Allie - Mayo Clinic
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Meet Alessandra (Allie) Westover. She is an extremely intelligent young woman, an amazing daughter and a good friend. Allie has loved animals forever and since she was 4 years old and today, at 17, her dream is to become a Veterinarian. She was Attending El Molino High School and taking a few courses at the Santa Rosa Junior College until recently, when the illness took the better part of her energy and ability to attend. We are trying to do all we can to support Allie, to provide some normality to her life. We want to do all we can to keep her on track to achieve her dreams and ambitions with the help of our friends and community.
Allie was diagnosed with Lyme Disease at the age of 6 and provided treatment to address the disease. Over the last two years, Allie was re-diagnosed with Lyme Disease, as well as, given an additional diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), but without a diagnosis of the underlying cause. Allie's symptoms range from a high heart rate, high blood pressure, intense migraines, to excruciating joint pain. In most cases, this has led to emergency room visits to seek relief, but without a true resolution.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/endocrinology/news/postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-and-chronic-fatigue-in-adolescents/mac-20430815
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16560-postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-pots
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lyme-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20374651
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11586-lyme-disease
We have been fortunate to get an opportunity to send Allie to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Our hope is that the Mayo Clinic's integrative approach to special cases diseases will provide some light on the underlying cause of Allie's symptoms. There she'll have teams of doctors reviewing her medical history and testing her Cardiological, Autonomic, Gastrological, and Neurological functions. We hope this will lead to a long term diagnosis for symptom management or a protocol of treatment leading to a cure. Reaching this point has been a massive endeavor for Allie. She's had to give up so much at such a valuable point in her life. Her health and symptoms continue to waiver back and forth. Even with her current treatments which include very intense and costly medications, Allie has been severely limited.
One of our biggest challenges has been the accumulated and continuously accruing costs for Allie's diagnoses and treatment. Over the last couple of years, we've made several trips to Stanford Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center and Sutter Medical Center to conduct tests and treatment. While some of these treatments have been covered, others have not. Complicating matters is that insurance will not cover any repeat testing by the Mayo Clinic, if it was previously completed by other Medical Centers. The Mayo Clinic's approach to special case diseases, such as Allie's, require this testing to help them determine their course of action. This may potentially include admitting her to the clinic for long term treatment. At this time, we are concerned that there will be mounting travel costs, be it sending her to the clinic as requested or visiting her to ensure she receives the support she needs. Locally, we have been supported by a Lyme Disease Specialist in Santa Rosa, CA. The treatments have been helpful, but have not been covered by insurance, leading to a mounting cost
Allie's initial visit to the Clinic will be May 14th through May 18th. At this point, we are uncertain what the result of the visit will be. Our hope is that we will be able to progress further with additional time at the Clinic resulting with a treatment or receive additional guidance on how to manage Allie's current symptoms. We are grateful for the opportunity and optimistic that there will be a positive outcome from this visit. Please don't hesitate to share this information. We are extremely appreciative of any help from our local Friends and Community!
Please help if you can!
Allie was diagnosed with Lyme Disease at the age of 6 and provided treatment to address the disease. Over the last two years, Allie was re-diagnosed with Lyme Disease, as well as, given an additional diagnosis of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), but without a diagnosis of the underlying cause. Allie's symptoms range from a high heart rate, high blood pressure, intense migraines, to excruciating joint pain. In most cases, this has led to emergency room visits to seek relief, but without a true resolution.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/endocrinology/news/postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-and-chronic-fatigue-in-adolescents/mac-20430815
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/16560-postural-orthostatic-tachycardia-syndrome-pots
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lyme-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20374651
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/11586-lyme-disease
We have been fortunate to get an opportunity to send Allie to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Our hope is that the Mayo Clinic's integrative approach to special cases diseases will provide some light on the underlying cause of Allie's symptoms. There she'll have teams of doctors reviewing her medical history and testing her Cardiological, Autonomic, Gastrological, and Neurological functions. We hope this will lead to a long term diagnosis for symptom management or a protocol of treatment leading to a cure. Reaching this point has been a massive endeavor for Allie. She's had to give up so much at such a valuable point in her life. Her health and symptoms continue to waiver back and forth. Even with her current treatments which include very intense and costly medications, Allie has been severely limited.
One of our biggest challenges has been the accumulated and continuously accruing costs for Allie's diagnoses and treatment. Over the last couple of years, we've made several trips to Stanford Medical Center, UCSF Medical Center and Sutter Medical Center to conduct tests and treatment. While some of these treatments have been covered, others have not. Complicating matters is that insurance will not cover any repeat testing by the Mayo Clinic, if it was previously completed by other Medical Centers. The Mayo Clinic's approach to special case diseases, such as Allie's, require this testing to help them determine their course of action. This may potentially include admitting her to the clinic for long term treatment. At this time, we are concerned that there will be mounting travel costs, be it sending her to the clinic as requested or visiting her to ensure she receives the support she needs. Locally, we have been supported by a Lyme Disease Specialist in Santa Rosa, CA. The treatments have been helpful, but have not been covered by insurance, leading to a mounting cost
Allie's initial visit to the Clinic will be May 14th through May 18th. At this point, we are uncertain what the result of the visit will be. Our hope is that we will be able to progress further with additional time at the Clinic resulting with a treatment or receive additional guidance on how to manage Allie's current symptoms. We are grateful for the opportunity and optimistic that there will be a positive outcome from this visit. Please don't hesitate to share this information. We are extremely appreciative of any help from our local Friends and Community!
Please help if you can!
Organisateur
Chris Westover
Organisateur
Windsor, CA