Steph's Medical & Travel Expenses

Hello, thank you for visiting and listening to my story. I would like to give a little background of how I have come to live with this disease. For the last 30 years, I have lived with and faced multiple medical problems. It is important to know my personal journey. When I was 18, I had a lot of female medical problems or at least I thought. It started with one surgery and the doctors finding a cyst the size of a grapefruit, 6 months later, I found myself back in ER and having another emergency surgery for a ruptured cyst and internal bleeding.  At some point, I had more surgeries with more complications and more body parts being removed one at a time. An ovary here, a tube there, some colon here, another tube there.  I have even had multiple complications, like losing 3 ft of colon due to a doctor error and hitting things by accident, which led to another surgery. 24 surgeries later,  in the year 2000, I had a full hysterectomy with what parts I did have left, which was not much. During that surgery, they determined that I had severe endometriosis which is an incurable disease, kind of like a cancer but can have some alternate ways to get better and does not usually need radiation treatments like cancer does . The doctor called in a specialist and determined that the endometriosis had taken over my intestines, by wrapping itself around them tangling them up, adhering  my bowels to my body cavity and twisting to the point of rupturing. The great news is, that they were able to get most of it, in the hopes that it would never return.

I have been having severe pain within the last 3 years off and on. I say off and on becasue it has not been consistent, but random pain, until now.  Now I live with day to day difficult to live with pain. There are days that are hard to function or I have doubling over pain. No one should have to live with daily pain like this. I have to act like I feel and am well, going to work everyday trying to push through the pain, when I just feel likewant to give up or break down in tears because inside, I feel like I am dying. This is harder than coming to work happy, because you have to put on an act that you are well. 

I have seen multiple doctors and been turned away by multiple doctors saying things like, "I would not touch you with a ten foot pole", "sorry, there is nothing we  can do for you", " you have to live with pain the rest of your life". These are not things that someone wanting answers and wanting to get better so that they can live a normal life want to hear......It is always the same answer.....or they give me a prescription for a pain killer that knocks me off my feet, in which I take time off of work and try to rest some and figure out the next steps to getting better. 

The Mayo Clinic in Arizona has agreed to take on my difficult case because they have doctors that specialize in treating patients much like me. This is hopeful news, but I need the money and time to get there and receive their help. This is why I am raising money. They do not pay travel or rooms to stay and unfortunatley I live paycheck to paycheck.
I have included a link if you would like to know more about the disease.  There are many, many women, in this world like me, and since finding this out, I have joined a support group. For more information on this disease, please see the following the link:  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/endometriosis/basics/definition/con-20013968

If you can find it in your heart to assist me with my journey, I would greatly appreciate any  assistance you are willing to give. It is very hard to put yourself out there to ask for help from others, but I am here doing it because my life is at risk and I have a lot of great things and wonderful people who are close to me to live for. I love living and feel that I still have a lot to contribute to this lifetime. Thank you again for supporting my journey.