Help a transgender woman recover from transverse myelitis

My name is Leyla, and on October 23rd the bottom of my foot went numb. Figuring I had pinched a nerve after a week showing a friend around New York, I didn't make much of it. But by Saturday—with pins and needles running down my legs and weakness in both hands, hardly able to climb my stairs—I decided to visit my local emergency department. They sent me home.

Two days later, my friend Laurel wheeled me into NYU Langone, where I would stay for the next week.

Multiple MRIs, a lumbar puncture, and 21 vials of blood sent off to pathology indicated that I was suffering from transverse myelitis—an inflammatory process in my spinal cord.

Transverse myelitis is a rare autoimmune disease affecting only a few people per million every year, though it's more common in women like me with other autoimmune diseases (I also live with scleroderma and alopecia). The lesion was in my cervical spine, putting me at high risk of severe disability, paralysis, or even death.

Through the work of Langone's neurology department and the absolute grace of God, the inflammation responded to high-dose steroid treatment, and I walked out of the hospital on November 4th.

I am absurdly fortunate. As of now, I have only lingering weakness in my limbs, paresthesia, and balance issues—and the hope (and expectation) is that these will improve in time. Still, I need a mobility aid for the foreseeable future. I also need to continue my care with neurologists and immunologists at NYU, who saved my health and possibly my life when other doctors sent me home.

I'm asking for help to cover my medical expenses. My 2024 insurance is based in PA, so my out-of-pocket costs have been high. The amount I'm requesting is equal to

I have been blessed with good friends and a loving mother. I didn't spend a single night in the hospital alone, and I've had loved ones cooking me meals all week. Truly even with the hardship is ease. فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا.

Yet we're all working-class people, and there are limits to what I can ask from them. If you're able, please help me get back—and stay back—on my feet.