Support Kira Alvarado's Critical Surgery

I'm raising funds for my daughter, Kira Alvarado, who is facing a very serious surgical procedure and a large amount of medical costs to go along with it. For those of you who know Kira, you know that she has always been an extremely active person. Movement is a critical part of her life. She has been an athlete and a dancer since she was 3, partly to compete with her older brothers, but mostly because that is who she is. She went to college as a dance major and after graduating, began her career as a fitness instructor and personal trainer. This has been her life for 12 years and it brings her great joy to help people transform their lives and health.

She started having some puzzling and debilitating health issues over a year ago (some as far back as 4 years ago). And despite lots of tests, visits to different specialists, and various treatment programs (and over $45,000 spent), her health has continued to decline.

Kira has already faced several health challenges and has been a warrior through them. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia when she was 12, which is unusually young. We had thought the chronic pain she experienced was from dance and sports, but it turned out to be more serious and a lot to tackle as there is still no cure for it. But it can be handled and the pain lessened with diet, lifestyle modifications and proactive therapies, which is what Kira has done for over 20 years. Then last year she was diagnosed with Celiac disease, after 6 months of testing. So she again adjusted her diet and therapies to work to counteract the constant nausea and pain from this. Through all this, she has continued to teach classes and train clients, smiling through the pain.

But the pain has gotten much worse, to the point where there are days she can’t even leave her house. Now she has been told that she has endometriosis and needs the most invasive and serious procedure as it looks like it has spread to other organs and areas of her body. She is waiting on an MRI to see the extent of it, but it appears to be Stage 4, which is the most serious. The surgery is scheduled for mid-August and the recovery period is 4-6 weeks of restricted activity and no working out allowed. So this means that on top of the huge amount of medical expenses, she won’t be able to work for at least 6 weeks, possibly longer. She has very limited insurance coverage, which is an unfortunately common occurrence for those outside of the traditional employment arena. So most of the medical costs will fall on her to pay (and she is still paying down her previous medical expenses). The doctor’s bill alone for the surgery is $16,000, with another $22,000 anticipated for the imaging, testing, hospital stay, medications, and other expenses.

I also want to add that endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, so each of you undoubtedly knows women with it. As with so many conditions that only affect women, it is not a condition that is extensively studied nor understood. It is also chronic and there is no cure. The symptoms can go unrecognized for years and are largely dismissed as “just PMS” or “just a bad period” and the endometriosis continues to grow and spread. This is what happened to Kira. Endometriosis can also only be 100% diagnosed with laparoscopic surgery as it is often difficult or impossible to see with imaging. There are also a limited number of doctors who specialize or are even experienced with it. So, ladies, please do not ignore any symptoms that you are experiencing and don’t let doctors tell you that your concerns are not justified.

Kira likes to keep her private life private, so it is very difficult for her to share this information publicly. But I honestly don’t know what else to do. I know she has touched a lot of lives and she has a great community of friends within the health and fitness community and in the larger Miami community. So I’m hoping that if each person could just donate something, whether it is $5 or $50 or more, we can tackle this mountain of medical costs. Together we are so much more powerful than we are alone.

I also encourage you to reach out to Kira with love and support through this difficult time. It will mean so much to her.

Thank you for reading this and being a part of Kira's life and journey.

Here are a some links that help explain endometriosis in case you want to know more or you, or someone you know, is experiencing severe pain with their period. As one endometriosis specialist points out, this is never normal.

Endometriosis: Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/10857-endometriosis

Endo Support Group and Resources

https://worthywarrior.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzby1BhCQARIsAJ_0t5MtU5QBygqF-nKjUvw7e0NKg29JxGPaRjlCm4Z8PIUxoSReyBAqshAaAl3wEALw_wcB

Endometriosis Foundation of America

https://www.endofound.org