Come together for Krista

In 2019 my yoga teacher, Krista Shirley went from a healthy, strong, active, dynamic, successful yoga teacher who travels the world teaching students, mentoring yoga studios and hosting workshops and retreats, to being in constant pain, unable to teach, and on the brink of medical bankruptcy. 


Who is Krista?

Krista is a level 2 authorized ashtanga yoga teacher. For the past 17 years she has dedicated her life to two things, her family (she is a single mom to a 9 year old son) and yoga. 


Krista is driven, high energy, strong (in every way), and is dedicated to helping people change their lives for the better. In 2009 Krista opened The Yoga Shala and built a community of students and apprentices, not only in the Orlando area but across the country. 


Why do I feel called to help?

As I mentioned, Krista is strong, she has kept most of this very private because she has always provided for herself and wouldn’t ask for this kind of help. 

When I learned of the gravity of her situation, I asked her permission to start a fundraiser. She was not on board immediately, but a couple weeks later when I learned that yet another surgery was required, and I knew she did not have the means to pay for it, I was able to convince her to let me run with this. 

It’s hard too see someone you care about, go from being able to do the things she was meant to do, that she has so much passion for, to being unable to do any of it. And on top of that, to be financially ruined... It’s devastating. 

This hits me hard not only because she has been a part of my daily life for 4 years, and I see how hard she works to make an impact on the lives of others, but because this could be me! It could be any of us. You think you’ve got it covered. You’ve worked, you’ve saved, you keep yourself healthy, you’ve got medical insurance - you’re all set! And then, you’re not. 


Krista works hard, has built her business, saved for her future and then a series of medical events has not only taken her physical health and threatened her emotional well-being, but may also take her ability to keep her home, and keep her business open. It has drained her entire life savings. 


What happened?

Looking back it seems a series of seemingly benign events, likely contributed to the issue.  But her Neurologists and others think she might have a genetic or auto immune issue that is the root of the problem.

The day after hurricane Irma Krista spent ten hours alone cleaning up downed fence, trees and debris from her yard.  She badly hurt herself that day.  She tore her common extensor tendon and began feeling a lot of pain in her left shoulder and scapula, and her back.  Her plate was so full with her son, her family, The Yoga Shala, her workshops…she couldn’t really rest her body and, as a result, the pain continued to nag at her.  

A year later Krista’s 21 year old nephew passed away.  The day of the funeral she was helping her wheelchair bound mother out of the car and her mom fell and Krista caught her only to further damage her left side.  As time passed back Krista told me she remembered feeling strange popping at her spine and near her scapula when she would adjust students, do her practice or even do simple things like wrapping a towel around her body.

In early 2019, the pain in her left shoulder, neck, scapula and back had gotten to the point that it had to be dealt with, so Krista sought the advice of a specialist.  She was told the the source of the pain was a tear in her rotator cuff and bicep, which was not only causing her shoulder pain but also the pain and dyskinesis of her scapula and pain in her neck and back.  

She has since learned it was far worse than that.  What she thought would be a routine surgery in early 2019 left this dynamic, athletic, powerhouse of a teacher unable to use her arm, and in constant pain. 

To say the surgery in early 2019 was unsuccessful would be an understatement. In addition to the surgery not fixing (or even identifying) the real source of the problem, it also gave her a super rare infection that went undetected for a couple months. 

She flew to several specialists at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and The Steadman Clinic in Colorado as her pain was constant in her shoulder and around her scapula and back.  She was told she’d need more surgery to correct what had been done in April 2019 and to confirm the suspicion that the April surgery had given her an infection.

In September 2019 Krista had her second shoulder surgery in Colorado with one of the top 20 shoulder surgeons in the nation.  The surgeon removed the anchor in her supraspinatus tendon, moved her bicep, found and removed sutures floating in her shoulder and did a scapula bursectomy on her left side.  A biopsy from her shoulder revealed that the April surgery had indeed given her a very rare infection so after surgery she had to have a pic line placed in her arm to just above her heart for six weeks to administer strong antibiotics, followed by three months of oral antibiotics under the care of a home health nurse.


While clearing the infection, removing scar tissue and floating sutures in her left shoulder brought some immediate relief, the September surgery still did not get to the true cause of her pain. As the weeks went by, her pain got increasingly worse. 

To compound an already complex situation, the September, 2019 surgery itself, triggered a rare auto immune condition called Parsonage Turner Syndrome.  As a result, her supra scapular nerve which powers two of the four rotator cuff muscles in the shoulder is no longer working.  PTS is also causing other neurological issues. She is in the process of neurological testing to get to the root of that. 

Since last July Krista has seen countless Doctors all over the country from Hospital for Special Surgeries in New York, Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Steadman Clinic in Colorado, the Lexington Clinic in Kentucky and New Jersey, and countless doctors around Florida.  Krista has consulted with Rheumatologists, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, Cardiologists, Physiatrists, Physical Therapists, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists and countless Orthopedics doctors.  She’s had 4 EMG /nerve studies, 14 MRI’s, 3 CT scans, over 44 X-rays countless blood tests and 4 surgeries to find out the source of the problem was never her shoulder. Krista learned in October that part of her issue was due to detachment at her scapula, and in December at her spine.

Scapula muscle detachment is extremely rare and many who suffer from this are mis-diagnosed for years and often endure several unnecessary surgeries just like Krista did before getting to the root of the problem.  There are only about 5 Doctors in the world who can help with Scapula Muscle detachment.  Krista went to Kentucky last October to have SD surgery on her scapula with the man who invented the procedure.



While that Scapula surgery was successful, Krista’s biggest problem is her muscle detachments at the spine.  Krista was finally diagnosed properly late last year by a Neurosurgeon but he told her he couldn’t help her, she needed to find a an Orthopedic Surgeon…Orthopedic surgeons told her to see a Spine Surgeon…She was given the same diagnosis by an Orthopedic Spine Surgeon, but he told her he couldn’t help her, no one could, there wasn’t a surgery to re-attach erector spine muscles back to the spinal vertebra and to see pain management specialists and try to get used to her disability.  She felt like giving up and nearly did but with the help of friends, family and a few great Doctors was able to find ONE Doctor willing to help her.

It has been mentally draining, financially devastating, physically exhausting and deeply depressing.  


What’s Next: 

To fix the muscle detachments at her Spine Krista had surgery February 6th, will have her second spine surgery March 2nd and will need at least one more. 


While the list of specialists she has had to visit and tests/scans she has had goes on and on, it isn’t over yet. Her medical expenses up to this point are in excess of $80,000, with another $20,000 in upcoming surgeries and another $50,000 to save her from losing The Yoga Shala and her home.

Since she has been unable to teach for the better part of a year, and in an attempt to keep The Yoga Shala open, she has not taken a salary in about a year. 

She has had to cancel all the workshops and retreats she had scheduled in 2019 and 2020, and has no other source of income. 


Krista needs help from the community. 

Anything you donate will go directly to Krista, and no amount is too small. 

No amount is too small. 

My hope is that we will be able to come together for Krista and cover her medical expenses.

Thank you!