I am starting this go fund me for Calliope and her family, they are the most kind giving people and deserve someone to finally do something kind for them and boy with all she has been through with no complaints does she deserve it.

when I first met them I had no idea what she was dealing with and it was not until she was back getting treatment and I needed some product that Arn asked if he could have a few more days to get it to me because of her treatment that I thought to ask a few more questions. And boy was I surprised when I found out what they were going through in silence. Here is a bit of her story I asked her to share.

I was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis when i was 12. This is a rare genetic disorder, and it results in bumps growing all over a person's body. These bumps are internal as well as external, so this disease affects bone growth, hearing, vision, and a lot of other things. It also affects learning, so many people who have NF have learning disabilities, as well as a lot of other health issues.

I have a learning disability where I am horribly dyslexic. I also have a mild form of levoscoliosis (my spine curves to the left instead of the right). I also have some pretty major hearing loss. I am in constant pain from this.

I had a tumor pop up on my forehead almost overnight in 2001 time frame. I had it removed, but it kept coming back. I must have had 15 procedures just to pop that out over 15 years. On top of the 15 procedures, I had 5 major surgeries where I was knocked out and large areas around where the tumor were removed.

At one point I had a tissue expander inserted on my forehead. the purpose of this was to grow enough extra skin so the doctors would have enough to use as a flap after the tumor was removed (AGAIN!!). I had that expander for 2 months, and every week I had to go to the doc so they could inject more liquid into that expander. I had a port on the top of my head that they just jabbed the needle in. Yes, it hurt. A lot. I still had to work through all of these surgeries because i do like a roof over my head and tacos aren't free.

The tumor kept coming back, and then the doctors decided that I needed to undergo radiation therapy in October of 2020. Radiation is a month long. It's 25 sessions, so that was 5 weeks, every day, that I had to go into the hospital to have my radiation. This destroyed my appetite and I lost an alarming amount of weight. I came within a few pounds of being forced to have a feeding tube.

The radiation itself was painless. The effects of radiation were brutal. My forehead and eye had nasty radiation burns. I had zero energy. I had no appetite, and I'm a gourmet chef who loves to cook and eat. I had no desire to be creative or do any of the things that make me happy, like cooking (EATING!!) sewing, my cross stitch... nothing. And remember I still had to work.

After a month of radiation, I had a huge massive surgery called a Skin Flap. The doctors removed a huge section of my forhead skin, ground down my skull a bit, and transferred a slab of skin from my forearm to my forehead. They had to reconnect all the nerves and blood vessels. I was in the ICU for 3 days after that.

Here it is 4 years later, and the tumor has now returned, but now it's right in front of my right ear. It's grown substantially over this past year, and now it's wrapped around my ear canal, and it's grown around my upper and lower jaw. it's working its way across my face.

I am in discussions with the docs now, and they are saying that this surgery will result in them removing my right ear canal, so I will be completely deaf in my right ear. They will remove sections of my upper and lower jaw, making eating so much fun, and a patch of muscle on my cheek bone. I will be paralyzed on the right side of my face.

Of course this will drastically alter my appearance, making it incredibly difficult to work. Being completely deaf will affect my ability to answer the phones at work. Being paralyzed on half my face will make it difficult to talk and even eat.

I'm trying to maintain a good positive attitude, and try to find happiness and joy in small things, because the small things add up to the big things. I have some awesome friends who I lean on when I need support, and they are quick to help encourage me to keep going. I have Arn, my husband who loves me and I lean on more than he knows. I have my pets, and pets love you unconditionally.