This is Susan talking, Troys wife.

This is our story:

I wait tables in Gatlinburg full time and Troy is Daddy at home with our 2 boys.

3 Years ago, Troys health began to decline very dramatically, at the time we thought it was due to covid, but it wasn't, it was much more serious, He dropped dangerously low in weight, fatigued beyond what most of us have ever felt, reacting to all kinds of foods, medicines and chemicals and losing muscle mass day after day, then the pain further spread into the abdomen area. The Doctors shrugged it off or overlooked it due to the fact that Troy has a rare genetic connective tissue disorder in the Marfan's and Ehlers Danlos family. Which this condition alone has enough of its own complications. He began to do a bit better and was able to gain back a little weight with aquatic physical therapy 3 days a week during the past 2 years, and he is still in therapy 3 days a week currently.

Fast forward to this early spring and he had diarrhea for 4 straight months, we chased a billion rabbits thinking it was food? perhaps bacterial? the latest stomach virus? Again, doctors didn't seem to be concerned, so after 4 months we switched family doctors and finally got to a gastroenterologist, after waiting for several months to be seen. She sent him for rigorous testing, and procedures to try and get to the bottom of it. She was very smart and helped us find the real problem. At least the tip of the iceberg. The procedures were complicated because Troy was reacting to the medicines, but the good news was those particular biopsies came back clear. The bloodwork showed otherwise, Celiac was positive, Crohn's was positive and most importantly the reality of what was going on "Severe Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency" (EPI). Essentially, he is now not making the enzyme needed for digesting food and his body is dumping everything he eats, and he doesn't absorb any of it. This condition is not reversable.

The big eye opener was his bone density test run by his endocrinologist, He has osteopenia, which is one level below osteoporosis, because of the EPI. He is also severely malnourished; several Doctors have told us this has been going on for a long time for him to reach this level of severity. So now we are waiting to get to a specialist for digestive diseases, praying its quickly so we can find out WHY this happened and praying for the best news possible. They will do multiple other tests to rule out cancer, cysts, strictures or blockages, along with helping us to find a new normal by taking a crazy expensive medicine for the rest of his life, with or without insurance, he has to take 8-15 pills a day just to eat. We will also be going to a Pancreatic Nutritionist, specializing in pancreatic disorders. It's going to be a long road ahead to get him back to stable and his bones hopefully stronger.

We need your help please! I need to come home from work and take care of Troy 24/7 if he is going to have a fighting chance with longevity.

There are medical expenses, Travel expenses to out of state specialists, nutritional supplements to replace all he has lost, plus all of our normal day to day bills. He has to stop and rest for at least a year -possibly 2-3 years depending on his progress with no other hiccups in the road from other organs. This is a very long journey uphill with multiple things going on at the same time medically for him. He is in very intense pain frequently. His body is exhausted, and he needs my help as soon as possible.

Troy is going to try to continue to work on writing books, articles and music from home as best he can, under my eagle eye. Many people have thought it will be helpful for Troy to continue to work creatively, in small portions, to help keep his mind off of the daily and ongoing pain.

We hope to put up a blog page or something where we can do regular updates, stay tuned for that.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read this today and thank you for any help that you can give.

Susan, for the Krombholz Family.