Support My Chronic Pain Treatments

Hello, everyone.

My name is Brandon. I am a social worker in training who also volunteers his time with survivors of sexual trauma. I also cope with chronic pain. This fundraiser is to raise much needed funds for ongoing treatments I receive to reduce my constant pain due to fibromyalgia and neuropathy. Before COVID, I began feeling pain that I could not explain. Working with my doctors, I was diagnosed and began treatment. At that time, finances were not the best, but my family and I were able to afford my needed medical treatments. COVID hit my family hard. I nearly died from COVID in 2020 even while living in a bubble and not experiencing the world. My father, a single parent who adopted me after I was disowned by my natal family for being gay, is a self-employed coach whose financial income took a drastic hit. Needing these treatments multiple times a year, we are in need of financial support.

So what are these treatments? I receive Ketamine IV Infusions by my doctor to reduce neuropathic pain and create new neural networks so that I am able to function in less physical pain. While Ketamine has many uses and routes of medical administration, we have found that monitored intravenous infusions performed in a medical setting by my team of doctors to be the most helpful. According to my doctor, these treatments are not covered by any insurance.

The amount I am fundraising through GoFundMe is for rounds of treatments. What this means is each $3000 raised will cover one round of six Ketamine IV Infusions. This includes traveling to the appointments, going under ketamine administered by my doctor, recovering from the treatment, and traveling home six times. One round of treatment can last me anywhere from 4-6 months of reduced pain. However, even with the pain reduced, my father and I discuss my pain going from unbearable (about a 9 or 10 out of 10) to simply uncomfortable (about a 6 or 7 out of 10). Any extra funding after meeting this goal will go to future medical treatments to reduce my chronic pain.

Fibromyalgia is more than just pain. It tightens the muscles of the body, creates difficulty in the joints, and causes fatigue. As my doctors have described it, fibromyalgia is PTSD of the nervous system. Pairing this with neuropathy (which causes both burning pain and sometimes numbness of my arms, hands, legs, and feet), this is a daily struggle I face in my life. The treatments I am requesting your help with are approved to reduce these pains and treat depression, anxiety, and PTSD.

I thank you for your time and consideration in helping to fund and hopefully exceed this goal of $3000 for each round of treatments. The donation of any amount moves me and my family closer to obtaining the necessary treatments for my pain.

Thank you once again.

Gratitude,

Brandon Gorman