Support Samantha's Fight Against Lupus

Hi, I have started this fund for my daughter, Samantha Phillips. She started to become ill in the beginning of December last year but was still able to work (she is a visiting nurse, LPN with the VNA of Central Jersey). By the end of January, she became so debilitated that she was no longer able to work and went on short-term disability. Many doctors, labs and tests later, she was diagnosed with LUPUS and started on various treatments, but some made her extremely sick (chemo). She is finally on a promising course of treatment, but her disability is coming to an end and if she is not able to return to her role as a visiting nurse by the end of July, they will have to terminate her. She had just made a recent attempt at getting back to work but not even halfway through the third day, at the office, her boss saw how sick she was getting and sent her home.

LUPUS is an awful autoimmune disease that attacks the tissues of your major organs, joints and muscles and very painful sores. Each flare she has makes her extremely ill and is dangerous to her well-being and health. She has been having flares since the end of last year and we are hoping that the treatment will improve this and hopefully put her into remission. Her flares are caused by UV which is any sunlight or fluorescent lighting and can happen with exposures of only a few minutes. She is on Plaquenil and just began Benlysta along with high doses of Advil to thwart the systemic inflammation (not always helpful), she has also just started, as needed, injections of Toradol and Steroids to stop the flares when they happen. She was on Methotrexate, but this made her so sick.

Sam and her husband make only modest salaries but have been raising their two young daughters and accomplished owning a home.

We don’t know what Sam’s future looks like, but her insurance and home are in jeopardy if she is not able to return to work soon. These medications can take anywhere from three months up to a year to be fully effective. We are very hopeful that she will reach that point and continue with her career as a nurse even if it is in a different setting. Until then, anything you may be able to help with would mean the world to us.

If we reach a goal of $15,000 - $30,000, that will give her sufficient time for her medication to be mostly too fully effective and support her to stay as healthy as possible through this period which is important for her long-term life outcomes and to get back to work. She is only 34 years old.