Local photographer's medical issues

Hey everyone,

Thanks for taking a look at my page.  My name is Daniel Fernandez, and I'm a long time resident of North Pole, Alaska.  I grew up here and even graduated from NPHS in fact.  Unfortunately, I've fallen on some hard times with severe illness.

Currently I'm in the process to get disability for everything that is wrong with me, but could use a bit of help on occasion.  And yes, there is a fair bit wrong with me.  I've gone from being able to work full time to not even being able to hold a part time job due to my illnesses.  I do have a hearing with a judge in Anchorage in December at least, but he only has a 20% approval rating for disability cases, so I will likely have to appeal his decision.

Local friends and family have helped as they were able, but I've still ended up selling pretty much everything of mine that has value outside of my camera.  The only reason that didn't go is that my photography has kept me sane over the nearly 5 years I've been dealing with this.

Unfortunately, I've gone from having my own place and a promising career, to (as of last November) having to live back with my parents until I am able to be well enough to get my feet back under me.  We have no idea how long that will be, as the doctors haven't even been able to start figuring out some of the other issues yet.

What we know for sure that I have:

-Pituitary brain tumor that completely wrecked my endocrine system.  I have to inject testosterone, and growth hormone, take medication for my blood sugar, shrink the tumor, and balance my hormone levels.  All because my body doesn't do any of that.  

-My spine is toast.  Bad genetics there, but I have fairly decent sculiosis with a double curve and rotation in my spine.  Basically think of my spine making a S shape side to side, and rotating to the right at the midpoint.  This has caused all kinds of pain, loss of movement, slipped/bulged disks, etc.  Currently I'm in physical therapy for it, but if that doesn't work, a full T-L fusion is likely.

-Severe nerve damage that they aren't sure of the cause on.  There is something autoimmune going on, but no idea what yet as everything has been negative so far.  I'm essentially numb from the elbows and knees down.  

-Raynaud's syndrome.  Basically my body doesn't regulate blood flow to my extremeties well.  It could be part of the nerve damage as well, but even if I'm wearing winter boots in ~40f weather, my feet are cold to the touch.   So I pretty much stay indoors in the winter, since I'd get frostbite incredibly easy.

-Hilariously enough, I was diagnosed as ADHD earlier this year, at age 31.  Apparently I was the only one not to know I was a bit 'dingy' so a lot of people were amused by this.

Things we don't know about yet:

-Enlarged/fatty liver that could be related to whatever autoimmune issue is going on.

-Severe memory loss, basically my long term memory is gone, and short term is...spotty most days.  Notes on my phone or stuck to stuff help a lot.

-Sleep Apnea is confirmed, but we haven't been able to get a decent mask fitting to test how bad.

-Light sensitive migranes that kick my butt 2-3 times a week and keep me in a dark room for hours.

-Honestly, I'm forgetting a lot of things but am willing to verify things if asked.  In general I'm leaving a lot of the nasty side effects out, but it's not a party to say the least. 

Thank you for reading this, despite being a mini novel of 'that sucks.'

Please note, that this is not connected to the raffle/giveaway being hosted elsewhere.  This is just for donations.

Daniel