Jessica's Journey To Better Health
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About 17 years ago Jessica gave birth to her 2nd child. Not long after delivery Jessica began to experience new and strange neurological symptoms. After undergoing invasive and painful testing, Jessica was given a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. This was a huge blow, and Jessica worried, "How am I going to take care of my babies?"
With the determination of a new mom, Jessica worked diligently and, often beyond her store of energy, her children were well cared for and much loved. The periods of fatigue and feelings of being unwell came often and weighed heavily upon her, but she always did her best. Times of imbalance and falling discouraged her from carrying her children as much as she would have liked. The constant fluctuation of her strength was always an issue in her role of mother and caretaker.
As time went on Jessica was seen by many physicians who tried to piece together the odd assortment of neurological symptoms she continued to develop. She was assigned numerous autoimmune syndromes: Sjogrens, Ehlers-Danlos, and Raynauds, to name a few.
When worrisome cardiac rhythms occurred, Urgent Care visits turned into ER visits, and then hospitalizations. Being hospitalized "just over the weekend" began to stretch out to 8- to 16-day stays in a critical care bed for monitoring of her very erratic heartbeats and blood pressure readings. She has had 4 of these extended hospitalizations for monitoring, with no clear cut causes being found.
Jessica carried her employer's health insurance, which never came close to covering the cost of her extensive care. When she took the initiative to call one of her specialist's billing department to set up a payment plan, she was rudely informed that she had only 10 days to pay in full, or else. This was unnecessarily cruel considering Jessica's sincere attempt to pay the balance herself.
On becoming a single parent Jessica purchased a small home, knowing it would provide equity and be less expensive than an apartment. Because of that she didn't feel she could give up her job so she soldiered on, sometimes dozing on her office floor during her lunch break. Her coworkers were as much help as they could be, but she was breaking down. She fought hard, but by then she had 3 children for whom she still provided care.
In 2019, after consultations with many specialists and laboratory tests. she was given the diagnosis of Lupus. This explained only some of her ongoing symptoms. Her primary physician had become aware of a new and more accurate 2-level Lyme test. These were done and the first one was again negative, but Level 2, a Western blot test, showed a definite positive Lyme diagnosis. She finally had the answer she had sought for 17 years!
Jessica had continued to work through all this testing, but on July 1. 2019, she gave her 2 weeks' notice. After all she'd been through, her illness had broken her. She has now begun treatments with a holistic physician who has had some success in improving Lyme patients' lives, but her care is not covered by insurance and the treatment is very expensive. Jessica will continue to see her specialists to keep an eye on her heart, kidneys, autoimmune, and neurological issues. With her unpaid medical bills, credit card balances for meds and regular doctor visits, mortgage, household upkeep, food, and care of her 3 children, it is clear her current funds fall far short of her needs. At the forefront of all these concerns are her fears of bankruptcy and losing her home. Due to these things, need for this assistance is immediate.
For those of you who have not met or do not know Jessica personally, you should know she has always tried to stay positive and kind to all, though in pain. She is ever encouraging to others in their life's struggles. She had been successful in her determination not to focus on her illness until she became incapacitated by her severe symptoms. Giving of herself to others, whether caring for ladies in a group home, or spending long hours manning a crisis hotline, has long been Jessica's mission. Giving that up has deeply saddened her. Now is the time to support her struggle to improve her health, and hopefully restore at least some of the skills her loving heart and work ethic demand.
If you, like Jessica, feel like doing for others is the right thing to do, benefiting both giver and receiver, please consider donating any amount to this cause. Each and every dollar will be a stepping stone toward easing Jessica's mind, allowing her to focus on her healing. And, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are part of a team that had a significant impact on someone's life. Please also consider forwarding this request to family and friends, as well. You, and Jessica, will be richly blessed.
Thank you for reading Jessica's story.
About 17 years ago Jessica gave birth to her 2nd child. Not long after delivery Jessica began to experience new and strange neurological symptoms. After undergoing invasive and painful testing, Jessica was given a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. This was a huge blow, and Jessica worried, "How am I going to take care of my babies?"
With the determination of a new mom, Jessica worked diligently and, often beyond her store of energy, her children were well cared for and much loved. The periods of fatigue and feelings of being unwell came often and weighed heavily upon her, but she always did her best. Times of imbalance and falling discouraged her from carrying her children as much as she would have liked. The constant fluctuation of her strength was always an issue in her role of mother and caretaker.
As time went on Jessica was seen by many physicians who tried to piece together the odd assortment of neurological symptoms she continued to develop. She was assigned numerous autoimmune syndromes: Sjogrens, Ehlers-Danlos, and Raynauds, to name a few.
When worrisome cardiac rhythms occurred, Urgent Care visits turned into ER visits, and then hospitalizations. Being hospitalized "just over the weekend" began to stretch out to 8- to 16-day stays in a critical care bed for monitoring of her very erratic heartbeats and blood pressure readings. She has had 4 of these extended hospitalizations for monitoring, with no clear cut causes being found.
Jessica carried her employer's health insurance, which never came close to covering the cost of her extensive care. When she took the initiative to call one of her specialist's billing department to set up a payment plan, she was rudely informed that she had only 10 days to pay in full, or else. This was unnecessarily cruel considering Jessica's sincere attempt to pay the balance herself.
On becoming a single parent Jessica purchased a small home, knowing it would provide equity and be less expensive than an apartment. Because of that she didn't feel she could give up her job so she soldiered on, sometimes dozing on her office floor during her lunch break. Her coworkers were as much help as they could be, but she was breaking down. She fought hard, but by then she had 3 children for whom she still provided care.
In 2019, after consultations with many specialists and laboratory tests. she was given the diagnosis of Lupus. This explained only some of her ongoing symptoms. Her primary physician had become aware of a new and more accurate 2-level Lyme test. These were done and the first one was again negative, but Level 2, a Western blot test, showed a definite positive Lyme diagnosis. She finally had the answer she had sought for 17 years!
Jessica had continued to work through all this testing, but on July 1. 2019, she gave her 2 weeks' notice. After all she'd been through, her illness had broken her. She has now begun treatments with a holistic physician who has had some success in improving Lyme patients' lives, but her care is not covered by insurance and the treatment is very expensive. Jessica will continue to see her specialists to keep an eye on her heart, kidneys, autoimmune, and neurological issues. With her unpaid medical bills, credit card balances for meds and regular doctor visits, mortgage, household upkeep, food, and care of her 3 children, it is clear her current funds fall far short of her needs. At the forefront of all these concerns are her fears of bankruptcy and losing her home. Due to these things, need for this assistance is immediate.
For those of you who have not met or do not know Jessica personally, you should know she has always tried to stay positive and kind to all, though in pain. She is ever encouraging to others in their life's struggles. She had been successful in her determination not to focus on her illness until she became incapacitated by her severe symptoms. Giving of herself to others, whether caring for ladies in a group home, or spending long hours manning a crisis hotline, has long been Jessica's mission. Giving that up has deeply saddened her. Now is the time to support her struggle to improve her health, and hopefully restore at least some of the skills her loving heart and work ethic demand.
If you, like Jessica, feel like doing for others is the right thing to do, benefiting both giver and receiver, please consider donating any amount to this cause. Each and every dollar will be a stepping stone toward easing Jessica's mind, allowing her to focus on her healing. And, you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are part of a team that had a significant impact on someone's life. Please also consider forwarding this request to family and friends, as well. You, and Jessica, will be richly blessed.
Thank you for reading Jessica's story.
Organizer and beneficiary
Cynthia Wagaman Bruster
Organizer
Marshalltown, IA
Jess Copley
Beneficiary