Support Guessan’s Recovery TSWS (Topical Steroid Withdrawal)

This GoFund Me has been headed by friends and family of Guessan as her condition has made it difficult to seek support on her own.

Guessan Effi has been suffering from Topical Steroid Withdrawal Syndrome since 2023. She has been struggling to survive with minimal resources and needs your help to recover.

This is who she is.

Guessan Effi has been a beloved member of the Hunts Point community. Since she was fourteen years old she has dedicated her time and energy to helping improve the life of her fellow South Bronx community members. She has helped to shut down local jails, fought for clean air, and has worked with dedication to secure the Hunts Point area against the ravages of climate change.

She has worked to watch her community succeed and secure a future for the bronx. Now her future is in danger thanks to the medical industry failing her in her greatest moment of need.

Topical Steroid Withdrawal has a debilitating impact in “normal circumstances” Guessan’s immunocompromised status has made the condition nearly deadly several times. This illness has led to isolation, near death experiences and a loss in quality of life.

This is what she has experienced

Her symptoms started as rashes confused for severe eczema in the pits of her elbows and behind her knees. These rashes expanded rapidly, and more began to appear all over her body.

She says "All rashes usually start as irritation, heat, extreme itch, burning, inflammation, tiny swollen bulbs of inflamed skin, flattens after being scratched, or flattens naturally, flakes, peels, crusts/oozes, scabs and itches so intensely sometimes I tremble. Some rashes overlap, so as some heal they can also be re-inflamed. These rashes literally appear wherever there is skin. Yes there. Yes there. The only place I have not experienced inflammation, as far as I know, is inside of my mouth and inside of my eyelids. I also suffer from skin tightening because of the dryness, sometimes I cannot move for hours unless I literally rip my joints apart. I have mild back and neck problems from weird body positioning for mild pain relief, and I have developed carpal tunnel from prolonged antibiotic self-administration."

This champion of community and common decency needs our support. Helping her not only recovers her life, it returns a kind person to impactful work for the whole of the South Bronx.

Thank you.