Help Me Support Bek and Her Family During a Special Time

Hi!

This is a huge ask and it will honestly take a miracle but I'm hoping to raise $6,000 in the next few days!

I’m reaching out to ask for your support during a challenging and important time for my family. As many are aware of, my twin sister Bek has been in the hospital for most of the past four months due to complications from Postural Tachycardia, low blood pressure and low blood glucose issues.

Her oldest daughter Rayna is getting married in Italy on the 12th of September. Next week they fly over and there will be a week of festivities and celebration in Italy at the Villa prior to her wedding day. 

Bek has been out of hospital for a week, closely monitored under continued outpatient appointments and is staying stable which is amazing, but there's concern that the long flights and a very busy week of organising a wedding, as well as caring for her younger 2 sons will put an increased strain on her body. And my concern is without extra support there's a chance of her symptoms worsening again. If her symptoms reach a certain level it would be heartbreaking if she wasn't able to see Rayna be married.

During the trip to Italy I would be helping care for her. My goal is to help her get to see her daughter be married and fully enjoy such a special week. I would be supporting her through these health challenges and in addition I will be helping her look after her two youngest sons and assisting with the preparations for Rayna's wedding. 

This is a such a special time for our family, and I want to make sure that Bek, Tony and all of her children can fully enjoy the week of celebrations and the wedding without the added stress of worrying about any possible health situations.

Unfortunately, my financial situation recently changed due to having to temporarily stop working. I had been planning to do extra shifts to afford the tickets to Italy.

In March I had finally been able to start working again after 7 long hard years of being unable to work due to cancer and then two undiagnosed progressive diseases. After undergoing 3 Lipoedema surgeries last year I regained enough mobility and relief from pain to work but unfortunately physically I could only manage 10 hours per week due to my ongoing health issues of Dercum’s disease and residual Lipedema.

This limited work capacity at the best of times makes it difficult to cover my bills, such as rent and other ongoing expenses, and due to this I wasn't going to be able to make it over to Italy for my niece's wedding.

But with Bek's unexpected health issues I feel that it's really important for me to go over with her and help in any way that I can.

It's a big ask. HUGE! And it will honestly take a miracle but I'm hoping with the help of my friends and family we can raise $6,000 to cover the costs of the flights ($2600), 2 weeks rent ( $1360), travel insurance and ongoing bills for the 12 days I will be away.

Unfortunately my current medical payment stops while I am out of the country, which will seriously add to the financial strain if I'm able to make it over.

If I am able to raise the money needed I would be leaving on Bek's flight on the 6th of September so there's so little time to reach this goal.

As anyone who knows me, I'm the last person to ever ask for help, but I just feel this is so important to do and your support will help me be there for Bek and her family to alleviate a lot of the pressure on her older children and husband, allowing them to fully focus on and enjoy this incredibly special time.

Unfortunately, no one else in our family can make it over, so I am the only option for providing the extra support.

Any contribution, no matter how small, will make a significant difference to me getting over there. I also fully understand if you can't give anything, as I know so many people are under financial pressure themselves from the increasing cost of living.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity during this time.

With gratitude,

Rachel