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Help Hope Fight Lyme Disease

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To know Hope is to love Hope. 

Hope managed to move herself from small-town America to Chicago around eight years ago. In this time, she's dedicated herself wholly to bettering her community. She has worked with trauma and violence victims on the Southside of Chicago. She has volunteered in pediatric units of hospitals all across the city. She started a 501(c)3 (www.humorforhope.com) to help youth who are suffering from trauma and/or illness through the beauty of laughter. This organization took her to Africa and the Syrian border, working tirelessly to bring even the slightest bit of relief to children who need it most. She is so passionate about healing others that she put herself through a Master’s program in Clinical Psychology while doing all of the above. Hope has and will always put others before herself. 

Now it's our turn to put her first.

Hope has been recently diagnosed with Stage 3 Lyme disease. Doctors believe she's had it for years without diagnoses, which is common with Lyme. Symptoms include severe fatigue, muscle/join pain, and nausea. At this point it also effects the neurological system, making it hard to comprehend, communicate effectively and remember simple things. Given Hope's livelihood revolves around communication, it makes day-to-day tasks extremely difficult. This fundraiser will be raising money for Hope to utilize full Lyme treatment and therapy, including Ozone/UV therapy, functional medicine and traditional medicine. Ozone therapy infuses the blood with ozone, which increases the amount of oxygen in the body and, in turn, stimulates the immune system. This type of therapy has been extremely successful in the treatment of Lyme Disease; however, it's not covered by insurance companies.  Functional medicine offers a much more wholistic attack on the disease, providing much more thorough treatment, given the Lyme is now infecting the bloodstream and neurological system. The traditional medicine will offer Hope antibiotics through a PIC line. The rest of the funds will help to pay off the bills Hope has already accrued. Hope has been sick (and searching for answers) for the past two years (including a week-long stay at the (not) lavish Weiss Memorial Hospital) and, along with that, comes lots of doctors’ appointments and testing.

The reality is that she reached her limit financially a long time ago. Hope was searching for answers for the past two years without insurance, forcing an out of pocket pay. When she received insurance just six months ago, she was forced out of her job, then her apartment. Now she's at a point, even while working 80 hours a week, where she can't afford to pay for things like her car payment, gas and groceries. Credit cards are maxed out. There's nothing more she can do. This need is urgent.

Hope's friends are heartbroken to see someone who's always fighting for others, for the underserved, the silenced, the forgotten, be physically defeated by this terrible disease. I think we've all experienced the pain of watching loved ones not be able to access proper treatment because the people in charge wouldn't be making a profit off of it. It's so backwards. It's enraging. Traditional doctors hear "Lyme" and refuse to offer treatment, instead claiming it to be psychosomatic. We are reaching out because the healthcare system doesn't have Hope's best interest at heart. We know that, with this therapy and treatment, she can begin to feel like herself again and continue to conquer the world!

Financial Breakdown:

Ozone/UV Therapy: 

·      1 session: $310

·      5 times a week for the first week, followed by 3 times a week for 18 months: $67,000

Functional Medicine Appointments:

·      1 visit: $300

·      2 visits a month (on average) for 12 months: $7,200

·      Labs/testing: $3,000-$5,000

·      Treatment: $60,000-$80,000

Traditional Medicine:

·      PIC line and antibiotics: $600

Bills:

·      Weiss Hospital bills: $15,000

·      Family debt (rent, gas, food): $7,500

·      Car payment: $1,200

·      Credit card debt from medical bills: $15,000

We are asking for $100,000 in order to cover the past due bills and debt, along with getting Hope started on her treatment.

That sounds overwhelming, but if 400 people give $250, that's it. We are done. This is possible! 

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $540 
    • 4 yrs
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Fundraising team (3)

Kate Tee
Organizer
Chicago, IL
Hope England
Beneficiary
Colleen Mares
Team member

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