My name is Amanda and I, along with my husband Brian, have created this fundraiser for our incredible special needs son, Jacoby, who is 16 years old. Jacoby was born with rare genetic abnormalities, has epilepsy, and is also on the Autism Spectrum.

Having rare genetic abnormalities has created many challenges for Jacoby his entire life, but it has never slowed him down. As parents, we were told he may never walk or talk, but Jacoby has proved doctors wrong time and time again. The one fear that has always weighed on us is not knowing how these abnormalities were going to affect him as he got older. Sadly, we are now finding out.

Over the last 5 months, Jacoby's health has taken a turn. It started one morning when he woke up and his voice had completely changed. His voice, that was once always so full of joy, wonder, and humor, had turned into a quiet, slow, monotone voice. Before we knew it, he started exhibiting more symptoms: hallucinations, impulsiveness, drooling, off and on loss of taste and nausea, unexplainable rashes, loss of balance, and much more.

Jacoby has and continues to go through many medical tests, blood draws, and therapies to find out why his body is literally attacking itself from the inside out. Many of his blood tests are abnormal and make no sense to the doctors, as he has a team who are trying to figure out this medical mystery. The latest development is the finding of a complex cyst on his kidney that now has to be evaluated for cancer.

It has come to a point where my family needs to ask for help. Financially, we can no longer do this on our own. Between running to and from constant appointments, making sure our bills are paid, taking care of 2 other kids, and putting food on the table, it has put a huge financial strain on us. We are barely getting by. We need to ensure that Jacoby continues to receive all the medical care he needs.

Thank you for considering supporting our family through this difficult time as we continue fighting for answers for Jacoby. We are Jacoby strong.