Debra Douglas Journey to Health

Debra Douglas, a compassionate and active member of  Ridge Meadow’s community is in dire need of your help. She has given so much to her community that we, Debra's friends and family, have decided to help her by raising money to cover extensive  ongoing medical costs due to several medical conditions.

Debra has volunteered numerous hours in our local community through her children’s School and as a Scout Leader, and has organized several fundraisers to help others in need. Along with the fundraisers below she has also volunteered 1000's of hours with St John Ambulance working in the community and teaching first aid. She and her husband also run an annual Toy Drive within his office to the neighbouring communities.

You can read about some of Debra's volunteer work below:

• Mountain of toys donated in toddler's memory
o http://www.mrtimes.com/news/318163211.html?mobile=true

• Twin organizing garage sale in Maple Ridge, to help sister’s family
o http://www.mrtimes.com/community/390476441.html

• Ridge Karate Kids Put Best Fundraising Feet Forward
Page 11 on https://issuu.com/maple-ridge-times/docs/mrtthu20140109

• She is organizing the First Annual Dystonia Awareness Walk in October 2017
o http://www.dystoniacanada.org/

Debra has been diagnosed with multiple disorders this past year that are quickly taking away her quality of life. She has lost the ability to eat and drink and is now solely tube fed. Despite her recent feeding tube placement/surgery, she has had to start TPN feeds (Total Parenteral Nutrition) through a central line in her chest.

Debra’s conditions cause ongoing and debilitating pain. She has neurological issues which she is currently seeing multiple doctors for, to try and determine what is wrong and how to help, and overall dysfunction in almost every system in her body.

Debra is a mother of two wonderful boys.  Both of her children suffer from their own medical conditions. Her 9yr old son is being evaluated in order to determine his diagnoses. He has suffered chronic joint pain and urinary issues since he was 2. He went on to develop chronic bowel issues which is believed to be either Crohns or Ulcerative Colitis. It is thought that her son also suffers from the same Connective Tissue Disorder (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) as Debra. He also deals with  Sensory and Auditory Processing Disorders and is Dyslexic. Tests are currently being run determining kidney dysfunction and genetic neurological conditions that are appearing for Debra. Her 11yr old son has Tourette's Syndrome with Copralalia (swearing) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder with OCD tendencies. The doctors are aware of his physical symptoms and are monitoring him now and will later be testing for the same conditions found in his Mom. 

Debra has continual expenses to try and maintain some normalcy and level of care. Many of her expenses are out of pocket as several necessary treatments and equipment are not covered by BC Medical and she has no extended benefits. 

She needs to go to the US to see two doctors who specialize in her conditions. Unfortunately, some of her conditions are not well known or known at all, by doctors in Canada. Some of the testing is not even available in Canada. Debra is trying to get to a Neurosurgeon and an Immunologist/Oncologist in the US who specialize in her disorders, which would require a minimum of two trips.

Debra is the type of person you go to when something needs to be done and done right. It is time to give back to her and help relieve some financial stress for her and her husband. 

Let’s help Debra get the treatments and help she needs to regain some quality of life. Debra’s two young boys are desperately missing their mother. It is such a struggle for them to not have her home and have their regular routines, which ultimately helps and benefits both children greatly. Helping Debra will ultimately help her children and others.

If you want to learn more about some of Debra’s conditions, here is a list of some of them;

• Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) – A connective tissue disorder where she makes faulty collagen which leads to problems in every organ system within her body. It has led to drastic deterioration throughout her body leaving her to deal with chronic pain, mobility difficulties, poor organ function, constant soft tissue damage and more.

• Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) – Hyper active mass cells lead to daily reactive consequences in her body and various stages of anaphylaxis.

• Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) – An inability to regulate her blood pressure and heart rate causing fatigue, weakness and nausea.

• Gastroparesis (GP) – Paralysis of the stomach which has left Debra unable to eat or drink since August.

• Fibromyalgia – Widespread musculoskeletal pain causing fatigue and more.

• Occipital Neuralgia – Inflammation of the nerves at the top of the spinal cord leading to extreme pain.

• Myofascial Pain Syndrome – A chronic pain disorder affecting the muscles that can be felt throughout the body.

• Osteoarthritis – Has lead to deterioration of her joins in her neck and spine.

 Thank you for taking the time to consider supporting Debra and her family. They need our help!  Any donation, of any size, would be greatly appreciated.

Debra struggled very much in allowing us (her friends) to make this page and ask for help but she's come to realize that there are no further treatment options to receive nutrition and hydration. The hopes are that she can regain the ability to eat and drink one day, at least somewhat, to veer off any complication that can arise from being tube fed and fed through her venous system.

Debra is a very strong willed lady and has over come repeated tragedy and loss in her life. The toughest being the loss of her identical twin sister this past July. Her sister also struggled with extreme medical issues and pain. By helping Debra we are allowing her to grieve her losses, by taking some of the pressure off of her. Debra deserves some help and a life journey that doesn't have to be so difficult.

















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