From Chronic Pain to Purpose. Help Me Start Over.

My name is Derek, and I’ve been fighting silently for years.

What started as stomach pain was misdiagnosed again and again — first as IBS, then as ulcerative colitis — until doctors finally discovered the truth: I have Crohn’s disease. By then, the damage had already taken its toll.

Last year, I spent two months in the hospital — including my birthday — alone in Illinois with no family nearby. I didn’t have any visitors until the very end, when my mother flew out to help me find a safe room to rent. She worries about me every single day, and I know this weighs heavily on her.

Crohn’s has flipped my life upside down. I receive Infleximab and iron infusions, sometimes up to three times a week, and I’m severely anemic. This year, a flare-up revealed that I also have shingles. Transportation has been one of the hardest parts — I often wait for hours for medical rides that aren’t reliable or consistent.

Still, I’m trying to move forward. I’ve enrolled in a local college certification program to transition into tech — a career that would allow me to work from home and manage my health safely and privately. Unfortunately, the school is over two hours away on a bike, with no direct bus route, and I truly need a vehicle to make it possible.

I’ve always lived a healthy lifestyle — meal prepping, exercising, doing all the right things — but before turning 35, everything changed. With no income, disability denied, and thousands in medical debt from before I was approved for Medicaid, I’ve had to rely on credit cards and Ubers just to get to my appointments. Some prescriptions still aren’t covered, and I get help when I can, but that support is stretching thin.

That’s why I’ve chosen to take this time — while healing — to better myself through education, so I can build a new, sustainable life that works around my condition.

I’m asking for your help so I can:

• Get safe, reliable transportation

• Continue critical treatments

• Attend school consistently

• Pay off the passive amount of medical bills

• Rebuild my life with purpose, health, and stability

If you’ve ever known someone battling stomach issues, you know how silently life-altering it can be. I was even told I might need a colostomy bag — but I haven’t given up.

Please, if you can, help me stay on this path toward healing, education, and independence.

Thank you for reading. God bless.