For Kayleigh,

 

(Kayleigh and I)

Kayleigh has been my closest friend for a decade now, meeting in math class during our sophomore year of high school. In the last ten years, she has shown the most resilience and strength through terribly troubling times. Throughout the years money has always been tight, but she has always been the person to give the last $20 to her name if someone else was in need.

 

These last 12 months have proven that even the strongest and most willing, have their own battles to go through. My friend has had debilitating lower back pain for years, and for all our fellow women, we know that while withstanding the greatest pain, we power through. Despite countless doctor visits, Kay was dismissed time and time again by doctors who blamed her back pain on lack of core strength and heavy periods. 

 

(First day of school)

 

December of 2021, while teaching her beloved first graders (yes it’s true, she’s an elementary school teacher), she began to vomit from the sheer amount of pain. In typical female fashion, she excused herself from the students to tell her principal that she had to leave. Like a true super human, she drove HERSELF to get help. Within the next few hours, she was in emergency surgery.

 

(In typical Kayleigh spirit, goofy photo before surgery)

 

Being born severely premature (weighing in at 2 pounds, 11 ounces), she started life as a medical anomaly. Those few days in the hospital she found out that her kidneys were full of stones that her body wouldn’t be able to pass on its own. It was also discovered that her ovaries were overrun with two large cysts. The next few weeks were agonizing waiting for her follow up visit to conduct another internal ultrasound to find out more information about the cysts.

 

My friend, a 26 year old woman, went into the doctor to figure out the next best steps for her treatment. It was there she found out that she didn’t have ordinary cysts. She has endometriomas, fluid-filled cysts that indicate a more advanced stage of endometriosis. Surgery is the answer.

 

First thought, how will I ever pay for this surgery? I’m still struggling with the emergency surgery bill. Just when she thought money was the only issue, the doctor informed her that it’s very likely that because these cysts have grown for so long, her fertility is also at stake.

 

(Summer fun trip)

 

So let’s stop. This woman who’s devoted her life to educating children, who's dreamed of having a family of her own was just told that not only is her fertility in question, they’re also going to take every last penny to her name to surgically remove the cysts.

 

Perhaps things would have ended differently if a single doctor took her pain seriously years before. Maybe had doctors taken women’s health seriously she wouldn’t be facing fertility issues, pain, and outrageous medical bills. But that’s not the case.

 

Today I’m asking for any amount of donation possible. I want to give back to the friend that has given me everything. She deserves to be able to focus on getting healthy without the collection agencies calling to collect what they deem she owes.

 

Please, if possible, help my friend cover the costs of the two emergency surgeries and the upcoming surgery to remove the endometriomas.

 

(Kayleigh with her two younger siblings)

 

(Kayleigh with her late “Pop”, Ken. Ken Williams passed away Jan 2022)