Hi, I'm Chrisi. Thank you for stopping by to read my story. I never thought I would be asking the internet for help, but here we are.

I am a single parent of 2 teenagers who are at home with me 100% of the time.

I’m currently battling a couple of serious medical conditions, one called jugular vein compression. The veins in my neck are being squeezed by surrounding structures, preventing proper blood flow to and from my brain. This creates dangerously high pressure in my head, leaving my brain without the oxygen it needs and causing waste to build up.

Because of this long-term pressure, I already have permanent damage in one of my semicircular canals, part of the inner ear that regulates motion. That damage makes me constantly dizzy, like I’m on a rocking boat or stuck on a spinning carnival ride just from turning my head the wrong way.

This condition has made it nearly impossible to work consistently for over two years. Lately, the symptoms are so severe that I spend much of my time in bed simply trying to manage the pressure and headaches. I am scheduled for surgery, but my specialist is one of the only doctors in the country who treats this, and the earliest available date is in the spring. I also have something called nutcracker syndrome, where my left renal vein is compressed and may also require surgery. I have another specialist to consult with soon.

I can’t move in with family because the altitude difference is too dangerous for me; going 2,000 feet higher puts me at serious risk of altitude sickness or even stroke. I can’t travel, I can’t drive most days, and I can’t go anywhere with elevation changes because my vascular system simply can’t handle it right now.

In the middle of all of this, I am slowly trying to build a business, rebuild my life after divorce, and care for my teens who are home full-time. But when your body is fighting this hard every single day, even the simplest things become mountains to climb.

We have an immediate holiday need of $5,000 to help us get through until January. On top of everything, I was recently scammed out of $1,250 by the moving company I trusted, which put us into an even deeper hole. We don’t qualify for SNAP because my daughter works, she has her own medical journey and future to prepare for, but even though her income doesn’t go toward our household bills, it still disqualifies us. I’m in college 3/4 time, working toward my degree, my child support was drastically reduced in August, and with my health where it is right now, I have no stable way to bring in income. I know this is a big ask, but this is genuinely what we need just to stay afloat while I wait for surgery.

If you feel led to help, even in a small way, it would mean more to us than I could ever express.

Beyond this immediate need, there’s also the bigger picture of what our family is walking through. Both my daughter and I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and this jugular compression is one of the complications that can come with it. My daughter is also in the middle of her own medical journey—multiple specialist appointments, testing for potential autoimmune and EDS-related issues—and I’m doing everything I can to keep us both stable while my own health is deteriorating.

A little backstory....

These past few years have been some of the hardest of my life. I’ve been navigating a high-conflict divorce after 22 years of marriage, fighting in court again and again over the last 3.5 years while trying to protect and care for my kids. At one point, we were on the brink of homelessness because of multiple health issues that required my full-time attention (daughter with fracture in spine, son with fractured feet from Severs disease). With no help, it's been a monumental journey to navigate alone.

It has felt like wave after wave with barely a moment to breathe, and I’ve been fighting with everything I have to rebuild our lives. We just need some help right now to make it through this season and keep going.

Chrisi Marie

P.O. Box 114

Parker, CO 80134