Candaces Medical Emergency & hospitalization

Hello everyone, my name is Candace,

I have been suffering from complications from autoimmune diseases, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, for many years since I was 12 years old. In 2013, I had an emergency surgery to place an ostomy bag due to a perforation during a colonoscopy.

I had to relearn an entirely new way of living and dealing with the insecurities and maintaining an ostomy bag.

After surgery, I have continuously had complications and to this day I am having severe ongoing complications.

Since December of 2024, it started out very rough for me. I have been dealing with a family emeregency thay took a toll on me mentally. I developed a large wound on the butt crack area that was open and painful. I also started throwing up and having a lot of nausea, being unable to eat and drink, and feeling very faint, dizzy, and lethargic. During this time I experienced two losses of family members which has only made everything more difficult emotionally. I decided to come to the ER to check on the wound and figure out what was causing the severe dizziness and stomach pains.

Upon arriving, my blood pressure was severely low, and my heart rate was abnormally high. They decided to run an EKG and decided instantly that I needed to be admitted for further diagnostics and treatment. When I was sitting in the chair to get my IV placed and started, I became super dizzy and warned the nurse, I ended up collapsing and falling out of the chair forward. Thankfully, he caught me. I woke up laying flat on the floor with multiple nurses and doctors surrounding me and holding my legs up to get the blood to flow back to my brain. My nurse notified me that I had turned blue. :(

After receiving blood tests, labs, ultrasounds, and CT scans, the doctor informed me with some unfortunate news. My white blood cell count was very high, which means infection. I had

Lactic acidosis, Leukocytosis, a large ovarian cyst and kidney stone that were pressing up against my left kidney and causing extra fluids, infection, and pain. They also found a hernia that was close to causing a blockage in my intestines.

They performed an emergency surgery to drain my kidney to release all the pressure and extra fluid buildups. I currently have a tube attached to my kidney that is draining out into a bag. After this surgery, I have been in an intense amount of pain and have received 2 different MRIs, ultrasounds, X-rays, and CT scans. I have multiple doctors working with me from urology, infectious disease, wound care, OB-GYN, gynecologist, GI doctors, palliative care, physical therapy, psychiatrist, and even an internal medicine doctor and more.

There are still so many questions that haven't been answered. My hemoglobin level is severely low, and whenever I sit up for a certain amount of time or even stand, I feel super dizzy and faint. Therefore, I have been bedridden. Currently, it is uncertain when I will be discharged, but I will need to follow up and take more time off work to fully heal. They are worried about my kidneys and the chance of becoming septic due to the kidney stone and kidney infection. They are doing all they can to keep me stable and get me towards recovery. This has all been super stressful and painful for me, and I haven't been able to work and am in a spot where I cannot afford to miss any more work. I am focusing on my healing and a full recovery and am reaching out for help and support to those with the resources and ability to help me in this unfortunate time. I am calling out desperately to those who are able to help me. I am currently overwhelmed with everything going on and under a huge amount of stress. I appreciate all of the kind words, prayers, and support I have already received, and I am definitely in need of significant financial support and prayers during this time. If you are able to either share my GoFundMe page or donate to it, it would help me out tremendously and honestly mean the world to me. With all the added stress and pressure I am already under, I need all the support I can to get through this. I thank you all in advance for your love and support and for taking the time to read my long history of medical problems. If you are unable to donate via GoFundMe, I also have CashApp, Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle set up, and I can provide you with the info for each of those.

Thank you all again. I can't wait to be home and happy, healthy, and pain-free again. God bless all of you for your support.

Love, Candace