccer and track loving teen. The taught herself to play the guitar version. The brave skydiving, fun loving girl. The Sara who is always learning new things. The young adult who completed multiple Tough Mudder obstacles with a smile on her face. The cultured author who has a special way with words. The kick ass woman who showed up to a baby shower (mine) on a motorcycle. The book and movie enthusiast. The tattoo lover and eventual artist. The bunny obsessed version and crochet master.

Whichever version of Sara you know, or are reading about they all have a few things in common.

Every version of Sara is one of the kindest souls you’ll ever meet. On special occasions she always takes the time to write beautiful, unique messages to those she loves. Sometimes they are a little long winded (are you starting to see the family connection between her and I yet?) Every version of Sara has a gift; living things gravitate towards her and cherish her presence. Each version of her sees the beauty in everything, the big and the small, even through her pain and darkest days.

And every single version of Sara deserves to live pain free, a feat that not many versions have accomplished. Sara deserves more.

Sara has been living in (and surviving, sometimes just barely) varying degrees of pain for the past 15 years (almost half of her life). If we were playing medical bingo, we wouldn’t need this gofundme page.

At the age of 15, an MRI uncovered seven herniated discs in her spine. Within the next 15 years, she’d be up to 15 herniated discs. This has left her with immense back pain. In February 2020, 24 year old Sara fell on her neck and one of those herniated discs turned into a torn disc and a whole new level of pain set in. A pain that hasn’t been subdued yet. She has seen numerous doctors and specialists, even neurologists. Over the past 3 years she has had MRIs, CT scans, Xrays and more. Countless treatments have been tried from spinal epidurals to burning nerve endings to anesthetic placed directly on the nerves. She’s had injections in the base of her skull and directly in the damaged tissue of her spine. Sara has tried various combinations of pills from acetaminophen every 4 hours to nerve blockers, to oxycodone. A fusion surgery (Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion) was eventually performed where the torn disc was removed and replaced with a synthetic one. Nothing has stopped the pain long term.

During all of this time she has had some amazing doctors, and some less amazing doctors. One of her biggest hurdles is living in Quebec, Canada and relying on the free medical system. (Free medical system? Sounds rough, I know! But please read on.) Canadian healthcare wait times are very long. With chronic pain like she has, it’s just a neverending story of waiting to see a specialist, only to be referred to another, waiting longer, seeing the next specialist, being told they also can’t help, another referral and it just goes on and on and on. She waits weeks, months and years to meet the next person who might be able to help, only to be put on another waiting list. But as this process continues, her pain never goes away. Her hope dwindles.

The debilitating neck pain causes non stop migraines, extreme jaw tension and numbness in her face that sometimes leads to her entire arm and hand. There’s an inability to sleep and a lack of appetite from the pain levels (yet the pain meds cause weight gain). Pain radiates up into her ear, down into her collar bone, her shoulder and down her back. If all that wasn’t enough, Sara has dealt with many other medical issues over the past 15 years: Surgery to remove a spinal cyst (which didn’t heal correctly and led to complications), a tonsillectomy (which included an accidental jaw dislocation by the medical team), a ruptured ovary, glaucoma, an appendectomy and a steady array of viruses and infections.

We started this fundraiser with a goal of paying privately for a full MRI (the next needed procedure). She’s been on a public waitlist for one for over a year, and could wait another one to two years. Through the generosity of friends and family we have reached our first goal of $1200 to schedule the full MRI through the private medical system.

This gofundme page will continue with bigger goals for the following reasons:

My dear cousin is such a beautiful soul, and has so much love to give. She deserves more than the pain she’s been living with for so long. If you relate to any version of Sara, have ever experienced unexplained, unrelenting pain, or just want to help out of the goodness of your heart, my family and I, and Sara truly, truly appreciate every donation.