Hello friends and family,

Today, I ask you for your help, whatever amount you can give. I am starting this GoFundMe to raise money to pay for care and living expenses while recuperating from post-concussion syndrome. This March I got a traumatic brain injury (TBI) from a slip-and-fall concussion that happened while dancing on vacation at my family cabin. In May I was diagnosed with PCS. I am having a long and difficult recovery. This is likely due to having a long history of concussions, almost all falls and accidents, with the first one at age 2.

This healing journey has been intense. During the first leg of this recovery, I could only lay in a dark room and do complete brain rest. I was told to focus on nothing, not move much, and not think, just focus on my breath. I have learned a lot about traumatic brain injury and that TBIs are more common than people think. They can include stroke, aneurysm, or concussion.

According to the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA), brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability worldwide.

In the United States, an estimated 2.5 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC).

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1 million Americans are treated and released from hospital emergency departments as a result of TBI annually.

Brain injury can cause a range of physical, cognitive, and behavioral/emotional impairments, from subtle to severe. Injury can have many causes, the most common being car crashes, falls, and sports-related injuries. My main symptoms have included cognitive dysfunction, bad issues with memory, pain, migraine, speech, disorientation, memory loss, fatigue, and balance issues. These make having any level of independence difficult. My partner, Neil, has had to shift careers in order to work from home and be able to to help care for me. Neil is my caregiver now, which is a time-consuming job, so that limits his ability to work a good bit. He has to be home each day to help with my basic day-to-day care. He has been a huge help, and my recovery up to this point would have been impossible without him, but we can't do this forever. We need to get more care in place for more sustainability, so we can both be better off financially, be able to take care of our health, and enjoy life a little more.

The goal of this GoFundMe and what your gift will go towards is to fill the gaps (daily expenses while recovering full time and having zero income) until I can get SSI Disability, which I have applied for. It is hard to ask, but I need help to pay for day-to-day expenses. These include, but are not limited to:

Basic day-to-day household needs

Doctor visits and related expenses

Bills and Rent (as we are looking to move shortly)

Pills, supplements, and items to support care (such as compression socks).

I am asking for your assistance so I may have the space and financial stability for healing to happen.

Lastly, I want to share with you my long-term goal and my hopes and dreams during this difficult time. My long-term goal is to channel this injury and recovery into a pathway to loving kindness, education, and selfless service. I aspire to write my story one day in order to educate and uplift others, as well as poems and novels to add joy to the world. I want to learn about healing and share that knowledge through my writing. I hope to advocate for others with TBI and similar struggles one day in other ways as well. And to continue to learn and teach the healing powers of mindfulness, pausing, resting, and meditation.

Thank you so much for your support. Every donation means the world to me. Thank you for helping me to fill the gaps in finance until I can get on my two feet. And for helping me on this step of finding the care, life, and balance that works for me and helps me to attain the best long-term quality of life. Thank you for your part in this step towards following my dreams.