I’m not very good at asking for help, but I don’t really have a choice anymore.

I've known that I have Crohn's since I was very young and started seeking help from specialists when I was 9 years old. But the last almost 3 years have been a completely different level of personal hell from this disease. It’s turned into GI failure that's left me completely dependent on TPN. I now spend 12 hours a day hooked up to an IV line to stay alive.

I've had so many abscesses and fistulas that I have completely lost count. They have caused all of this to happen to me. It's created this infection that just won’t go away and caused my GI failure.

Since all of this started, I’ve had 17 surgeries, and in just the last 6 months alone, I’ve been hospitalized 9 times. My life has basically become procedures, hospital stays, trying to recover, and then getting sick all over again.

I work when I can, but my health has taken me down so many times... and now I’m about to be out of work again. The next step is starting clinical trials. I'm pretty much out of any other option at this point if I want to still have any quality of life left. I’m hopeful, but it’s also scary knowing everything is riding on treatments that may or may not work.

I’m asking for help just to stay afloat while I go through this. I don't know how I'm going to cover my mortgage, truck payment, and other basic living expenses once I start these treatments. I've always been financially stable and worked my butt off for what I have! Things I’ve always tried to handle on my own are getting harder to keep up with, unfortunately, and if I start these treatments, I won't be able to stay afloat. I don’t want to lose everything while I’m trying to fight to get better. I’m just trying to get through this and hopefully make it into remission. Fight for a chance at being almost normal.