Help Stella and Family

Stella is a sweet 17-year-old high school senior. She is a musician, friend, daughter, sister, cousin, niece, and granddaughter who has not been able to attend school for the past 18 months due to numerous health crises. Her most complex and ongoing medical challenge stems from a dual diagnosis of gastroparesis and rumination syndrome. Stella is currently home, having just been discharged from a 7-week hospital stay. At present, Stella’s body continues to reject solid foods (through frequent, involuntary vomiting) and she is only marginally successful with liquids. It is not a matter of if, but of when she will again destabilize and require hospitalization and supplemental tube feeding. Stella’s GI team in Boston is exploring other GI specialty programs. At this time, Stella’s best hope for treatment will require her to travel outside of New England to find a medical team that can treat her rare condition. The treatment time frame is projected to be long (i.e. may require multiple trips over several months or treatment that requires an extended time away from home). While Stella has three loving parents, my sister Annie, who is a nurse, has been the lead parent caring for Stella. Over the past 18 months, Annie has had to take multiple leaves of absence from her job (12 weeks last year) and has exhausted her earned time benefit. Annie is a single-income family. For most families, three months without income is financially devastating. During this next phase of Stella’s medical care, Annie will be required to take an additional unpaid leave of absence. Stella’s health issues have put a hold on her schooling, her life, and her family’s lives. We are desperate to find the care that she needs so that she can return to being a typical teenager. I have created this campaign to help Stella access the care that she needs and to assist her family with travel and household expenses during this difficult time.