DAKOTA MACK, HOPEFUL FOR HEALING
Donation protected
POISONED!
My name is William Dakota Mack and I am 24 years old. I used to think having Asperger syndrome sucked, now what I would do to just have to navigate life with such a small challenge! I began having bladder issues during my first semester at college in the fall of 2012. I went to a Urologist who prescribed Ciprofloxacin, a powerful antibiotic assuming I had a urinary tract infection.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
My symptoms rapidly got worse with bizarre symptoms of vertigo, nausea and extreme migraines that lasted for weeks during which time I would be violently ill even having to be rushed to the emergency room a couple of times. The doses of antibiotic were increased as my body fought an infection they could not find the cause of. I was on various doses of Cipro off and on for over a year with no one questioning if it was the cause of my central nervous system going haywire while my bladder continued turning into mush.
DIAGNOSIS
I Finally changed Urologists who rammed a scope where no man ever wants one and determined I had an autoimmune disorder called Interstitial Cystitis. The pain was constant, always feeling like I need to pee and always afraid to as most times it came out bloody and always less than an ounce at a time. The real killer was not even being able to even walk to the bathroom due to the extreme dizziness and pain THAT RACKED MY ENTIRE BODY. For the first six months, I mainly crawled to the bathroom. I was Afraid to drink water for the pressure it put on my bladder even though I knew dehydration would set off another vestibular migraine headache that would last sometimes for weeks at a time. I was trapped in a body that had been severely poisoned.
LONG ROAD TO NOW
SIX years of countless specialists and thousands of prescriptions I am now walking without a cane and now only pee 35 to 40 times a day as opposed to the 60 times a day of the first years. The basic functions of life were agony. All the local cops knew my mom’s car and knew what we were doing at every bridge crossing from Bandera to San Antonio and of course all stores along the trail that had a bathroom as I could not travel more than 5 or 6 miles without the painful urge to go demanded I stop and try on our way back and forth to the doctors’ offices. For over four years it was so and I am sure more than a few of my neighbors wondered what on earth was going on when they saw us. To any of the store owners that might read this, thank you for letting me use your bathroom so often without ever buying anything. With the revolving door of Specialist Doctors, none knowing what the other was doing or even what was causing the symptoms they attempted to abate, I became a pain-racked zombie. At one point I was taking over 500 pills a month that was prescribed by five doctors; we would change doctors but the game plan was always the same, therapy and prescriptions……My daily grind varies as far as flare-ups go but the one constant in my once active lifestyle is the worry and fear I feel in the thought I will never get back to my happy, healthy self again.
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Only close family and those who cared enough to be involved, remember those dark years; I understood when my girlfriend left me at the time, I was damaged goods, but much of my extended family came to avoid me because let’s face it, who stays sick this long and doesn’t get well again after six years? One day you are studying for a test at college and the next you can’t even read or write due to extreme vertigo and migraines triggered by the slightest noise or smell. BUT about 3 months ago the diagnosis of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome and the potentially permanent damage it has done down to my Mitochondrial DNA was revealed by a doctor who cared enough to think outside the box. This revelation is the reason I started a GO FUND ME campaign.
THE PROCESS THAT WAITS FOR THIS FUNDING
First, there is no known cure for this poisoning, especially with such a long stretch of time since the damage was done but stem cell infusion and injection have been used to jumpstart healing at the most basic level and there are trials going on right now that are showing great promise to people suffering from FTS.
So, it all starts with blood work that will determine my nutritional deficiencies as well as anything my body may be overproducing. I will have to stop all pharmaceutical medications (except those I must have for my bladder) and begin a strict diet (more strict than the one I have been on since being diagnosed with I.C.) and will need to be on this diet for a minimum of three weeks before my mom and I travel up to Minnesota for my first visit of about 10 DAYS to receive the first round of stem cell therapy. FEAR NOT! these stem cells are harvested from my own body fat and are administered in and along the spine and base of the skull as well as infused into my bloodstream in hopes of reversing some of the damage. On this first trip I will be seeing a range of specialists all scheduled through this primary physician ( finally one hand knowing what the other hand is doing) and all interconnected in this relatively new field of healing to ensure it is as successful a procedure as can be. NONE OF THESE PROCEDURES ARE COVERED UNDER INSURANCE !!!!! I will continue under the strict diet guidelines during this time and when enough funds become available we will head back up for the second visit. Though this particular doctor has never before attempted to deliver stem cells via a catheter before, it is the plan to do so with me in an attempt to rebuild the walls of my bladder which have not healed despite over four years on an extremely expensive drug called Elmiron. So for any of you out there suffering from I.C. or other bladder issues, I will hopefully be bringing you news for a happier tomorrow, if it works!
EXPENSES
My target for funding is $26,627.77 This will cover 2 trips up and back to Minnesota, all doctors visits and procedures as well as rental car and living expenses while up there for 7 to 10 days on the first visit and hopefully only 3 or 4 days on the second visit.
THANK YOU!
First, thank you for reading this, I apologize that it is so long but felt in my heart the least I could do is state the basic facts of the journey that brought me to this point.
Second, if you only donate $1.00 I thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart for every penny will be devoted to these procedures and each person that adds to this mission lightens the load that much more and that kind of caring for your fellow man is a type of healing in itself. I don’t blame any of my friends and family that have distanced themselves from me during my illness, it’s hard to be around someone who is always sick and I know I have been hard to get along with for those of you who do try and know in your hearts I feel rotten when I catch myself complaining even when I know there are so many worse off than me. I have been praying hard to change this weakness. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS AND A BLESSING UPON ALL WHO CAN RELATE TO WHAT I AM GOING THROUGH!
My name is William Dakota Mack and I am 24 years old. I used to think having Asperger syndrome sucked, now what I would do to just have to navigate life with such a small challenge! I began having bladder issues during my first semester at college in the fall of 2012. I went to a Urologist who prescribed Ciprofloxacin, a powerful antibiotic assuming I had a urinary tract infection.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
My symptoms rapidly got worse with bizarre symptoms of vertigo, nausea and extreme migraines that lasted for weeks during which time I would be violently ill even having to be rushed to the emergency room a couple of times. The doses of antibiotic were increased as my body fought an infection they could not find the cause of. I was on various doses of Cipro off and on for over a year with no one questioning if it was the cause of my central nervous system going haywire while my bladder continued turning into mush.
DIAGNOSIS
I Finally changed Urologists who rammed a scope where no man ever wants one and determined I had an autoimmune disorder called Interstitial Cystitis. The pain was constant, always feeling like I need to pee and always afraid to as most times it came out bloody and always less than an ounce at a time. The real killer was not even being able to even walk to the bathroom due to the extreme dizziness and pain THAT RACKED MY ENTIRE BODY. For the first six months, I mainly crawled to the bathroom. I was Afraid to drink water for the pressure it put on my bladder even though I knew dehydration would set off another vestibular migraine headache that would last sometimes for weeks at a time. I was trapped in a body that had been severely poisoned.
LONG ROAD TO NOW
SIX years of countless specialists and thousands of prescriptions I am now walking without a cane and now only pee 35 to 40 times a day as opposed to the 60 times a day of the first years. The basic functions of life were agony. All the local cops knew my mom’s car and knew what we were doing at every bridge crossing from Bandera to San Antonio and of course all stores along the trail that had a bathroom as I could not travel more than 5 or 6 miles without the painful urge to go demanded I stop and try on our way back and forth to the doctors’ offices. For over four years it was so and I am sure more than a few of my neighbors wondered what on earth was going on when they saw us. To any of the store owners that might read this, thank you for letting me use your bathroom so often without ever buying anything. With the revolving door of Specialist Doctors, none knowing what the other was doing or even what was causing the symptoms they attempted to abate, I became a pain-racked zombie. At one point I was taking over 500 pills a month that was prescribed by five doctors; we would change doctors but the game plan was always the same, therapy and prescriptions……My daily grind varies as far as flare-ups go but the one constant in my once active lifestyle is the worry and fear I feel in the thought I will never get back to my happy, healthy self again.
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL
Only close family and those who cared enough to be involved, remember those dark years; I understood when my girlfriend left me at the time, I was damaged goods, but much of my extended family came to avoid me because let’s face it, who stays sick this long and doesn’t get well again after six years? One day you are studying for a test at college and the next you can’t even read or write due to extreme vertigo and migraines triggered by the slightest noise or smell. BUT about 3 months ago the diagnosis of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome and the potentially permanent damage it has done down to my Mitochondrial DNA was revealed by a doctor who cared enough to think outside the box. This revelation is the reason I started a GO FUND ME campaign.
THE PROCESS THAT WAITS FOR THIS FUNDING
First, there is no known cure for this poisoning, especially with such a long stretch of time since the damage was done but stem cell infusion and injection have been used to jumpstart healing at the most basic level and there are trials going on right now that are showing great promise to people suffering from FTS.
So, it all starts with blood work that will determine my nutritional deficiencies as well as anything my body may be overproducing. I will have to stop all pharmaceutical medications (except those I must have for my bladder) and begin a strict diet (more strict than the one I have been on since being diagnosed with I.C.) and will need to be on this diet for a minimum of three weeks before my mom and I travel up to Minnesota for my first visit of about 10 DAYS to receive the first round of stem cell therapy. FEAR NOT! these stem cells are harvested from my own body fat and are administered in and along the spine and base of the skull as well as infused into my bloodstream in hopes of reversing some of the damage. On this first trip I will be seeing a range of specialists all scheduled through this primary physician ( finally one hand knowing what the other hand is doing) and all interconnected in this relatively new field of healing to ensure it is as successful a procedure as can be. NONE OF THESE PROCEDURES ARE COVERED UNDER INSURANCE !!!!! I will continue under the strict diet guidelines during this time and when enough funds become available we will head back up for the second visit. Though this particular doctor has never before attempted to deliver stem cells via a catheter before, it is the plan to do so with me in an attempt to rebuild the walls of my bladder which have not healed despite over four years on an extremely expensive drug called Elmiron. So for any of you out there suffering from I.C. or other bladder issues, I will hopefully be bringing you news for a happier tomorrow, if it works!
EXPENSES
My target for funding is $26,627.77 This will cover 2 trips up and back to Minnesota, all doctors visits and procedures as well as rental car and living expenses while up there for 7 to 10 days on the first visit and hopefully only 3 or 4 days on the second visit.
THANK YOU!
First, thank you for reading this, I apologize that it is so long but felt in my heart the least I could do is state the basic facts of the journey that brought me to this point.
Second, if you only donate $1.00 I thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart for every penny will be devoted to these procedures and each person that adds to this mission lightens the load that much more and that kind of caring for your fellow man is a type of healing in itself. I don’t blame any of my friends and family that have distanced themselves from me during my illness, it’s hard to be around someone who is always sick and I know I have been hard to get along with for those of you who do try and know in your hearts I feel rotten when I catch myself complaining even when I know there are so many worse off than me. I have been praying hard to change this weakness. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS AND A BLESSING UPON ALL WHO CAN RELATE TO WHAT I AM GOING THROUGH!
Fundraising team (2)
Bill Mack
Organizer
Bandera, TX
William Mack
Team member
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