Oh hi! My name is Tarah, although I'm sure most of you clicking on this know me already. But just in case you don't, or haven't been in the loop lately, here's a recap!

After about a year of moving to Colorado to be with my partner, I developed a mysterious illness. It caused me to be bed-bound for the majority of the following year, in and out of emergency rooms and physical rehabs, waiting for whatever this was to pass, and find possible causes.

At the time, we were alongside the pandemic, so my illness was getting dismissed and gaslit as covid, anxiety, or just plain dehydration. After about a year, I was finally diagnosed with a form of dysautonomia called POTs, postural orthstatic tachycardia. I could not stand, let alone sit upright in the beginning at all without my heart getting close to 180 beats per minute, and it was another 6 terrifying months before I could gain any semblance of independence. This type of illness can be triggered by anything, and unfortunately has no cure, just management.

My partner and I thought it could be elevation related, and we road tripped back to California, hoping it would ease my symptoms. Unfortunately it didn't, and I spent another couple years fighting with the healthcare system, educating my new doctors on my illness, and learning to advocate for myself.

Good news is after almost 6 years of the (frankly traumatizing) and life altering change, I am now mostly independent, using a wheelchair for the few outings we have, as well as some other adjustments(like sitting on a stool to cook!) to make life with dysautonomia tolerable. I am still learning, we are still adjusting, it is still hard.

Before moving back to California, I realized heat is one of my biggest triggers, and can exacerbate my symptoms incredibly quickly. You can imagine how life isn't that great living in SoCal when you have heat intolerance. Between my energy("spoons", as we call it) being so low that even washing my hair more than once a week is a draining chore, but stress and medication have caused my hair to thin in some places. So I've made the decision, after years of debating(and wanting), to finally shave my head.

That's where you wonderful people come in! I figured since it's something I want to do anyways, why not create some good for others along the way? How funds will be used: $200 of the proceeds will be going to https://mygooddays.org/, and another $200 will be going to https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ ! I will be using $100 to get the actual shaving care+supplies.

Thank you all for reading, and please spread the word! I appreciate and love you all, and if you have any questions, please ask!

Tldr; I'm raising money for charity to shave my head