Single IBDMom Daring To Study Abroad

Hi, I'm Brooke Abbott. I'm a single-parent, non-traditional returning college student withinflammatory bowel disease and eight other chronic conditions. I am a senior attending UCSB but will take a fifth year to complete my bachelor's Degrees in Political Science and History of Public Policy and Law because my health dramatically declined during my 2022/2023 school year.

Most people associate my name with my advocacy work in health equity and inflammatory bowel disease. I have written about IBD Health equity and IBD Women's health equity for almost ten years. This work allowed me to help my IBD community by introducing a broader audience to ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Still, it also allowed me to create an income for my family that has sustained us since I became a single mother in 2011. The flexibility of writing and sitting on advisory boards has been a blessing because it has allowed me to work from home or a hospital at my own pace. So, when I decided to return to college and finish my degree, I didn't feel stressed about an income because I figured I could continue writing. However, since starting my full-time advocacy writing, I have not been as sick as I became this past year.

During my first year at UCSB in 2022/2023, I began to fail off my medication, but not far enough for the insurance company to approve a switch to a new therapy. However, this decrease in protection left me susceptible to many complications. I not only developed cellulitis three times but also contracted a bad case of COVID-19, a bacterial infection, a growth on my pituitary gland , and a terrible skin condition associated with inflammatory bowel disease called pyoderma gangrenosum . My particular form was ulcerative pyoderma gangrenosum, where ulcers formed on my legs. At one point, I had nine open, infected, bleeding ulcers on both legs, restricting me from moving, sleeping, or wearing pants and socks. These ulcers were open for six months while I waited for medication approval to heal the inflammation foundation for this infection and flare.

All of this to say, I was too sick to work at pretty much anything. My grades dropped dramatically. I was forced to drop most of my classes and spent most of my spring quarter on my couch once I could no longer walk up and down my stairs all day. Meanwhile, the Fall Abroad program I had applied for in 2022 accepted me, as did the Queen Mary University of London, for a Fall 2023 term. However, as doctors contemplated leg amputations and I fought with my insurance company to get approval on new meds, all of my planning for London went by the wayside. Then support for my new meds came, only to receive notice 30 days later that I would be losing my insurance, and state insurance was unwilling to cover the entire cost of the new drugs. All the money I saved toward my study abroad program here in London went toward paying for my life-saving drug because after three weeks on it, my legs began to heal, and my IBD was manageable. So, I'm healthier, and I can attend school in London. However, I am struggling to maintain my studies here for several reasons:

A. no student housing is provided for students with dependents who are international students at the University.

B. I spent all the money I had saved for outside housing (AirBnB and Apartotels) on my new medications because they were not covered.

C. I was not bringing in any income for almost four months straight as I was too sick to work like I needed to.

I am starting class on Monday, but my child is coming to join me in early October, and I want to make sure I am covered with housing, food, and some experiences while my kid is here homeschooling and living in another country. Usually, I ask folks to help me raise money for someone else in need, but this time it is me. I am swallowing my pride and asking for help because I need to finish this program and stay healthy to continue my advocacy and activism work.

Thank you so much in advance for helping us.

xo

Brooke