Treatment Fundraiser for Sarah

Hi friends! 

Here are a few bullet points to bring you up to speed:

• Sarah has been very ill for nearly a year and dropped nearly half her weight in that time. Her body is very weak and prone to complications due to malabsorption.

• This fundraiser is not for living expenses and mounting medical costs like the previous campaign. Those funds were essential for rent and outstanding bills, for which they are grateful for.

• This is a new fundraiser to obtain focused medical treatment under the care of a new specialist, who is not covered through their insurance provider.

• Sarah has been following doctors' orders over the last 11 months with little improvement. The doctor at this clinic will provide tailored treatment.


Below is a more detailed account of why I'm starting this campaign:

I am starting this GoFundMe in hopes that we can raise money for a new approach to Sarah Zimmerman’s continued treatment. As some of you know, Sarah has been hospitalized over a dozen times since October 2017 for complications stemming from her severe Crohn’s disease that she was diagnosed with in January of this year. This past May she suffered a DVT (Deep vein thrombosis) and a severe Crohn’s flare-up which resulted in her requiring total nutrition support. Later it was revealed her right lung had suffered tissue death, known as an infarction, in light of a bilateral pulmonary embolism (two blood clots, one in each lung). 

Because of her severely malnourished state, Sarah is completely dependent on her partner Sean, as well as family and friends. Over the past 11 months she’s dropped 43% of her weight, going from a healthy one hundred-fifty-five pounds to a startling eighty-nine pounds! Her road to rehabilitation has been difficult and she requires constant support, is unable to operate a car and cannot walk without a cane or assistance. In fact, she suffered a small concussion during a recent fall while grocery shopping when she was without her cane.


Her current medical team is uncertain why her progress has been delayed. A recent switch in medications had offered some small hope for improvement and respite from her protracted illness. But much of her symptoms continue to endure, which have profoundly affected Sarah’s everyday life. At this stage, Sarah's Health Insurance has deemed her rehabilitated and has stopped all in-home physical therapy as well as at-home assistance.

Some of her doctors have posited that she consider this her “new normal!"

 
I think we can do better. I would like to raise money for her to see a specialized nutritionist, with a focus on internal medicine from a clinic called the Progressive Medical Center.

This clinic specializes in functional medicine, which analyzes the entire physiology of the body to find the underlying cause of various diseases.  This requires some cutting edge laboratory tests, in addition to standard medical testing.

The Medical Director is Dr. Viktor Bouquette, MD.  Dr. Bouquette spent the first 13 years of his practice in the ER at Grady. In addition to being the Medical Director at PMC since 1998, he has an impressive track record and I’m confident he can help Sarah recover, too. Unfortunately, Sarah’s insurance will not cover his services. Hence, this GoFundMe campaign.

Thank you in advance for any help and/or assistance you can provide.