Hello, all. My name is Kaylea. Recently, my dear sweet friend, Katie (the cutie on the right), has had to go through surgery due to a second collapse in her lung. around 2 weeks ago, after working through the pain for multiple days, she was taken to the ER where they found she had a hole in her lung which had caused it to collapse. After having a tube inserted (which was unfortunately done incorrectly at first), she was sent to Springfield Memorial to be monitored. Her lung did inflate itself and she was eventually able to return to work. As luck will sometimes have it, that was unfortunately not all she would have to go through this summer. About five days ago, she was sent back to Springfield Memorial where it was found her lung had again collapsed, and she would need surgery. she is now home and resting/recovering, but unfortunately she IS going to be hit with some very hefty medical bills.

A little more backstory about my friend- Katie has Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is an inflammatory arthritis that affects the spine and larger joints. This disease can essentially attack any point of her body at any given time. I have seen this girl battle unimaginable pain and symptoms no one could ever think of, let alone deal with on their own. There is so so much more I could say about this disease and how I have seen it affect my friend over the many years I have known her, but that is not near as important as how SHE has handled it all on her own, and with the help of her loving boyfriend, who has also worked countless hours to help keep her comfortable financially, emotionally, and physically. Katie is a relentless hard- worker and I have never seen her give up a day in her life. She would never ask anyone for help, but she deserves it so I decided to do it for her. ANY AND ALL HELP IS APPRECIATED