Diabetes Medication Fund for OJ
Donation protected
(A small team of UCCS Innovation students are helping to run this campaign)
My name is Ophelia Baca, Navajo wife and mother - many of my friends call me OJ. I’m currently trying to earn funds for my diabetes medication. In May of this year, I was referred to a clinic, V-Dex Diabetes, in Espanola, 117 miles from home, to see about a needle-free therapy called Afrezza by a company called Mannkind. This medication has changed my life drastically. For years I’ve used needle injection devices for my insulin intake and started to grow tired of the pain of continuously pricking myself with needles.
I was able to get a free month of samples while I worked with my insurance company to cover the medication. Sadly, they declined coverage. Luckily the V-Dex clinic was able to provide me with samples for the next 2 months.
Those samples are no longer available.
Before Afrezza, I was not getting better with the drugs I was being prescribed. The Afrezza lets me feel like myself again. I had energy I'd not felt in years. And now that I've felt this change, I fear I cannot go back to putting needles in my body or pricking my fingers 5 times a day. To have my A1C go from 16 when I first went to V-Dex down to 10.1 in a matter of 2 months, how can I?
After ending the trial, I tried discussing with my doctor on my reservation if there was a way to switch to using Afrezza. But the company behind Afrezza, Mannkind, won’t cover anyone on any type of government insurance. And even if they did, my and many other doctors won’t allow me to use this medication. This is a medication that has taken the daily pain out of my life and no doctor seems to see that it has improved my life. This GoFundMe was started because I’m not willing to go back to the daily pain of using needles and this has been the only solution to my diabetes that I can find. I had already had one major incident where I could’ve died and I don’t want that again.
I pray we can make this happen for me and my family and our future, when hopefully insurance will see how good this treatment is and approve it.
Thank you for any help you can provide. I will update my progress in the months to come.
My children
My name is Ophelia Baca, Navajo wife and mother - many of my friends call me OJ. I’m currently trying to earn funds for my diabetes medication. In May of this year, I was referred to a clinic, V-Dex Diabetes, in Espanola, 117 miles from home, to see about a needle-free therapy called Afrezza by a company called Mannkind. This medication has changed my life drastically. For years I’ve used needle injection devices for my insulin intake and started to grow tired of the pain of continuously pricking myself with needles.
I was able to get a free month of samples while I worked with my insurance company to cover the medication. Sadly, they declined coverage. Luckily the V-Dex clinic was able to provide me with samples for the next 2 months.
Those samples are no longer available.
Before Afrezza, I was not getting better with the drugs I was being prescribed. The Afrezza lets me feel like myself again. I had energy I'd not felt in years. And now that I've felt this change, I fear I cannot go back to putting needles in my body or pricking my fingers 5 times a day. To have my A1C go from 16 when I first went to V-Dex down to 10.1 in a matter of 2 months, how can I?
After ending the trial, I tried discussing with my doctor on my reservation if there was a way to switch to using Afrezza. But the company behind Afrezza, Mannkind, won’t cover anyone on any type of government insurance. And even if they did, my and many other doctors won’t allow me to use this medication. This is a medication that has taken the daily pain out of my life and no doctor seems to see that it has improved my life. This GoFundMe was started because I’m not willing to go back to the daily pain of using needles and this has been the only solution to my diabetes that I can find. I had already had one major incident where I could’ve died and I don’t want that again.
I pray we can make this happen for me and my family and our future, when hopefully insurance will see how good this treatment is and approve it.
Thank you for any help you can provide. I will update my progress in the months to come.
My children
Fundraising team: Team Diabetes (4)
Team Diabetes
Organizer
Colorado Springs, CO
Thomas Snyder
Beneficiary
William Chaney
Team member
George Morales
Team member
Ty Rios-Blanco
Team member
