Help Katarina Get M.E. Treatment
Donation protected
Hi, I'm Katarina! I'm 22 and I have a number of chronic illnesses including ME/CFS , POTS, Hashimoto's, CVID, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, and various autoimmune and neuroimmune problems. The photo above is of me before I got sick. Before getting sick over the past few years, I went from being actively involved in student government and clubs at USC, was on my way to graduate with honors, and working part-time during school to pay my bills to now being bedridden and sick full time. I was on almost full tuition scholarship, and because I had to go on medical leave it has expired. I have one class left to graduate from USC, and I'm too sick to be able to do any school work. I was studying to work in environmental and human rights law and now just want to be well enough graduate.
Over the past few years, I have gotten progressively sicker. I didn’t know at all how serious it was for a long time. The summer after my freshman year of college, I came down with a viral infection overnight that wouldn’t go away. After resting for a few months, I tried to push through and at first it worked, with a lot of difficulty, I was able to complete my sophomore year. After coming back from a research trip that summer, my body quickly crashed and I have only gotten worse since. I quit all of my extracurriculars but kept working to pay my bills and going to school, but I only got more sick. Now I’m bedridden, and am too sick to see friends, study, or work at all. It’s frustrating, I’m still the same person I was before but my brain and body no longer cooperate how I want them to.
This is a picture of me now, where I spend all of my time. When I have to go out to see a doctor, I now have to use a wheelchair to even be able to go from the parking lot into the doctor's office.
ME/CFS is a disease that has the lowest quality of life of any serious disease including HIV/AIDS, cancers, chronic renal failure, MS, and arthritis. It was formerly referred to as atypical polio. Doctors who work with both HIV/AIDS patients have said that ME/CFS patients have a similar quality of life to AIDS patients in their last month before death. My symptoms include debilitating fatigue not improved with rest, seizures, post-exertional malaise, pain in my nerves, muscles, and joints, sensitivity to light, sound and smells, cognitive problems, numbness, occasional paralysis, vertigo, orthostatic intolerance, and constant flu symptoms. ME/CFS is underfunded and under-researched so there aren't many options for treatment. Recovery is rare and the longer I live with the disease, the smaller chance I have at any sort of recovery. I’m in the 25% of patients with ME/CFS that are bedbound, and I’m also in the 30% of cases that are progressive and degenerative, and can be fatal. Here is a fact sheet about ME/CFS. I have exhausted almost every kind of treatment that are recommended by ME/CFS experts, and have completely run out of options my family can afford. My medical bills have cost my family thousands of dollars every month for the past few years, and we are in a lot of medical debt as of now. We are not able to afford the next kind of treatment that my specialist wants me to have. The next type of treatment is called IVIG, and is commonly used to treat various autoimmune disorders. It costs between $5000-10,000 per infusion, and is not covered by my insurance. This Go Fund Me is only to fund the first couple infusions, and hopefully, if I begin to improve with it, my insurance would eventually start covering it. Any small amount you can donate here or to my Venmo, @katarina-brandt (preferred bc GoFundMe takes a small cut) or if you'd share this page it would be a huge help to me, as I can no longer work and am quickly running out of options.
Here are a few blog posts about my illness:
Helping ME Helps All of US
Misogyny in Medical Practice
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun(damental Human Rights to Healthcare)
If you want more extensive information about ME/CFS:
https://www.unrest.film/
https://health.ny.gov/diseases/conditions/me-cfs/
http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2015/MECFS/MECFS_ReportBrief.pdf
Over the past few years, I have gotten progressively sicker. I didn’t know at all how serious it was for a long time. The summer after my freshman year of college, I came down with a viral infection overnight that wouldn’t go away. After resting for a few months, I tried to push through and at first it worked, with a lot of difficulty, I was able to complete my sophomore year. After coming back from a research trip that summer, my body quickly crashed and I have only gotten worse since. I quit all of my extracurriculars but kept working to pay my bills and going to school, but I only got more sick. Now I’m bedridden, and am too sick to see friends, study, or work at all. It’s frustrating, I’m still the same person I was before but my brain and body no longer cooperate how I want them to.
This is a picture of me now, where I spend all of my time. When I have to go out to see a doctor, I now have to use a wheelchair to even be able to go from the parking lot into the doctor's office.
ME/CFS is a disease that has the lowest quality of life of any serious disease including HIV/AIDS, cancers, chronic renal failure, MS, and arthritis. It was formerly referred to as atypical polio. Doctors who work with both HIV/AIDS patients have said that ME/CFS patients have a similar quality of life to AIDS patients in their last month before death. My symptoms include debilitating fatigue not improved with rest, seizures, post-exertional malaise, pain in my nerves, muscles, and joints, sensitivity to light, sound and smells, cognitive problems, numbness, occasional paralysis, vertigo, orthostatic intolerance, and constant flu symptoms. ME/CFS is underfunded and under-researched so there aren't many options for treatment. Recovery is rare and the longer I live with the disease, the smaller chance I have at any sort of recovery. I’m in the 25% of patients with ME/CFS that are bedbound, and I’m also in the 30% of cases that are progressive and degenerative, and can be fatal. Here is a fact sheet about ME/CFS. I have exhausted almost every kind of treatment that are recommended by ME/CFS experts, and have completely run out of options my family can afford. My medical bills have cost my family thousands of dollars every month for the past few years, and we are in a lot of medical debt as of now. We are not able to afford the next kind of treatment that my specialist wants me to have. The next type of treatment is called IVIG, and is commonly used to treat various autoimmune disorders. It costs between $5000-10,000 per infusion, and is not covered by my insurance. This Go Fund Me is only to fund the first couple infusions, and hopefully, if I begin to improve with it, my insurance would eventually start covering it. Any small amount you can donate here or to my Venmo, @katarina-brandt (preferred bc GoFundMe takes a small cut) or if you'd share this page it would be a huge help to me, as I can no longer work and am quickly running out of options.
Here are a few blog posts about my illness:
Helping ME Helps All of US
Misogyny in Medical Practice
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun(damental Human Rights to Healthcare)
If you want more extensive information about ME/CFS:
https://www.unrest.film/
https://health.ny.gov/diseases/conditions/me-cfs/
http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2015/MECFS/MECFS_ReportBrief.pdf
Organizer
Katarina Brandt
Organizer
Irvine, CA