It’s not easy to ask for help, and I’m so thankful Natalie agreed to share her story below. I know she has been the one on the helping end with so many, let’s support her by covering her in prayer and lightening the financial load! Grateful for the blessing of community! Love, Krissi

Hi Friends,

Although it is difficult for me, I’m asking for help. In 2018 I was diagnosed with severe, Stage 4, Endometriosis (a condition resulting from endometrial/scar tissue growing outside the uterus around the organs) in the abdominal cavity. This began a journey of chronic pain management and surgeries. My last surgery in February of this year (2024) was supposed to remove as much endometriosis (scar tissue) as possible along with large cysts, however, when the doctor was starting to perform the surgery she was unable to do any of that as a result of how severe the tissue was growing. In her words, it is now adhering to all visible organs causing them to be stuck together which in turn makes the surgery only possible with a specialist out of network.

I have spent so many days in pain and it's no longer possible to live off of Ibuprofen and Tylenol each day just to be able to function.

A friend recommended me to a Endometriosis Specialist in the San Fransisco area, who people from all over the world come to see.

(http://nezhat.org/endometriosis-expert-camran-nezhat-md/

Very thankful to have found him, but the bad news is his office doesn't accept our insurance.

This new doctor’s office and I have spent the last 7 months trying to submit appeals to insurance for out-of-network coverage because there is not a doctor in-network who can perform the surgery I need. All requests have been denied.

The surgery will take around 3 hours to remove all endometriosis tissue and quite a few other things. This will require two surgeons for one to be able to do organ repair as one removes the tissue adhesions. This is a hard thing to ask for but we really would like to do our best to not accrue medical debt if at all possible. The surgery will be done in September and my recovery is around 4 weeks total, with two weeks of not being able to hold my Ivy girl which is the hardest part.

The current total for every part of the surgery is $30,000. That breakdown is:

$15,000 Primary Surgeon

$2,500 Assistant Surgeon

$2,500 Anesthesia

$5,000 Pathology

$5,000 Surgery Facility

Thank you for taking time to read this, we are thankful for you and your prayers for a successful surgery and recovery. Any donation here or venmo to @natalie-kresge to offset the cost would help tremendously.

Gratefully,

Natalie Kresge