Chelsea's Journey to Health and a New Smile

Anyone who knows my daughter, Chelsea, knows she has always been very thin. Of course, her dad and I were considered skinny back in the day, so her weight was always attributed to genetics. Over the years Chelsea did put on some weight, however, in the last few years she has truly struggled to eat. A combination of no appetite, fear of illness, and getting full easily all contributed to dramatic weight loss. She entered a vicious cycle, knowing she had to eat, but the more she tried, the more she couldn't keep food down. Over this past summer, her condition became critical, below 100 pounds at 5'5'' she reached a point where her body began to shut down. She could no longer concentrate enough to work full time, and eating became an arduous chore.

Thankfully, Chelsea recognized she needed help. Through the help of great medical clinicians, she was diagnosed with ARFID: Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. Patients with ARFID have a lack of interest in food or eating, issues with food tastes or textures, and fear of aversion consequences. Through TREMENDOUS hard work, perseverance, and work with nutritionist, therapist, and physicians, Chelsea has gained 25 pounds in under 3 months!!!

You can see the difference in the pictures above, the one on the right was taken in July at her lowest weight, and the picture on the left was taken in October! She looks great!

Sadly, her struggles with ARFID are far from over. Chelsea has now started experiencing the ramifications of years of being malnourished. Now that she has finally been able to work on actually eating, she is now facing a cruel obstacle--her teeth. Years of malnutrition have taken a toll on her teeth, and jaw. Her teeth are so brittle they break easily causing pain when she tries to chew.

After multiple visits to oral surgeons, and dentist, they all have advised her the only option she has is to have all her teeth removed and replaced with dental implants. Incredibly, despite needing dental implants for medical reasons, insurance companies will NOT COVER THE COST at all!

Chelsea has received varying estimates ranging from $50,000 to $81,000. She has researched medical schools and traveling outside of the US for care. Given that she will most likely need a feeding tube so that she doesn't lose the progress she has made with ARFID, I am truly hoping we can manage having it done in the United States.

We all cherish Chelsea very dearly and asking for your love and support during this time in her life.