Help a Tania Get Through a Cascade of Health Struggles

The short version ~ Hi all. I'm Tania, a disabled artist who has recently fallen on some very hard times. I'm currently trying to raise funds to help cover my medical bills and some of the income I've lost from being constantly sick with c diff the last few years.

The full story ~ The last six years have been a health nightmare for me with a constant cascade of medical crises. Since 2018 I've been diagnosed with many serious health issues. It started with severe tendinitis in my thumbs, then I fell on my left elbow and squished my nerve casing, requiring surgery on my left ulnar nerve. During the pandemic I developed intractable migraines that can last for months unless I receive Botox quarterly. In 2021 I developed POTS, and we discovered through a genetic test that I have Loeys-Dietz Syndrome type 3.

The Loeys-Dietz diagnosis is particularly problematic as it is a genetic connective tissue disorder that affects vascular systems and makes me a candidate for yearly MRI screenings to check for aneurysms and dissections.

Between the MRIs, medications, specialist appointments, and quarterly Botox for migraines my upkeep in a standard year is expensive so we have to be on low deductible/high coverage insurance.

Though the last six years have overall been a health nightmare the last two years have been an extraordinarily bad time and we just found out why a few weeks ago - in June 2022 I developed a Clostridium difficile, aka c diff, a hard to defeat bacterial infection in my colon during my emergency gallbladder removal surgery. Between the issues from the c diff infection and all of my other medical issues I've barely been able to work. Things have gotten worse, though. Most of the month of September I was on antibiotics to try and fight off the c diff and had bad neurological reactions to two of them forcing me to stop taking them early. After finally getting through the third round of antibiotics without serious side effects I thought I was on the mend, but it was not to be. I landed in the ER a few days ago after a week of my legs being constantly weak, tense, achy, and shaking. We were unable to find out what is wrong with them, so we're looking at another round of appointments to try and narrow things down.

I'm physically and emotionally spent after fighting with my body for the last six years. I'm at 45 medical appointments so far this year and will need at least five more at the time of writing, likely including another MRI. Our insurance is a painful $800 a month, but it does keep our bills from being too outrageous. Even so, we have already spent $5k out of pocket so far this year just on my medical bills and medications.

To add to these misfortunes my partner of 15 years was laid off and has been forced to go back to school in order to get a job. The tech field has been wrecked by layoffs and jobs are hard to find. It has also been a terrible year for artists. Income is down for most of us across the board, and I'm no exception. My income, which should have been enough to keep us afloat, has been far from enough to do so.

We are wrung out. We are exhausted. We have tried to do everything possible to get by and are running out of options. I have lost all of my prep time for my last show of the year and our attendance at it is now in question due to the new leg issue.

We're hoping for brighter horizons after my partner is done with his cyber security certification course in April, but until then we're just trying to tread water.

If you would like to support us we greatly appreciate it. Every little bit helps.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story~