Betsy/Ms. Unger's Medical Fund
Donation protected
Keep Betsy from losing her sight and help give her life back
My name is Paul Parsons. I am writing to ask you to help my wife, who is suffering from crippling daily migraine 24 hours a day and is facing blindness. Many of you know Betsy as a dear friend, a teacher for 20+ years (the last 13 at Crossett Brook Middle School), a passionate community member of both Montpelier and Waterbury, and a dedicated worker for many community concerns, including animal rescue, rights and welfare, children’s literacy, hunger, and violence against women and children, among many more.
Neither of us like to ask for help and would much rather be on the giving end, but it has gotten to the point where Betsy’s quality of life is not livable. We have to do something. For those who want to know more about Betsy’s whole health journey, I will post her entire medical experience on Caring Bridge (Caring Bridge) , a site you are welcome to visit that keeps people who love Betsy updated on her condition. Unfortunately, Betsy suffers from several comorbid illnesses including Myalgic Encephalopathy , Ulcerative Colitis, Orthostatic Intolerance, and several severe pain syndromes. However, for now we are just focusing on treatment for the severe migraine and resulting thinning of the optic nerve which is taking away her vision and causing a great deal of pain.
Betsy contracted meningitis in a school in which she worked when she was 29. The meningitis took her out for the rest of the school year. She was lucky, in the sense that she survived the disease. However, it left her with terrible headaches. Right from the start this pain did not respond to treatment, allopathic or alternative. We have tried over 50 medications and have been to the best pain and headache clinics in New England just to try to prevent the pain. We spend weeks at Dartmouth every year. Over the past 15 years, it has gotten to the point that the crippling pain affects every thing she does and is simply intolerable . She cries every day and everyone who knows Ms. Unger knows she is a happy person.
As the diseased progressed, Betsy developed enhanced migraine symptoms, with pain not only in her temples and head and occipital nerve and neck and shoulders and jaw, but also in her face. This pain in the area where you would think of the sinuses but it is not sinus-related. It is transformed migraine. Betsy describes this pain as a blade skating beneath her cheekbone, while mighty hands squeeze the bones themselves. At times this pain takes over her whole right side or entire body. She wakes three or four times a night to the pain. It is the first thing she experiences when she opens her eyes and the last when she closes them at night.
This autumn, after a very serious bout with ulcerative colitis, along with a long untreated migraine, Betsy started to develop extreme pain in her eyes, as well as difficulty reading and extreme photosensitivity. She describes this sensation as if somebody has removed her eyeballs from her head, dipped them in something corrosive and popped them back in.There is also burning pain constantly, as well as pressure behind her eyes and a pain like knife on skin. She spent months either in the hospital or in her darkened bedroom with blankets taped over the windows the winter. She has had a year of primarily being housebound and unable to read or write (for those of you who know Betsy, these activities are at the center of her heart).
However, there is hope for treatment for these areas of Betsy’s illness. Her neurologist at Dartmouth says the place she needs to be is the Michigan Headache and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan (MHNI ). They use an inpatient interdisciplinary approach and have two neuro-ophthalmologists on staff, so her hope is that they may be able to help with the severe daily migraine pain but also with the vision issues. As she has spent most of the past year hospitalized or house bound this is a significant request of her body, but we have to give it one big try. The trip will be long and ardurous but there is hope. Unfortunately, it is also expensive. We’ve exhausted our financial resources this past year as I took an unpaid leave of absence this spring to care for Betsy so we’re appealing for help. Your donation through GoFundMe will help us pay for the following: Travel expenses, including flight, car rentals, hotel and food, family expenses, insurance premiums for plans we had to buy for this trip and follow on care for Betsy. There are also ways to donate airline miles and credit card points. Please email me for further information. If you have already offered to donate these I will be in touch to let you know how to donate these to Betsy's cause.
Betsy needs a great deal of help and support in preparation for this trip. Please email me if you are interested in helping in other ways besides donations.
Every little bit counts-- even twenty dollars can make a huge difference. We are extremely grateful for any gestures that you can make to help us get Betsy back into the community she loves-- helping, giving and teaching young readers and writers to grow as people.
With gratitude,
Paul Parsons
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
Mother Theresa
My name is Paul Parsons. I am writing to ask you to help my wife, who is suffering from crippling daily migraine 24 hours a day and is facing blindness. Many of you know Betsy as a dear friend, a teacher for 20+ years (the last 13 at Crossett Brook Middle School), a passionate community member of both Montpelier and Waterbury, and a dedicated worker for many community concerns, including animal rescue, rights and welfare, children’s literacy, hunger, and violence against women and children, among many more.
Neither of us like to ask for help and would much rather be on the giving end, but it has gotten to the point where Betsy’s quality of life is not livable. We have to do something. For those who want to know more about Betsy’s whole health journey, I will post her entire medical experience on Caring Bridge (Caring Bridge) , a site you are welcome to visit that keeps people who love Betsy updated on her condition. Unfortunately, Betsy suffers from several comorbid illnesses including Myalgic Encephalopathy , Ulcerative Colitis, Orthostatic Intolerance, and several severe pain syndromes. However, for now we are just focusing on treatment for the severe migraine and resulting thinning of the optic nerve which is taking away her vision and causing a great deal of pain.
Betsy contracted meningitis in a school in which she worked when she was 29. The meningitis took her out for the rest of the school year. She was lucky, in the sense that she survived the disease. However, it left her with terrible headaches. Right from the start this pain did not respond to treatment, allopathic or alternative. We have tried over 50 medications and have been to the best pain and headache clinics in New England just to try to prevent the pain. We spend weeks at Dartmouth every year. Over the past 15 years, it has gotten to the point that the crippling pain affects every thing she does and is simply intolerable . She cries every day and everyone who knows Ms. Unger knows she is a happy person.
As the diseased progressed, Betsy developed enhanced migraine symptoms, with pain not only in her temples and head and occipital nerve and neck and shoulders and jaw, but also in her face. This pain in the area where you would think of the sinuses but it is not sinus-related. It is transformed migraine. Betsy describes this pain as a blade skating beneath her cheekbone, while mighty hands squeeze the bones themselves. At times this pain takes over her whole right side or entire body. She wakes three or four times a night to the pain. It is the first thing she experiences when she opens her eyes and the last when she closes them at night.
This autumn, after a very serious bout with ulcerative colitis, along with a long untreated migraine, Betsy started to develop extreme pain in her eyes, as well as difficulty reading and extreme photosensitivity. She describes this sensation as if somebody has removed her eyeballs from her head, dipped them in something corrosive and popped them back in.There is also burning pain constantly, as well as pressure behind her eyes and a pain like knife on skin. She spent months either in the hospital or in her darkened bedroom with blankets taped over the windows the winter. She has had a year of primarily being housebound and unable to read or write (for those of you who know Betsy, these activities are at the center of her heart).
However, there is hope for treatment for these areas of Betsy’s illness. Her neurologist at Dartmouth says the place she needs to be is the Michigan Headache and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan (MHNI ). They use an inpatient interdisciplinary approach and have two neuro-ophthalmologists on staff, so her hope is that they may be able to help with the severe daily migraine pain but also with the vision issues. As she has spent most of the past year hospitalized or house bound this is a significant request of her body, but we have to give it one big try. The trip will be long and ardurous but there is hope. Unfortunately, it is also expensive. We’ve exhausted our financial resources this past year as I took an unpaid leave of absence this spring to care for Betsy so we’re appealing for help. Your donation through GoFundMe will help us pay for the following: Travel expenses, including flight, car rentals, hotel and food, family expenses, insurance premiums for plans we had to buy for this trip and follow on care for Betsy. There are also ways to donate airline miles and credit card points. Please email me for further information. If you have already offered to donate these I will be in touch to let you know how to donate these to Betsy's cause.
Betsy needs a great deal of help and support in preparation for this trip. Please email me if you are interested in helping in other ways besides donations.
Every little bit counts-- even twenty dollars can make a huge difference. We are extremely grateful for any gestures that you can make to help us get Betsy back into the community she loves-- helping, giving and teaching young readers and writers to grow as people.
With gratitude,
Paul Parsons
"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."
Mother Theresa
Organizer
Paul R. Parsons
Organizer
Montpelier, VT
