Support Nate through his chronic illness recovery phase

Updated Synopsis coming soon (added September 24th, 2024)

Short Version : My name is Nate, I'm 43, and up until the beginning of this year I was fairly healthy. For the last 9+ months I have been suffering with chronic (some days debilitating) pain, brain fog, and fatigue, and I have been out of work the entire time. My situation has been baffling doctors and I have had to become my own Dr. House. So many things have been ruled out, so many tests have been done, so much blood taken, but I still don't have concrete answers or solutions yet. As I wait for appointments with more specialists, my days are taken up with pain management, health/medical research, phone calls, and basic survival. Unfortunately I can't collect because I was an independent contractor. I can't apply for SNAP because they require proof of 80 hours of work a month, and I can't get financial assistance because I don't have children. So I am without any kind of support and my savings are taking a huge hit, which is getting scary. I likely have another 4-6 months before I have solid answers/solutions to getting my health back, so I am hoping to find some support to help me get through these next several months. Your kindness and donations will help take a huge stress off my back so I can double down on research and solving my medical mysteries. I’m exhausted, frustrated, and so tired of being in pain all the time… but I am also hopeful and unwilling to give up and won’t stop until I have solutions. I know that I am on the right track to figuring out the root causes, but everything is slow with the medical industry, and I am at their mercy. (See 'Longer Version' below for a more detailed look into what's been going on.)

Donation Usage : By donating you will be allowing me to continue to survive and in turn you will be helping me to solve my medical mysteries, and that is my number 1 goal and priority. Unfortunately right now my focus is divided between basic survival needs and medical research, but without my health I am not living, only surviving. I also know that answers will only be found if I continue to push to find them. All funds that are raised will be used to help pay for groceries, rent, daily pain management (OTC meds, supplements, Naturopathic Dr, massage therapy, chiropractor), appointments/tests not covered by insurance, and all other bills while I am out of work for the next several months working hard to get my health back so that I can return to both living and working again. I thank you for your support!

"With grains of sand we can build mountains."

Longer Version : For the last 9 months I've been dealing with still undiagnosed multi-system chronic pain : wrists/hands, hips/low back/sides, brain fog/fatigue and other neurological symptoms reminiscent of my brain injury in 2018 (brain swelling from altitude sickness at 8,500'). This entire year I have been unable to work, and unable to do any of the things that I enjoy such as hiking, woodworking, using the computer (for anything other than research), kayaking, traveling, singing bowls, anything physical, anything involving holding a camera etc. I’ve missed out on living in 2023 and I have just been surviving. My hands/wrists have been in and out of splints (for days to months at a time), and my hips/back/sides/glutes pain makes it difficult to sit for too long, stand for too long, walk too far; brain fog and fatigue have kept me from being creative and learning anything outside of health research. I've had to become my own Dr. house and I have been solely focused on unraveling the medical mysteries that have made me live in survival mode all year. To further complicate things, I caught Covid for the first time in April (I still mask everywhere) and it caused me to no longer be able to digest most foods, which in turn caused a two month 25 pound loss, fear of food, and malnutrition. It also exacerbated a lot of the neurological symptoms that I had on and off since my brain injury in early 2018 (dizziness, blind spots, brain fog, fatigue). Luckily after about four months the Covid symptoms seem to be slowly healing, although my diet is still severely limited, I have a list of about 50 "safe foods" that I can eat. Working with a nutritionist since late July has stopped the weight loss and has kept me properly nourished even with all my food restrictions, but I still am not sure what's wrong with my digestion.

I believe that my symptoms are divided into four possible sections/causes.

1. Neurological/Respiratory - brain fog/fatigue, brain injury, issues with altitude all seem to be caused by some issue with oxygen content in my body.

2. Lower back/trunk issue is more than likely related to lumbar spinal structural issues.

3. Hand/wrist possibly upper spinal structural issues (ruled out RA, nerve damage, carpal tunnel).

4. Digestive issues - something with Covid knocked my digestion out of wack, trying to figure out how to correct it

I have an appointment with a top neurosurgeon in Rhode Island next month that will be focused on issues 2 and 3. I am waiting for testing with Cardiology next month and waiting for referrals to Pulmonology and an ENT specialist in Boston for issue 1. I am waiting for test results with a Naturopathic doctor in the next 2 weeks to try and resolve issue 4.

So far I have seen 2 PCPs, a hand specialist (+hand PT), physical therapist (who made my hips worse), nuero-muscular specialist, gastroenterologist, hematologist, rheumatologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, sleep specialist, ENT, and a geneticist. I have had several scans (x-ray, CT) and two MRIs, and so far there are no solid answers. However, I have been able to form theories that seem to be finally pointing in the right directions after months of research and advocating for myself through this nightmare. The next few months I hope those theories will become solidified into working solutions, but for now more tests and appointments need to be made in order to pursue them. I am looking forward to being able to do the things I love again once I have solved all of my medical mysteries.

These are all the reasons why I am turning to the community and putting it out into the universe that I could use some help and support. I have always been a helper and support person for others and tend to put everyone else first, so asking for help is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I truly appreciate your willingness to read and share my story!