Gina's Medical Fund
Donation protected
*New update: Arthur had his surgery on May 26th and the total was roughly $3,200. I can make monthly payments but the problem is, I don't know how. I don't know what I'm going to do. Please share my campaign if you can. Anything helps. These were unforeseen expenses when we started this process. After recovering from his surgery and doing physical therapy, as long as he's cleared, we will continue on with his training.*
Hey there. My name is Gina and I'm 27 years old. I've had a bit of a rough time the last few years. Much of this is very personal for me to share but I feel that it’s important. I was diagnosed with a form of dysautonomia in December of 2014. Dysautonomia means that there is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS regulates all of the body's automatic processes including heart rate, blood pressure, circulation, digestion, sweating, etc. With dysautonomia, these functions are not regulated properly. The type of dysautonomia I have is called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Dysautonomia is a chronic illness, meaning it does not go away. This is something I will have to manage for the rest of my life. I've also been diagnosed with hypovolemia (low blood volume), severe venous pooling, autonomic neuropathy (we're still investigating what caused this, as it's important to know and treat the cause), colonic inertia (which is slowing down my entire gastrointenstinal tract... along with that comes chronic nausea, weight loss, and malnutrition), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and some really frustrating daily symptoms. Since the underlying cause has not been found, my doctors are just treating my symptoms the best that they can. I'm on medication (to try and lower my heart rate, and for other conditions) and receive five or six infusions weekly of IV saline with potassium (to help with my blood volume and maintain an adequate level of potassium). I’m on quite a few medications and supplements at this time, and I had a chest port put in last February (2016). I started IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin therapy) in the hopes that it will help my dysautonomia and autonomic neuropathy. It may take a few months to see improvement (if at all). I'll be doing this every month for a year, then we'll reassess. It's a gamble but of course I'm willing to try anything at this point.
Because I'm unable to work and my family can only help so much, I'm hoping to raise enough money to help pay for some of my various medical bills/medications, and for service dog training. I welcomed Arthur, a standard poodle, into my family in September of 2016 as an emotional support dog, and once we master obedience we will move on to service dog training. My doctor thinks it will be beneficial for me, in many ways. I feel that having a service dog in my life will greatly improve my ability to be more independent. Arthur is also a great source of emotional support... being chronically ill is an isolating thing, and it causes a lot of emotional distress. With that being said, I also suffer from mental illness, which complicates things even further. My biggest issue regarding my mental illness at this point in time is my borderline personality disorder. I have frequent mood swings and episodes that cause me to want to hurt myself. I would like to train Arthur to alert me to episodes and to stop me from hurting myself. I'd also like to train him to do deep pressure therapy. It’s truly amazing what these dogs can do. There are YouTube videos showing these kinds of things, with dogs alerting their owners to episodes and helping to calm them down enough that they do not self-harm. The other obstacle that I believe a service dog could help me with is my severe social phobia. With all of this being said, he had to have pretty major hip surgery. This absolutely had to be done, especially before he finishes growing (around 2 years old. He's currently a little over a year old). I'll continue to update with his progress. His surgery was performed on May 26th. As long as recovery and physical therapy go well, we can keep going with training. These are unforeseen expenses, and I really, truly need help with payments for his vet bill. I can provide proof of the costs if necessary.
While I recognize that I’m not terminally ill and there are other people who need help too (and I would donate to them if I could), my mental and physical health issues hugely impact my life on a daily basis. I have to live with it every day. I can’t do things I enjoy anymore. I’ve had to put my life on hold. I’m 27 years old and am still almost completely dependent on others. I spend most of my life alone in my living room. I just wish I could have some normalcy.
Thank you so much for listening to my story and an extra thank you if you can help make this happen <3
If you'd like to stay updated with me, my life, my story, ask questions, or even just chat, here is the link to my YouTube Channel (where you can also find the link to my Facebook page and Instagram):
The Zebra Life
Hey there. My name is Gina and I'm 27 years old. I've had a bit of a rough time the last few years. Much of this is very personal for me to share but I feel that it’s important. I was diagnosed with a form of dysautonomia in December of 2014. Dysautonomia means that there is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS regulates all of the body's automatic processes including heart rate, blood pressure, circulation, digestion, sweating, etc. With dysautonomia, these functions are not regulated properly. The type of dysautonomia I have is called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Dysautonomia is a chronic illness, meaning it does not go away. This is something I will have to manage for the rest of my life. I've also been diagnosed with hypovolemia (low blood volume), severe venous pooling, autonomic neuropathy (we're still investigating what caused this, as it's important to know and treat the cause), colonic inertia (which is slowing down my entire gastrointenstinal tract... along with that comes chronic nausea, weight loss, and malnutrition), fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and some really frustrating daily symptoms. Since the underlying cause has not been found, my doctors are just treating my symptoms the best that they can. I'm on medication (to try and lower my heart rate, and for other conditions) and receive five or six infusions weekly of IV saline with potassium (to help with my blood volume and maintain an adequate level of potassium). I’m on quite a few medications and supplements at this time, and I had a chest port put in last February (2016). I started IVIG (intravenous immunoglobulin therapy) in the hopes that it will help my dysautonomia and autonomic neuropathy. It may take a few months to see improvement (if at all). I'll be doing this every month for a year, then we'll reassess. It's a gamble but of course I'm willing to try anything at this point.
Because I'm unable to work and my family can only help so much, I'm hoping to raise enough money to help pay for some of my various medical bills/medications, and for service dog training. I welcomed Arthur, a standard poodle, into my family in September of 2016 as an emotional support dog, and once we master obedience we will move on to service dog training. My doctor thinks it will be beneficial for me, in many ways. I feel that having a service dog in my life will greatly improve my ability to be more independent. Arthur is also a great source of emotional support... being chronically ill is an isolating thing, and it causes a lot of emotional distress. With that being said, I also suffer from mental illness, which complicates things even further. My biggest issue regarding my mental illness at this point in time is my borderline personality disorder. I have frequent mood swings and episodes that cause me to want to hurt myself. I would like to train Arthur to alert me to episodes and to stop me from hurting myself. I'd also like to train him to do deep pressure therapy. It’s truly amazing what these dogs can do. There are YouTube videos showing these kinds of things, with dogs alerting their owners to episodes and helping to calm them down enough that they do not self-harm. The other obstacle that I believe a service dog could help me with is my severe social phobia. With all of this being said, he had to have pretty major hip surgery. This absolutely had to be done, especially before he finishes growing (around 2 years old. He's currently a little over a year old). I'll continue to update with his progress. His surgery was performed on May 26th. As long as recovery and physical therapy go well, we can keep going with training. These are unforeseen expenses, and I really, truly need help with payments for his vet bill. I can provide proof of the costs if necessary.
While I recognize that I’m not terminally ill and there are other people who need help too (and I would donate to them if I could), my mental and physical health issues hugely impact my life on a daily basis. I have to live with it every day. I can’t do things I enjoy anymore. I’ve had to put my life on hold. I’m 27 years old and am still almost completely dependent on others. I spend most of my life alone in my living room. I just wish I could have some normalcy.
Thank you so much for listening to my story and an extra thank you if you can help make this happen <3
If you'd like to stay updated with me, my life, my story, ask questions, or even just chat, here is the link to my YouTube Channel (where you can also find the link to my Facebook page and Instagram):
The Zebra Life
Organizer
Gina Greenwell
Organizer
Massillon, OH
