Support Anna's Journey to Health and Recovery

Hello Friends and Family,

Let’s start with what this is, a petition for help. We aren’t too prideful to admit we need it and we don’t ask for it lightly. It has been a long journey with plenty of hardship, and plenty of prayer and discussions have gone into humbling ourselves and deciding to ask for that help. We also want to clarify that we have already been immensely blessed. Unprompted assistance with gas, rent, and groceries, have all come from friends and family alike. Charity care has helped with thousands in medical bills. If you have already given and helped us out, we are grateful; and we will cherish that generosity for the rest of our lives because you really have made such a big difference. We don’t want to ask those who, out of the kindness of their hearts, have already given to us, nor do we wish for anyone to make a sacrifice of their own livelihood; but if you find it within your budget and within your heart, we would like to share our journey with you and ask for any available assistance. Even just your prayers, kind words, and sharing of our page, is more than enough to us.

Let’s go back to the beginning, back when Anna and Drew first met. Before the endless doctor’s appointments and hospital visits, before the engagement and the wedding, we met at a coffee shop, Cannon Coffee. It was practically love at first sight. We texted and called. We truly fell in love; but even then, Anna had some strange symptoms. Hemiplegic migraines were common place to her. These aren’t just headaches. They cause sudden and unpredictable numbness of the arms and legs, distorting her vision into shattered patterns like a kaleidoscope, or just replacing it with static entirely. No one had any answers as to why, but she knew the migraines could be triggered by elevators, roller coasters, and exercise, so she simply avoided those things. Life went on.

From there her headaches became more and more frequent, accompanied by extreme fatigue, and eventually the pain spread to her neck at an unbearable level. She pushed through it to work, finish her school, and live a happy life. No doctor, chiropractor, or massage therapist could ease any of the symptoms, any of the pain. Most days, just getting out of bed became too much of a struggle.

Still, she persevered, and Drew supported her through encouragement and accompanying her to various appointments. However, none of those appointments would result in any progress for her symptoms, or even a diagnosis. It was discouraging. All of the labs came back normal. All of the scans were fine. Every doctor just seemed to pass her off to the next one; and she was exhausted emotionally, mentally, and physically.

It didn’t matter to either of them though, they were going to get through it together; and so, in June, they tied the knot, and had what they would consider to be the most beautiful, happy, and special day of their lives. They got married. (Yay!)

Drew was climbing the ranks of his field in hospitality management, and Anna became a full-time receptionist at an acupuncture clinic. She was putting her career as a nutritional therapist on hold so she could use the health benefits of a more stable job to sort out her condition and find answers. It seemed like a good plan to the both of us, but it didn’t last. In November things got worse, and she had her first drop attack, a sudden fall, with no warning and seemingly no reason. She tried to stand up, but continued to fall again and again. Not knowing what else to do, Drew rushed her to the emergency room.

At the hospital they gave her the whole workup, all of the blood work and scans. They determined nothing was wrong and sent us on our way. But they told us to come back if she fell again. Two days later we returned, and went through the same song and dance, but they sent us away again, and repeated to return if she fell another day. Three days later, we were back, and they sent us away for the last time. This time, they instructed us not to come back unless her condition worsened to the point of fainting. It never did.

She continued to fall weekly, having flair ups that could last days. She lost her job at the acupuncture clinic. After three callouts for emergency room visits, they decided her performance was not up to standard. This despite an exceptional 90-day evaluation, with plans to train for promotion. Our finances were crumbling, and the endless medical debt building, all while she lost her full-time benefits. This was two days before thanksgiving, and we admit, it was tough to find things to be thankful for. But we had each other, a beautiful apartment, and a loving support system.

We went to countless specialists to find the answers the emergency room could not. An ENT, cardiologist, orthopedic doctor, orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist, vestibular therapist, neurologist, and neuro surgeon. Furthmore, she was still developing new symptoms, seizures. We had 3 EEG’s done, the longest of which was just short of 20 hours, and after confirming the seizures were not epileptic, they sent her home convulsing in pain. Unable to walk out of the hospital, they arrived with a wheelchair to take her. We still had no idea where to turn, so we just kept following the endless trail of referrals.

On February 8th, we saw another new symptom. One which the hospital would finally take seriously. At the age of 23 Anna had a stroke. The hospital neurologist did not believe her symptoms, ordering a drug screening, and telling her she had no reason to be admitted. The second MRI came back positive for a stroke, and we had a whole new slew of appointments to follow up on, finally a path to health. But it wasn’t hopeful for long. All of the specialists seemed to separate the stroke from her other symptoms, offering little to no solutions as to how to prevent another from occurring, other than taking blood thinners for the rest of her life.

Online forums and YouTube stories seemed to be the best place for her to find anyone who could relate to her experience, they pointed to a neck condition which she had never heard of before, called upper cervical instability. Even more importantly, there was a world-renowned specialist for the condition nearby, in Fort Myers Fl. But our hopes were crushed again, when we learned they had no charity care, no billing department, and accepted no insurance. Eventually, having depleted our savings and all of our options, we decided that it was worth trying out, that any price was worth her health, if it could actually help her.

That specialist, by the grace of God, had all of the answers. He could pinpoint every single symptom, from strokes to seizures to muscle fatigue. He had special equipment, such as a digital motion x-ray, which could show the bones in her neck while she was moving. He measured the blood flow of her carotid artery and jugular vein during certain neck positions. He measured the activity in her vagus nerve. Ultimately, he gave us about eight diagnoses we were missing, but the most important being upper cervical instability. This means that for years, Anna’s neck has been broken, not at the bones, but at the ligaments. Her ligaments have been unable to hold her spinal cord and vertebrae in place, and they’ve been cutting off blood flow and nerve signals from her brain to the rest of her body.

The good news, is that we had our answer as to what was wrong. The better news, is that he had a very effective and proven treatment for it. He expects a full recovery in 1 years' time using prolotherapy on the affected ligaments. The problem is the cost. In the last year and a half, we have been to 203 doctor’s appointments, totaling $8,995.20. This is our out-of-pocket cost. This number does not in include what was covered by insurance and charity care. This number does not include the $183.99 we spend every pay check on that insurance plan. This is the part of the story where we are going to be completely open and honest. We are in debt. We have no savings left, and we have 9 more prolotherapy and curve correction treatments, each estimating $1,750 per appointment. We are actively wrestling with the insurance company to be granted qualifying exceptions to have some of those prolotherapy costs re-imbursed. The problem is that even if granted, we don’t know how much it will be, and we still must pay up front before we can receive the treatment. We need help.

If you have taken the time to read our story, even if you don’t have the resources to give, we are thankful. If you have watched Anna struggle to walk and said a prayer, we are thankful. And if you have said an encouraging word, we are thankful. Please, do not give out of sacrifice, only abundance. And because we are out of any other words, thank you again.