Help Britney Fight Back Against Her Own Body!

Hello everyone my name is Britney and I am 19 years young. I say "years young" instead of "years old" because by the time I finish telling doctors and others about my medical history, I am always told that I am "too young" to be going through what I am going through. Which I agree wholeheartedly because as a 19 year old I feel as if I should be hanging out with friends, worrying about college, enjoying "the prime of my youth", and living life to the fullest without letting things hold me back. Instead I am a 19 year old who many times can't hangout with friends (due to health reasons), having my health interfere with my college classes, grades, and the ability to stay in school, and making calculations to risks I could endure if i do something all because of how my health is. I have been chronically ill for a long time. As early as I can remember I have been "sick". When you are a female in the healthcare setting who coincidentally is one of the youngest in a medium sized family, you are often told that your symptoms are either anxiety related, or results of faking your symptoms to get attention. While yes I do have anxiety as a result of growing up with a severe special needs sibling( a little sister who is now in a residential facility for severe developmental and behavioral needs) and other things, anxiety does not result in swollen, red, hot joints. As for the "attention seeking" you could ask anyone who knew my family and myself as a child that attention was the last thing I wanted, as I was content with being in my own world with animals and books. After many years being told that none of the medical symptoms I was experiencing were not "real", I began to believe them. It wasn't until I found a rheumatologist who looked past my anxiety and age order in the family. It was when I was 13 I was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, and Juvenile Psoriatic Arthritis(both diseases that involve the immune system taking its body and causing damage to bones, tissues, organs, and more). That diagnosis was the start of the domino effect of doctors finally listening to me and realizing that medically I have a lot of stuff going on. If you ask anyone who knows me I am known as the "arthritis girl". As the past 7 years of being diagnosed with Juvenile Arthritis I have spent every waking breath advocating and spreading awareness about how this "is not just your grandparents disease". With my advocating I was honored to receive the 2021 Leon Nueman Service Award which is the highest award you can win at state level from the Arthritis Foundation in Missouri. I hope I can bring the same power of advocating that I have with Juvenile Arthritis to the disease of gastroparesis. Since my original diagnosis of Juvenile Arthritis, I have been diagnosed with; Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet syndrome( a vascular compression syndrome that involves the arm and neck and affecting the ability to control your own arms), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome( a condition where blood pressure and heart rate changes due to problems in the autonomic nervous system that causes debilitating symptoms), and Gastroparesis(a condition where paralysis of the stomach happens and in severe cases like mine completely stop the stomach from working as well as causing intestinal dysmotility(paralysis of the intestinal tract)) to name a few. Gastroparesis is extremely rare especially in children. So by the time I was diagnosed it was too late into disease progression. With all of these diagnoses it required frequent doctor visits, surgeries, medications that had to be taken daily, therapies, medical testing, and so much more. Between the years of 2017-2022 I had multiple near death experiences due to my health conditions. In my senior year of high school I spent more time in the hospital (more specifically the oncology/hematology unit as I needed more supervision and specialty care than the average gastroparesis patient) than I did in school. I have always wanted to be a nurse since the start of my diagnosis journey in 2017. I figured that I could take all the pain and heartache I have endured at such a young age and use it to help my patients advocate for themselves when coming against doctors who have gender bias or refuse to listen to what the patients' concerns are. My senior year of high school I joined a program called health occupations where we would spend the first semester in the classroom learning about the human body and doing skill check offs to prepare us to shadow health professionals including nursing second semester and perform tasks like taking vitals, giving bed baths, and so much more. Being in the hospital my senior year did not mean that I could just slack off and not do any work. In between infusions, treatments, and surgeries You could find me diligently working on my school work because I knew that one day it would lead me to my dream job of being a pediatric nurse. During my time in health occupations we had a test that was a super important part of our grade and something that we also needed to show that we knew the material. Despite being in the hospital the majority of the time and missing class lectures, after the test my teacher pulled me aside and told me that despite being gone the majority of the class time I had the highest test grade in the class. It was then that I knew that not even septic shock and gastroparesis could hold me from my dreams. my gastroparesis in 2021-2022 was becoming so severe that I had exhausted almost all treatments available and that the possibility of gastroparesis winning the battle I had so fiercely fought was becoming more of a reality. I had tons of central lines, blood infections, feeding tubes, and medications trying to keep me stable. the summer before my freshman year of college (summer of 2022) I was accepted into a clinical trial for a gastric stimulator (a pacemaker for your stomach) in Ohio that at the time had only been done in less than 100 patients. The gastric pacemaker in kids/teens isn't approved by the FDA because there is so little knowledge surrounding idiopathic gastroparesis, as it's rare in children as it's typically seen as a condition as a result of diabetes. I traveled over 9 hours to go to Ohio for this clinical trial as it was one of the last options for my health and independence. I spent a month in the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital as it was part of the process of getting the permanent pacemaker. After surgery I went home for a couple weeks to continue packing to go start my college career at Ole Miss. Ole Miss is my dream school, and I know that's where I am meant to be. Not even a month post surgery date I was in oxford, MS going through panhellenic recruitment for sororities and being bussed from house to house in a golf cart, as my body was tired and in pain and I couldn't walk far distances or lift anything too heavy. I was lucky enough to get into my dream house Alpha Omicron Pi. I then started school the next day after receiving my bid. I say this to prove that I am a very determined person and I hardly let anything stand in my way of accomplishing what I want to do. I went through my freshman year of college accomplishing great things. I held leadership positions in organizations I was in at Ole Miss, and even made chancellor's honor roll which is the highest honor roll at the university. The start of my sophomore year(fall of 2023) at the university I started experiencing nausea and vomiting after experiencing close to a year of symptom relief from the clinical trial and gastric pacemaker. The first months it started out as mild something that my normal gastroparesis tricks could handle, and I could move on with my life. At this point I was still able to eat but it was very iffy if I could keep it down so high calorie food was my best friend. Whenever it came to the month of October 2023 my symptoms were progressing at a rapid pace that I couldn't control. I was barely eating, and sleeping and couldn't even keep something as simple as water down. I was in a state of being nauseated 24/7 every single day with nothing helping. I was missing work, and class because I would be too sick to get out of bed or missing because I was in fear that I couldn't leave the bathroom due to vomiting so much. The majority of my classes were very strict on attendance and even with disability accommodations I needed to be in class to learn. There would be classes where I would come in late because I was throwing up, or leaving a lecture halfway through because again I was in the bathroom throwing up, or (This happened more times than I liked) I would be walking towards my class and would be rushing to the nearest trash can to throw up on campus while tons of students watched me, and some saying vile comments about my disability. From the end of August 2023-November 2023 I was sick almost every other week. I caught Covid, Strep, Throat infection, Pneumonia, Bronchitis, Adenovirus, Pink eye, and the flu within that short time span. Once I slightly recovered from one illness I quickly became sick with another. From not being able to eat and get full nutrition I became malnourished making my already compromised immune system very weak and unable to defend itself. On November 1, 2023 I was diagnosed with the flu and was in such bad shape that the on campus doctor at the University strongly encouraged me to ask my parents to pick me up and take me home so that someone could monitor my breathing and be closer to my doctors as I was that severe. I went to the emergency room shortly after arriving at home and was given more medicine and sent home in hopes that I could fight off the flu. The medicine worked but I was still treading down hill fast with my gastroparesis and I went back to the emergency room. This time blood work showed I had a raging blood and body infection with no known source and needed IV antibiotics and was hospitalized, along with the fact that by this point I had lost 20+ lbs in such a short time. I was in the hospital for over two weeks, as well as undergoing surgery to open a stoma for another GJ feeding tube, and at this point I had to medically withdraw from the university I call home. I was sent home on continuous tube feeds, and since then have had 4 surgeries related to my gastroparesis since November. I have weekly therapy, doctor appointments, medical testing, and home health that requires co-payments that I can not miss. Every month I have my medical supply company who sends me a month's worth of formula, along with all the other things I need for my feeding tube. Formula alone each month costs around $800, not including the actual tubing for my feed pump, syringes, gauze, tape, and feed bags. There is a saying that "money can't buy happiness" and I agree with that, but we now live in a world where money is everything, especially in healthcare. At one of my hospitals it is a rule where you have to pay the full amount owed for a surgery before the surgery happens. I think that is a horrible rule and a way where people like myself who need emergent surgeries needed to survive sometimes can't get the care they deserve. In the next couple of months I am looking at more and more medical bills that are in my name, as I have more surgeries coming up, and testing along with daily medications and daily tube feeds. Sadly money that I would use for my college tuition I am having to direct towards my medical bills and treatments. I don't ask for help much, and neither does my family but right now I need your help. I need your help to further my treatment and medications so that one day I can go back to Ole Miss and continue my education for being an amazing pediatric nurse. A more detailed view of how I will use your donations: Arthritis medication(which includes a biologic shot I have to take every week), POTS medication, Gastroparesis medication, feeding tube supplies, home health nurse, weekly doctor appointments(2-3 a week with the average visit costing $25), surgeries, medical testing(done a minimum twice a month), gas to drive to appointments, and the hospitals, college tuition, and car maintenance as needed as the roads near my hospitals take a huge toll on the condition of cars. Right now medication, my pacemaker, and my feeding tube is what is keeping me alive. So please share, and donate if you can so that one day I can become a nurse and continue experiencing the joys of life. Who knows I might be taking care of one of your kids one day;).

For more information on my story or to ask questions follow Britney's Blessings on facebook and britneysblessings7 on Instagram. Thank you so so much for taking the time to read my story.