Dear family and friends,

Regretfully, I am in a position to have to ask for your help...I truly wish my circumstance was otherwise. I have tried to avoid neck and back surgeries recommended 

1 1/2 years ago, after a serious car accident left me with 8 herniated discs in my neck and lumbar, spinal chord injuries, TBI and post-concussive syndrome, to name a few. 

As a fulltime solo parent just coming back from Co-vid financial hardship, I decided to accept a great job offer in California a year ago. This meant resorting to alternative pain management and physical therapy, including what I know from years as a clinical Pilates instructor, to stave off surgeries. Epidural cortisone injections were also worth a shot, but two months ago, the pain came back with a vengeance. It has become difficult to stand or walk now, and I'm at a critical point where neck and surgery are urgently necessary to prevent paralysis or drop leg, which do not sound very fun! 

Surgery has always been my last option, not my first resort, but I am faced with the reality that I must now listen to what my body and surgeons are saying to me.

CO-vid has forced many of our financial, legal, healthcare and social service systems to all but cease to a grinding hault, which has been costly on many levels in this circumstance. As I am only able to work very limited hours given my exacerbated symptoms, and with a vigorous medical appointment schedule, my income is not incoming! 

With the time it will take for the surgery procedures 3 months apart with recovery time estimated to be up to a year, and as I await the snail-paced car accident insurance claim processing… these compounding factors are making it tough to make basic ends meet for me, Sienna and our puppy, Roxy the Rockstar. So we are needing financial assistance urgently to help pay for rent, food, bills, in-home support and medical treatments/expenses not covered by insurance. 

Insurance adjusters are also on overload right now as is Short-term Disability Income which could take up to 6 months to receive, if at all, as this social service is also at a catastrophically slow pace, nationally.

I hope to re-pay any money you are able to donate today, as it is important for me to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. I can also offer Pilates and massage to any friends or family who wish to come to Windansea Pilates, once I receive the green light to go back to work--hopefully sooner than later!

I can't thank you enough for considering a donation...however small...and any encouraging words you can offer at this very scary and uncertain time. As I have been an avid athlete who loves to ski, mountain bike, surf, yoga and Pilates, and enjoy all of these with my daughter, this is all a bit overwhelming.

❤️

shayna