Grant Andi Peaceful time in Greece, Instead of Hospital Time

**To be as transparent as possible, and make sure they there isn’t any kind of miscommunication, we all know that there’s no certainty in life and I’ve beaten the odds many times, and I hope I still do, but with each PASSING DAY it becomes less and less likely. So, when specific amounts of time left or life expectancy are mentioned my palliative home nurse, along with my doctors distinguish it as a “prognosis” in which they make medical assessments based on my current and past health conditions and medical history, to make a prognosis of my future health. It’s seems to be an impossible situation at times but oh one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from my medical team inside and outside of the hospital to just take it a DAY at a time, and particularly in some of the really rough times, I take things just hour by hour!

Hello, my name is Andrea Herman. I have always gone by my nickname Andi though. Around the age of 21, I was diagnosed with a life threatening illness called Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome; including up to 50 diagnosed direct comorbidities such as gran-mal seizures, anemia, endocarditis, and so many others, but don’t worry I will not be listing all of the! I’ve had over 25 different surgeries and procedures, major and minor, constant need for a port and TPN and fluids giving nutrition and hydration through my veins. I’ve had DVT’s & pulmonary embolisms, where my heart stops beating with codes called to revive me (while dealing with complications from surgery). I’ve had brain bleeding, infections in my blood, my brain, in my eye, in previous surgical sites, and in my heart, frequently getting septic, and a few times it developed into septic shock, which with such a high fatality rate it incredible I survived it once, let alone more than once! For so many years, I was hospitalized and given IV antibiotics for months at a time without a break! I’ve had complications in and from multiple surgeries and been on the cusp of death more than a few times over the last 15 years but I beat the odds and lived through all that. I was it was unlikely I’d live past my 20’s, yet here I am… in my mid 30’s, surpassing my expectancy at and after diagnosis. A huge reason I’ve survived this long is because I lived in and out of a hospital and I had maybe 10% quality of life, lowering year by year, because I chose QUANTITY OVER QUALITY in my life for over 10 years! I’ve beaten the odds over and over, so I have a knack for surviving, and I know from experience time is a gift!!

However, now I’ve made the choice to stop major treatment. I no longer have a port or central line and I don’t plan on giving the doctors or surgeons approval for a port or major surgery for whatever acute ailment comes next… even if it would save my life. I’m sure that sounds like giving up or impossible to understand diet. All it takes is one more surgery that leads to report for long-term treatment and then complications and then TPN for nutrition in order to heal from the surgery and complications and it’s what’s known as the domino effect in Seriously ill people where it just never ends. You think you’re solving something but all you’re doing is just creating the next problem to overcome and that’s all if things go right and I do continue to be lucky and survive situations with lower than a 50% fatality rate! My doctors, surgeons, home health palliative hospice care teams know the decision is ultimately mine, and I have made it! Almost all of my closest friends do not live close at all, and unfortunately, my living & family situation is not very healthy. But I couldn’t be in that hospital admission after admission and I’ve been happy with my decision. I don’t want to go into it too much because I love my family and my parents…. I am thankful for everything they’ve done, but it’s overdue time for my parents to have an empty nest and for me to be truly happy with however much time I have left and it’s time I really start to live my BUCKET LIST life dreams!

So, with ALL (yes I know this is a long “story”, I apologize for the long read, but there’s a lot to my story) of that explained, I’ve always wanted to travel. I started to travel right before I got sick after I graduated college, but I am not asking for money to travel. I mean, I guess I am, haha, but I’m asking for money to finally be able to live my life after over 12 years of living in and out of the hospital and making every decision completely based around my health to now finally live the way I want to, the way life is supposed to be lived: with enthusiasm and HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE! My plan is to move to Greece. I’ve already looked into renting studio apartments, but the money I get from permanent disability is barely enough cover my medication and transportation (which at this point is mostly comfort medications, with a few other vital ones and paying for Uber rides because as long as I continue to have seizures the longer I have the inability to drive) so I barely have any money left at the end of each month! I definitely don’t have enough to pay for a new passport, traveling visa, etc… let alone enough for a flight, housing and living expenses out in Greece! However, I’m determined to achieve and live out the number one thing on my “bucket list!” The ocean has always brought peace and comfort to me and my doctor said if I go there’s a high likelihood that I won’t make it back. I know that, and I still want to go, that’s where I want to be. Places like Greece are heaven on earth for me! Plus, to have a healthy adult living and housing situation that I’ve never been able to experience and always felt I’ve missed out on, and a place like that honestly, those are my dreams that I’m doing everything I can to make come true! The only thing stopping me is money and I was raised not to ask for money so, trust me, I feel very awkward doing this. I’m getting emotional writing this for multiple reasons: I know there are many people on this website who need the money for more important things than me. But after being told over and over again by my hospice team, my case worker, and my inpatient & home nurses that a few people that are in the “medical category” on this GoFundMe site are in worse situations than myself, BUT a lot of people that are in better situations (regarding not just the medical category of this site, but the entirety of it) than me so they finally did convince me. So here I am: asking for money to live my bucket list dreams come true in the coming months. Living how I want to live, without making decisions only based on my health and without feeling out of place and without the comfort of my own home and with healthy living circumstances and relationships. It’s incredible; their cost of living is much lower than here in California and even just renting places out in Greece is quite a bit more affordable, even ones that are right by the ocean!

Obviously, I haven’t been able to work since I was straight out of college, being in and out of the hospital, so often, so I never had the opportunity to save much money… but if anyone reading this has any extra money, even if it’s just $1 or $5, you have no idea how much it would mean to me! Greece is in a great position where I can hope to take the train to go travel going to various countries and soaking up their culture. I know I will put my body through a lot by doing that, I’ve tried a time or two to go on trips, and have great experiences and my body didn’t have the endurance. However, now I have the mental endurance, and stubbornness, and I simply don’t approach my life, and my everyday actions in the same way that I have throughout all the years I’ve been sick and during those few times I tried to go on a short vacation or two are as much anymore because now I have made the decision to choose QUALITY OF LIFE instead of quantity and I am so happy with that decision. I haven’t regretted it one second since I had the surgeons pull out my port out in my last procedure. Since I’m DNR and refusing any major surgery, while knowing the frequency at which I can go through really acute and severe health issues, so I just might* not have the time to save money or try moving somewhere closer first. If you donate, I just want to thank you so much. You are giving me the ability to finally live my “Bucket List” life! Away from hospital stays, and operating rooms and difficult relationships. I’ll miss my family, and my few friends who live near, but it’s time to focus on what I need and particularly finally what I want, without the many medical restraints that have been holding me back from living my life the way life is truly meant to be lived… thank you so much for your generosity and support, truly!