Lizzie's Love Gang: Medical Expenses Fund
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Erin Erickson, and I am a close personal friend of Lizzie. As many of you know, Lizzie has been struggling through a long battle with serious health issues that have repeatedly landed her in the Emergency Room. She has undergone numerous and expensive diagnostic testing - with no resolution.
As many of you also know, Lizzie is a health coach and fitness instructor by trade. She has been helping our community stay mentally and physically healthy for over 10 years. Because she relies on her body to work, these on-going medical issues have severely impacted her ability to work. A lot of us know that Lizzie is truly a friendly, caring and supportive person, who always seems to have our back - but rarely asks for help in return. Know that this is not easy for Lizzie, but is necessary if we want to have her back to healthy and, in turn, leading many of us in our health journeys. Below is Lizzie's story in her own words. Please consider supporting our dear friend. Your donations will be used to help her cover her mounting medical bills and supplement her lost income while she undergoes further tests and treatment.
"Four months ago I started to have on and off sharp abdominal pains. Assuming they were ovarian cysts I tried to manage everyday life with the pain, hoping they would pass or burst so I could move on. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The pains continued to increase in frequency, duration and location around my abdomen.
Mid February, on the 16th, an attack of pain hit me so hard while instructing a fitness class that I had to stop teaching. That afternoon I went to now care, who promptly sent me to the Emergency Room.
They checked my blood, did a urine analysis, pelvic exam, ultrasound and a CT scan. They found nothing. No cysts, no kidney stones, no signs of infection, nothing rupturing….they said everything looked normal. They medicated me for the pain and sent me home and told me to follow up with my doctor.
I was able to see a Nurse Practitioner and she determined I pulled a muscle and prescribed me some muscle relaxers with the hopes I would be feeling better soon.
Over the next few weeks the pain continued to increase and on March 12th while judging at a gymnastics competition in Belgrade, MT I found myself buckled over and in tears from abdominal pain and I was immediately taken to the Belgrade Urgent Care, who promptly sent me to the Emergency Room in Bozeman.
This time the ER only did a CT scan and found signs on infection on my colon and cysts on both ovaries. Bloodwork and urine analysis were normal. They sent me on my way with instructions to schedule a colonoscopy as soon as I got back to Missoula the following Monday.
The soonest appointment was 4 weeks out on April 13th.
During those 4 weeks did my best to manage the pain with over the counter medicine but it was still increasing in duration, frequency and location. There were days I could teach, but more often I had to call in subs to cover my classes.
On April 11th, the week of the colonoscopy, I was doubled over in the worst pain experienced at this point, I skipped Urgent Care and went straight to the Emergency Room. This time the ER they didn’t do any imaging, only bloodwork, which came back normal. They heavily medicated me so I could make it through to the the colonoscopy in two days, and sent me on my way.
All findings of the colonoscopy came back normal, including all biopsies taken.
On May 7th I had another attack and after enduring the pain for nearly 5 hours went back into the ER on the recommendation of ask-a-nurse; only to have no further answers. I was medicated and discharged being diagnosed with “abdominal pain” with instructions to follow up with my Primary Care Provider
I was able to get a referral for a Pelvic MRI, and referral to an OBGYN. The MRI will be May 11th and the follow up with the OBGYN May 17th.
Since mid-March I haven’t been able to work as much as I normally do. Being a fitness professional I have to use my body for my line of work. I can much easier work behind a screen creating content, playlist, choreography and lesson plans. I am at the point where I can teach one, maybe two, classes a day at the most. For the last few weeks I have had to sub out over half of my classes.
The pain is constant but usually manageable to get through day to day tasks, but when an acute attack hits it takes me down. And the worse the pain is the longer it takes to recover. If this happens while teaching a fitness class it takes everything in me to stay upright and continue to cue and coach until the attack subsides. These attacks are unpredictable and can happen anytime. Sometimes only a few a day, other days I’ll have up to 6, 7, even 8 or more episodes.
I haven’t found any answers so there will be more diagnostic testing to try and figure this out. These appointments can take months to schedule and in the meantime there isn’t much pain relief because the strong narcotics they prescribe me make me feel so sick.
I continue to take this day by day. When I have a good day I try to be as productive as possible so that on the bad days it’s ok if I don’t get out of bed. I am hopeful through diagnostic testing and guidance form my medical providers we will get to the source of the problem. Then we can work toward the solution and find my way back to as normal as I can be.
Mid February, on the 16th, an attack of pain hit me so hard while instructing a fitness class that I had to stop teaching. That afternoon I went to now care, who promptly sent me to the Emergency Room.
They checked my blood, did a urine analysis, pelvic exam, ultrasound and a CT scan. They found nothing. No cysts, no kidney stones, no signs of infection, nothing rupturing….they said everything looked normal. They medicated me for the pain and sent me home and told me to follow up with my doctor.
I was able to see a Nurse Practitioner and she determined I pulled a muscle and prescribed me some muscle relaxers with the hopes I would be feeling better soon.
Over the next few weeks the pain continued to increase and on March 12th while judging at a gymnastics competition in Belgrade, MT I found myself buckled over and in tears from abdominal pain and I was immediately taken to the Belgrade Urgent Care, who promptly sent me to the Emergency Room in Bozeman.
This time the ER only did a CT scan and found signs on infection on my colon and cysts on both ovaries. Bloodwork and urine analysis were normal. They sent me on my way with instructions to schedule a colonoscopy as soon as I got back to Missoula the following Monday.
The soonest appointment was 4 weeks out on April 13th.
During those 4 weeks did my best to manage the pain with over the counter medicine but it was still increasing in duration, frequency and location. There were days I could teach, but more often I had to call in subs to cover my classes.
On April 11th, the week of the colonoscopy, I was doubled over in the worst pain experienced at this point, I skipped Urgent Care and went straight to the Emergency Room. This time the ER they didn’t do any imaging, only bloodwork, which came back normal. They heavily medicated me so I could make it through to the the colonoscopy in two days, and sent me on my way.
All findings of the colonoscopy came back normal, including all biopsies taken.
On May 7th I had another attack and after enduring the pain for nearly 5 hours went back into the ER on the recommendation of ask-a-nurse; only to have no further answers. I was medicated and discharged being diagnosed with “abdominal pain” with instructions to follow up with my Primary Care Provider
I was able to get a referral for a Pelvic MRI, and referral to an OBGYN. The MRI will be May 11th and the follow up with the OBGYN May 17th.
Since mid-March I haven’t been able to work as much as I normally do. Being a fitness professional I have to use my body for my line of work. I can much easier work behind a screen creating content, playlist, choreography and lesson plans. I am at the point where I can teach one, maybe two, classes a day at the most. For the last few weeks I have had to sub out over half of my classes.
The pain is constant but usually manageable to get through day to day tasks, but when an acute attack hits it takes me down. And the worse the pain is the longer it takes to recover. If this happens while teaching a fitness class it takes everything in me to stay upright and continue to cue and coach until the attack subsides. These attacks are unpredictable and can happen anytime. Sometimes only a few a day, other days I’ll have up to 6, 7, even 8 or more episodes.
I haven’t found any answers so there will be more diagnostic testing to try and figure this out. These appointments can take months to schedule and in the meantime there isn’t much pain relief because the strong narcotics they prescribe me make me feel so sick.
I continue to take this day by day. When I have a good day I try to be as productive as possible so that on the bad days it’s ok if I don’t get out of bed. I am hopeful through diagnostic testing and guidance form my medical providers we will get to the source of the problem. Then we can work toward the solution and find my way back to as normal as I can be.
Organizer and beneficiary
Erin Erickson
Organizer
Missoula, MT
Lizzie Dolan
Beneficiary