Caution! Long read ahead.
I started out writing this trying to be as short and concise as possible. Keeping many details to myself, and just doing enough to get it done. A lot has happened in the process of trying to get my head around asking for help, and in the end I actually found that writing properly and candidly about my life has been quite cathartic and therapeutic. Please continue to read, and I actively encourage anyone to contact me or ask questions about anything they read here, or need help dealing with any similar issues they may have.
Everything I go through and experience in my journey through diabetic complications and chronic illness, I one day hope to share with others and help them learn from it, so that they possibly won't have to deal with the same difficulties. 
You can contact me at [email redacted] Thank you.

**update, paypal added. 
paypal.me/gdoc **

Hi, my name is Gerard Doherty, but most people just call me Doc :-)

I am setting up this account because I am determined to make a difference for myself and for others alike. What I am asking for is whatever you can spare as it would be incredibly appreciated.

I am striving to make my way to the Diabetic Unconference in New Jersey/Atlantic City on September 9th - 11th 2016 to make contact with like minded people and medical professionals, and hopefully find someone interested in my complicated medical case. Either for treatment, or for research purposes.

With my extensive medical records, testing results & comprehensive data in hand, I’m hoping that at the conference I can be referred to, or make contact with an interested party in the research team in Mt Sinai hospital, to find not only some answers but some relief as well.

They have some of the best doctors in the world who are leading the research and development field, working outside the box and the constraints of the norm, who not only effectively treat conditions such as mine, but are actively and constantly working toward cures for many health conditions.

As many of you know (and some of you don't) I struggle with Type 1 Diabetes and a long list of its known complications.
Nerve damage, neuropathies, neurological disorders and some things doctors just don't seem to be able to grasp.
Peripheral neuropathy leaves me in pain constantly. So far the only relief that can be given is in the form of heavy duty opiates that for the most part I avoid. They dull the senses and make it hard to assess and deal with the many other issues my medical conditions present. Be it symptoms, side effects or otherwise. I value my mind and don't take it for granted. When I've been on these medications I feel like a zombie, and with all of the other conditions going on I can't afford to lose any alertness. 
I understand that for many people there is no other way, but for me the negatives outweigh the positives too much. There are far too many dangers that I have to stay aware of, and I am desperate to find an alternative. 

Next up is autonomic neuropathy. Basically, it means the things your body takes care of automatically, autonomic functions like breathing, digesting food, regulating heart rate, adrenal and hormonal functions – they can all be a little “off” when it comes to me.
To put it lightly. It brings pain, discomfort, and its unpredictability is maddening. It makes diabetic control an absolute nightmare.
The thing many don't understand is the vicious circle that it brings. The diabetic complications make diabetic control almost impossible. Poor control leads to further complications and damage. The cycle goes on and on, and further down the rabbit hole we go.

The elephant in the room and the most dangerous of the complications in the immediate is called “Neurocardiogenic Syncope” (or complete autonomic failure it has been likened to for some).
Now, imagine that anytime, anywhere you would be walking or standing then suddenly out of nowhere, without warning you would collapse. Drop to the ground hard, waking up confused, injured, in a panic and struggling for breath.
This happens to me twice every 10 days on average. Sometimes more, rarely less, and again, without warning.
I've fallen down stairs, broken my arm, countless cracked and broken ribs, dislocated shoulders, injured knees, sprains, strains, suffered burns, cuts, bruises, broken glass into my face – you name it and it's likely happened.
I've a lot of scars to show from it. From the physical result of the falls, to the mental in the aftermath of picking myself back up. Along with a very prominent surgical scar on my chest where a heart recorder has been implanted to give cardiologists more data as to what happens during one of the blackout episodes. It brings a lot of stress worrying about when it's going to happen next. Crossing the street in traffic, on the stairs, in the city at night.
The amount of times people have walked on by when I've collapsed on the ground in Belfast city centre is frightening.
Maybe being tall, skinny and heavily tattooed passed out in the street just makes people get the wrong idea about me it seems.

I have struggled with type 1 diabetes and all of its maddening complications, and although I have managed that most of my life, the damage it has caused and the additional health issues have sometimes been unbearable. I need to know that I gave it my best shot,took every possible chance and seized every opportunity I possibly could to enhance my life, and even educate and help other people who may be going through the same thing and struggling in silence.

I’m aiming to get to the conference in Atlantic city on September 9th to 11th 2016, then visit family while I’m there awaiting further contact with any prospective help from medical professionals I meet, and chase down any leads at all that I can.

I've had multiple hospital stays this year, and am still nursing a wound that was at one point close to me having a limb amputated. Because of this, medical travel insurance   has actually surpassed the costs of flights and the trip, and I’m not able to do this on my own anymore as originally planned. The costs along with medical supplies, biometric sensors for my freestyle Libre glucose monitoring system, and a possible heart rate monitor /GPS to help with blackouts while travelling all add up and have sky rocketed.

If you know me at all, you will know that I play my cards close to my chest when it comes to health and dealing with the many problems it brings. And you will know how difficult it is for me to ask for help.


I need this to happen, to take this chance and I can't do it alone.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and for any help you are able to give.
Everything and anything appreciated.