My Fight w/ Ulcerative Colitis and PSC

Dave Friedman is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hello my name is Dave. Thank you for visiting my page. I'm in need of help to get my life going again. As you'll read below you'll find that I'm recovering from an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), specifically, Ulcerative Colitis and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC). I'm immensely grateful that I'm recovering. However the past 8 years, 5+ complicated surgeries and procedures have not only left significant scars on my body but also financially. With medical bills in collections and my credit cards maxed out I'm trying to reclaim my life at 36 and make something out of it. I dream of becoming a nurse so that I can give back to the world what my Physicians, Surgeons, and Nurses have given back to me....MY LIFE!!!

All contributions will be used to pay off my Hospital Bill Debt as of May 2016, $1989 left in collections, but most of my bills I paid with my credit card which remains at a balance of $7,000. Getting out from underneath this personal medical debt has been a challenge.

Any contribution will help.......

Below is my story. Please read and share and God Bless.

Having been diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) in 2008 I've gone through a gambit of medications, colonoscopies, emergency room visits, and multiple surgeries. After three years of trying to control my severe UC through various medications and remedies with little to no effect, my colon began to give up. My first of many surgeries (5 in total...so far) left me with a scare from the middle of my abdomen down to pelvic region. Eventually I had to have my colon removed all together (colectomy) and I lived with an ileostomy for over a year. Thankfully I had a skilled surgeon that was able to reroute my small intestine so that now I don't have to have an ostomy bag any more.

Now that I can finally see some light of hope that my body will maintain itself mostly together, thanks to my amazing surgeons and gastroenterologist doctors. However there are ongoing issues that still persist. My liver has been ravaged from the inflammation and I now have primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Which is best described as the hardening and scarring of the bile ducts that result from chronic inflammation. This is a progressive disease that leads to liver damage and, eventually, liver failure. The only known cure is to have a complete liver transplant. Fortunately after having a stent implanted in my common bile duct kept me from going into full liver failure last year at this time. Of course I hope this never comes true and I never have to face having to be on the transplant list, but until then I keep close watch of my body staying as health as I can be.

It's been now 8 years this month since UC overtook my life. I'm grateful that I'm still alive. I am however struggling to get my life back in order. The ramifications of my ordeal with UC have been devastating. I've not been able to work for years and even till recently sporadically at best. Having been in and out of hospitals for the past six years has left compiling medical bills and debt that has left me scraping by. Any money i can muster goes to hospitals bills, debt collectors (due to more medical bills), credit card debt from trying to get by, and student loans that are persistent. At this momment I find myself at the clutches of debt keeping me from getting my life all sorted. I'm looking for work as best I can and I hope to land something stable soon. I even have asperations to go to nursing school. I hope that there are compassionate people out there that can help me regain control of my life. Any amount will be appreciated.

I encourage you to read my full story which I'll post soon and also please visit my blog myfightwithuc.blogspot.com

Thank you, please share my page with others
and God Bless,

David Friedman

Before Surgery. Getting my monthly infusion of Vedolizumab (similar to Remicade)

Here is to show how UC took away my strength and body.

I still tried to pretend that I could eat normal foods. It would only result in pain.

Scans from one of my
colonoscopies.