Crystal, her husband Mark, and their two children are facing an incredibly difficult time. Crystal was recently diagnosed with lupus—multiple strains—as well as six other autoimmune diseases, totaling thirteen strains. On top of this, she is battling stage 2 kidney disease and an underactive thyroid. These health challenges have forced Crystal to medically retire from her job, making it impossible for her family to keep up with bills and daily expenses. The treatments she's starting are taking a toll on her both mentally and physically, making even simple tasks hard or impossible to manage.

The family's most urgent needs include help with mounting medical bills, household expenses, transportation to various doctors' offices, and support for Crystal's medications. Mark is doing his best to be supportive and understanding, but the stress is overwhelming. Their children, while not fully grasping the gravity of the situation, know enough to feel the impact on their family. Everyone is heartbroken and anxious, especially as they remember watching their mother go through a similar struggle.

Support from friends, family, and the community would mean everything to Crystal and her loved ones. It would give them some breathing room and hope as they work to get these diagnoses under control. Every contribution will help them face the challenges ahead and focus on Crystal's health and well-being.

A message from Crystal herself:

I do have a lot going on and we don’t even know the full scope of it yet. We haven’t told many people. My brother, who made this GFM with the help of my daughter, only found out a few weeks ago. My kids only a week. They’ve known the whole time I’ve been sick, but not the severity.

I’m usually in the er or urgent care a few times a month. The scary part of some the diseases is there’s no treatment or cure and they carry a maximum life sentence of about 10yrs once diagnosed, unfortunately once it shows up in blood results its said to be advanced. We’re all trying to be optimistic of course and are waiting for more info. With all the testing I’m going to be going through the next few weeks we’re hoping to have more answers within the next couple months. Some specialists I can’t get into until next year. We have over $3K in out of pocket medical expenses so far.

I’ve been dealing with severe health issues since last April and we’re just starting to get deep with all my testing. If I’m not at water therapy I’m in a Dr’s office. When I’m not there I’m usually in bed and usually sleeping for several hrs as I rarely have energy for anything else. When I do have energy I usually get a couple hours before I have to go back to bed and sleep. Sometimes I can actually do things like go to the store, do light exercises or small household activities. Many things I liked or loved to do I can no longer do them. Imagine having no energy to cook/bake, (for girls doing hair/nails/makeup), go outside, walk to the mailbox, garden, etc. It’s been a hard reality to get used to. I cried a lot, but I’ve come to terms with it and am adjusting.