My name is Tawana, and I have severe Crohn's Disease and I WANT TO LIVE. But I have health care obstacles here in the Philippines. Please hear my story and if you can help, I will be incredibly grateful!

Backstory: My intestines are inflamed, narrowed, scarred and have several holes connecting each other. A normal gut would be like a one-way street while mine has several complex intersections and roundabouts. These complex fistulas and strictures affect a total of 2/3 of my guts. Because of these, I have severe abdominal pain and I cannot digest nor absorb food properly.

I experience chronic debilitating fatigue. My blood levels get messed up, I am severely malnourished and have rashes, arthritis (my joints & spine), eyes and liver inflammation.

This disease has no cure yet. It's just a matter of prolonging life by getting into and staying in remission; aiming for a better quality of life. The cause of this disease is still not clear, but genetic and immune system malfunctions are major factors.

I have been in and out the hospital getting my nutrition, other fluids and antibiotics through my veins. I am also on chemotherapy for Crohn's disease but the current drug I'm on is not working enough anymore.

I am now unable to work because of my condition and I can barely care for my 3 year old son with special needs. I'm 32 years old but I now only weigh 83 lbs at 4 feet 10 inches. Less than a year ago, I was 103 lbs.

The healthcare system here in the Philippines does not help much with Crohns disease. It is considered rare here.

I am not able to get life insurance because of this. I'm a dependent of my husband's health card from his work, but my condition is categorized as a pre-existing dreaded illness and they only cover $350 per year for medical treatments and procedures related to Crohn's disease.

The cost of chemo for Crohn's Disease is $2,400 depending on what drug is used.. Chemo for Crohn's disease is long term, infused every 4 to 8 weeks (depending on my body's response) indefinitely.. Plus the costs of maintenance oral medications, routine lab tests, specialized milk formula, hospitalizations, etc.

I need to be in the hospital for at least a month with an IV line directly into a deep vein in my chest to receive the liquid nutrition, antibiotics and other Infusions. All of my veins on both hands are already shot. My doctors also want me to change to a stronger chemo drug.

This would cost at least $25,000 (excluding potential surgery and further chemo infusions). At this point, surgery is last resort as I would have only about a third of my guts left and would permanently be nourished through my veins. It would be a much more challenging and expensive quality of life and the surgery itself is very risky and could result to death.

I am now still in the hospital since July 6 because I had convulsions and a very high fever over 40.1 C (104.18 F) due to blood infection from my intestines. We thought I was going to pass away then.

The hospitals here require the costs to be paid as I am being treated. If the costs reaches a certain amount and we are not able pay, they'll stop my treatment but they wont discharge me until the bill is fully settled whilst further adding costs.

My family has already exhausted all our savings and cannot afford my treatment anymore. There are things that could still be done to save and prolong my life but we just can't afford it.

I do feel such a burden to my family but I am not yet ready to die. I WANT TO LIVE. I owe it to my miracle baby boy and my family to at least give it my all and exhaust all efforts to extend my life, God willing. I have survived Covid and I hope to survive this as well.

I am desperately and humbly pleading to you all for help. Any and every bit counts. Any amount you could spare could be the difference between life and death for me.

If you have made it this far reading my story, thank you for your time. Please include me in your thoughts and prayers. God bless you all.