Help Save A Violinist's Hands
Donation protected
Hi ! I’m Kati, I’m a student, I've been playing violin since I was 4, and I want nothing more than to play for the rest of my life. After years of disabling pain that forced me to drop out of my music degree program in college, I was recently diagnosed with the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This means the genetic blueprint my body uses to build collagen is faulty, so my body is floppy on a cellular level. Consequently, I suffer from fragile skin, autonomic nervous system problems and loss of ability to walk/stand, severe fatigue, chronic severe muscle+nerve pain, and easily-damaged too-flexible joints that partially and fully dislocate multiple times a day and “hyperextend”, especially in my PIP and DIP joints, like this;
so every time i put pressure on my fingertips, my PIP joints collapse with all the pressure on the last joint, like this;
This causes such pain and weakness I can’t play instruments or even write/type more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Thankfully, unlike my hips or shoulders, this can be corrected with splints. Splints are my only option to hold my fingers in “neutral” positions, blocking hyperextension, preventing dislocations, restoring function/strength, and preventing damage. My insurance will only cover these after I meet a $1200 deductible, and after that will only pay 80% IF I can find a third party to order them from the splint company for me at no profit to them (if I can find such a third party after the deductible is met, I'll have my insurance company do the math for the remaining splints and lower the goal amount as needed). As a disabled student with multiple chronic illnesses paying for school out of pocket, and at $1600 for 14 splints, I need your help to afford them!
All donations will go to the splints - with $7 each shipping, 12 $85 finger splints and 2 $241 thumb splints (you can verify this by visiting Silver Ring Splints' price list) = a total goal of $1600 with 7.9% ($126.4) added to cover gofundme's fees. Any surplus will go to other medical expenses incurred by Ehlers-Danlos complications such as other medical equipment/braces or medications. and I'll add it here via gofundme's offline donation tool to reflect my total progress.
My fingers WILL get worse if not splinted. Splints will slow that degeneration, be a significant tool in my pain management toolbox, and mb even help me play violin at a level again where I could complete my degree and support myself. Even donations of a few $ would get me there if enough people donate. Thank you for reading, donating, and signal-boosting!
(pic on the right of page image property of silver ring splints)
so every time i put pressure on my fingertips, my PIP joints collapse with all the pressure on the last joint, like this;
This causes such pain and weakness I can’t play instruments or even write/type more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Thankfully, unlike my hips or shoulders, this can be corrected with splints. Splints are my only option to hold my fingers in “neutral” positions, blocking hyperextension, preventing dislocations, restoring function/strength, and preventing damage. My insurance will only cover these after I meet a $1200 deductible, and after that will only pay 80% IF I can find a third party to order them from the splint company for me at no profit to them (if I can find such a third party after the deductible is met, I'll have my insurance company do the math for the remaining splints and lower the goal amount as needed). As a disabled student with multiple chronic illnesses paying for school out of pocket, and at $1600 for 14 splints, I need your help to afford them!
All donations will go to the splints - with $7 each shipping, 12 $85 finger splints and 2 $241 thumb splints (you can verify this by visiting Silver Ring Splints' price list) = a total goal of $1600 with 7.9% ($126.4) added to cover gofundme's fees. Any surplus will go to other medical expenses incurred by Ehlers-Danlos complications such as other medical equipment/braces or medications. and I'll add it here via gofundme's offline donation tool to reflect my total progress.
My fingers WILL get worse if not splinted. Splints will slow that degeneration, be a significant tool in my pain management toolbox, and mb even help me play violin at a level again where I could complete my degree and support myself. Even donations of a few $ would get me there if enough people donate. Thank you for reading, donating, and signal-boosting!
(pic on the right of page image property of silver ring splints)
Organizer
Kati Michelle
Organizer
Bentonville, AR