Support Miriam's Fight to Breathe

Hi, my name is Miriam. Coming on here and creating this GoFundMe is the last thing I want to do, but I am at a loss and don't know what else to do.

My life/health has been looking a little different these past few months. Since having Covid at the end of 2021, my physical stamina has decreased over time. My breathing got worse and 6 months ago it got progressively worse. I was always given steroids and an inhaler thinking it was asthma attacks. Well about a month ago, we found out that isn’t so. Turns out I have idiopathic subglottic stenosis, see description below. I ended up having an emergency tracheotomy so I could breath and stay alive. Glad to have answers and looking forward to getting my surgeries get my airway open and getting rid of this thing. God has been so very good and is providing the best doctors and team along the way. It was the worst experience I’ve ever gone through and don’t wish it on anyone. I do not have insurance and will have to pay for my surgeries out of pocket. My first surgery is scheduled for June 17th and is estimated to cost $18,753.78. Needless to say I do not have this at this time. With the previous emergency visit, costs of supplies for my trach, my husband's medical issues and expenses, my son's student loan, and daily living expenses, this price range is just too much to handle for the surgery. If I am unable to come up with at least the 25% before my surgery, it will need to be postponed. I am a weight loss coach and I need to go back to work as soon as possible, but in order to do that I need the surgery to be able to coach verbally. If you can help, that would be awesome! If not, that is ok too!

What is Idiopathis Subglottic Stenosis?

This means I have a very narrow airway that makes it difficult to breathe….

It is known as a chronic disease – this means I have this condition long term.

It is very rare – only two people in a million have subglottic stenosis, and

mostly women. Nobody knows what causes it. Some people get this from having a tube down their throat during an operation, or breathing in chemicals or hot air, but this is not the case for me.

It appears to be like an autoimmune disease – this means my immune system

is wrongfully attacking healthy cells in my airway and causing scarring, which

then narrows my airway. This will cause me to cough frequently, to move any

mucus. It is not contagious.

It sounds a little bit like I have asthma, but inhalers will not help me. It is not

caused by allergies, weight, diet or reflux. Exercising more will not fix it.

It might surprise you to learn my blood oxygen levels are always very good,

so an O2 tank will not help my breathing, even when I am struggling.

When I have an operation in hospital, this temporarily opens my airway,

hopefully putting the disease into remission… but so far there is no cure, it is

very likely to come back.

The disease impacts the inside of my breathing tube, known as the trachea.

This is different from the tube which food goes down, known as the

oesophagus.

Fixing my airway with a stent or pipe will not work – in fact it could be very

dangerous for me."