I'm on My Last Leg... Help Me Get Back on My Feet!

Hi. I'm Vanessa, and I really need your help. Since Thanksgiving, I have been sidelined by a string of illnesses that has ultimately led to an ER visit and prolonged hospitalization. To be very blunt, I need money. I am a self-employed masseuse, so any time that I'm not working is time and money lost that I can't get back. I started this GoFundMe because I had already missed what added up to two weeks of work this year due to the various illnesses, but at least I was able to work intermittently. With this latest, ongoing health crisis, I have been unable to work since the first week of February, and there is no way to know how long I will be out of commission. I need money to pay bills and mounting medical expenses not covered by my insurance until I can get back on my feet and earn for myself again.

It isn't easy for me to admit that I need help, much less to reach out and ask for it. Most of the time, I'm the one helping others, because that's the way I was raised. Through my family's example, I was taught that the answer to the question "Am I my brother's keeper?" is "Yes." There are times when you have to set aside your pride and admit that you just can't grin and bear it anymore or you can't just suck it up and muscle your way through the pain the way you always have. Thinking that I didn't have a choice at the time, I have pushed myself through injuries and illnesses over the years, but this isn't something I can knuckle down on and make it through on my own. I need help.

It's still hard to admit, but it's true. I need help. I need your help. One of my favorite moments from the movie "Lean On Me" is when Morgan Freeman, who plays high school principal Joe Clark, is speaking to the student body before an important exam. To instill a sense of pride and unity in his students, he tells them, "We sink, we swim, we rise, we fall- we meet our fate together!" I need your help to get through this. I need you to turn "I" into "We." Whatever amount you can give, large or small, will help and will be truly appreciated. Wherever and however you share this to bring greater visibility to my situation will be tremendously helpful, whether that be on social media or sharing it with friends, family, coworkers, colleagues, church groups, prayer lists, etc. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your care and concern. Thank you for your donation and support. Thank you for sharing this. Thank you for being part of my "We" that gets me through this.

Sincerely, and with deepest gratitude,

Vanessa

P.S. For those who would rather send money via Ca$h App or Venmo, send me a message and I will give you my information for either app. Again, thank you, and may you be blessed the way you're blessing me with your generosity.

(THIS SECTION IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS MORE DETAILS ABOUT MY ILLNESS, WHAT LED UP TO MY HOSPITALIZATION, AND PHOTOS ALONG THE WAY.)

My road to the Baylor, Scott, & White ER began last year, when I caught a head cold on Thanksgiving. That led to a secondary chest infection, and on November 30th, I was prescribed a ten day course of antibiotics and a seven day course of Prednisone. On December 2nd, I was prescribed DuoNeb to replace my Albuterol nebulizer solution, as my breathing had continued to worsen. On December 8th, my tonsils began to swell. I didn't have any pain, redness, or white spots on my tonsils- they just kept getting bigger.

On December 9th, I tested negative for strep and flu, and I had twice tested negative for CoVID. I was given a 5 day course of Prednisone in the hopes that it would help, not only with the swelling in my tonsils, but with my lungs as well. I finished the Augmentin on the 9th, and the new course of Prednisone on the 13th, but my breathing difficulties only increased and my tonsils just continued to grow bigger. I went back to the BSW clinic on December 18th because I was struggling to breathe. An x-ray ruled out pneumonia, but I was diagnosed with post-viral asthma and post viral-cough. I was prescribed an Advair inhaler, which really made a difference in my breathing.

However, my tonsils were soon large enough that they interfered with my breathing at night. I knew that I had a visit with my doctor on January 29th, but I sent her a message about the sleep apnea, as the sleep deprivation was really affecting me. She referred me to an ENT, but my appointment wasn't until March 6th. By the time I saw my doctor, my tonsils were touching in the middle of my throat. At that point, she was able to get my appointment with the ENT moved to the next morning, January 30th.

The ENT examined me and reiterated what two other doctors and the internet had suggested, that my tonsils had probably swollen as a result of a rhinovirus infection, but there was no way to tell if that had also been the cause of the head cold that started everything, or if it was a tertiary infection. There was also no way of knowing if or when they would ever return to their normal size. He put me on a heavy, 12 day course of Prednisone that did make a difference in the swelling in my tonsils. Unfortunately, it may also have been the straw that broke the camel's back with my immune system, which allowed the ensuing infection to get a foothold.

On the evening of February 4th, despite having done relatively little that day, I was exhausted and had chills that made me shake for over an hour before I could get warm. I woke up at 5:00am to severe pain in my left leg and urinary incontinence. Sometime between when I had used the bathroom at 2:00am and when I woke at 5:00am to go again, my leg had swollen from my mid-thigh to my toes. It was red, hot, very sensitive to the touch, and terribly swollen.

The pressure in my leg made it very painful to bend it at the knee. I contacted my doctor to update her. The pressure, pain, swelling, and redness in my leg increased with each day.

By Thursday evening, a DVT blood clot had, thankfully, been ruled out. That night, I developed blisters on both sides of my left leg.

Overnight, the blisters that formed began to emit an alarming amount of discharge, which would only increase over the weekend.

The next morning I went in and saw one of the doctors at the clinic who prescribed me Augmentin and Doxicycline, and then sent me home.

This would prove to be a mistake, as was the decision to wait until after ruling out the DVT to begin ruling out/treating any infection, because by the time I broke down and called 9-1-1, I was septic.

I felt a little relief Saturday, and the color of the leg was slightly better, but by Sunday, the infection had roared back with a vengeance.

As bad as thing were over the weekend, they only continued to worsen on Monday. Without concrete medical guidance as to whether this was normal for the kind of infection I had, or whether I should go to the ER, I was unsure what to do.

Unable to bear any more pain, I called for an ambulance to take me to the ER that night, February 12th. I was diagnosed with Sepsis and Circumferential Bullous Cellulitis with Erysipelas, which is recognized as one of the most painful infections you can have. The doctors immediately began aggressively treating me with four different IV antibiotics, and I was admitted to the hospital as soon as a bed became available on February 13th.

(I will post regular updates here for the rest of the story from the last two weeks and moving forward in my struggle to get better, get home, and get back on my feet.)