Light✨ @ the End of a Long Tunnel

For two decades, I’ve lived with undiagnosed and untreated medical conditions that have significantly impacted my quality of life on so many levels, externally and internally. In June, I was hospitalized for a week with a small intestinal blockage which led to a long-awaited diagnosis. I was not in a hospital that had the surgeons or experience that was required to perform the surgies needed. For the last 7 months, I have met with countless specialists to find a solution. While the road to answers has been grueling, it has finally brought me closer to a solution.

Hello,

For those who do not know me, my name is Shannon, and I’m reaching out to the community for support as I continue to navigate a deeply personal and challenging medical journey.

The next steps involve specialized testing, multiple complex robotic surgeries (including a colorectal surgeon resecting portions of my intestines and a hysterectomy). Once in surgery, my surgeons will be able to assess any other organs or areas of my body that are also being negatively impacted and pose health risks. Women’s health is notoriously difficult to navigate both within the medical system and insurance industry, and it is all too common that women are left untreated, undiagnosed, and negatively impacted by illnesses of reproductive health.

What’s uncommon (and what fills me with hope) is that I have found two extraordinary surgeons—experts who not only recognize the seriousness of this condition but are committed to helping me overcome the barriers posed by insurance companies to receive the care I need. This feels like a bright light at the end of what has been a very long, very dark tunnel. After years of searching—through hospitals, specialists, and surgeons—I finally found a team willing to take this challenge on and fight for me and with me.

Today, the challenge remains daunting. These surgeries require the highest level of insurance, out-of-pocket costs, and the financial burden is significant. Without this, the surgeries, testing, and hospitalization would be even more astronomical. In the past seven months, I have taken a medical leave from school, moved out of my apartment, and relied fully on the love, care, and support of friends and family to make it this far. I have wrestled with the vulnerability of asking for help. One of my great joys is to be among the givers, but I have come to understand that life is not divided into "givers" and "receivers." We all need both. True connection comes from reciprocity. I am here today because of each and every one of you. I am here because it takes a village. Your support, your care, and your requests of how you can help have brought me to the place where I am willing and grateful to be supported in this endeavor.

Immediately (the deadline for California insurance enrollment is 1/31!!!), 100% of your support will go directly toward securing the additional insurance needed for surgery, as well as covering additional costs related to another hospitalization, recovery, and follow-up care. While I do not yet know the full extent of what will be needed (what happens in surgey and how long I will be hospitalized), I do know the starting baseline and I am hopeful that this next step will bring me closer to a life no longer defined by medical uncertainty, pain, fear and limitations.

This is not an easy request for me to make, but I believe in the power of community. If you are able to contribute, share my story, or even hold space (from afar) for me for me through the next steps, I cannot express how deeply I appreciate it. Together, we create the kind of support that heals—not just bodies, but hearts and spirits, too.

Deepest thanks to those who have been supporting and helping with everything from rides, bathing, moving my things into storage, calls, texts, hospital and ER visits, help medically withdrawing from school, the referrals to an incredible team of professionals, visiting me here, there, and everywhere, picking up RXs, healing services to support my well-being, and support in countless other forms.

Thank you for taking the time to listen, for asking how you can help, and for being part of a world where we continue to lift each other up in such tangible ways.

With appreciation, love, and gratitude for all the love, concern, and support (both big and small),

Shannon