POTS Treatment for Becca
Donation protected
Hello everyone. My name is Rebecca Brunner and I'm 15 years old. Thank you for taking the time to read and learn about my daily struggle with POTS.
POTS is short for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. It's a rare condition. One in every one hundred teens are diagnosed with POTS and it’s a little different for everyone. The most common symptoms are a racing heart rate when you go from laying down to sitting or standing up, which can also cause you to faint. Physicians that treat POTS often compare it to congestive heart failure.
My life went from being normal to struggling to get through every day. Basically there is a malfunction in my autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls things like my heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, including fatigue, lightheadedness, feeling faint, weakness, and cognitive impairment.
I struggle daily with low blood pressure, headaches/migraines, dizziness, extreme nausea, brain fog, chest and joint pain, sore throats, regulating my body temperature, lightheadedness, heart palpitations, and exercise intolerance, I constantly feel tired and just exhausted.
I used to have almost perfect attendance at school and played practically every sport but I can't really do any exercise anymore because it makes me feel a lot worse which means that I had to cut all sports from my life which was pretty upsetting. I've been working really hard on my attendance at school but most days I just cannot get up and make it there. It's really frustrating going from a normal life to having to drop everything for my health. Fortunately I love school and all of my friends and they are working with me and supporting me. I've still been able to get straight A's and I just received an award for being in the top 5 of my class and I'm really proud of that.
It’s been almost three years ago that I got a viral infection. As time went on I just kept getting worse and the doctor tried about 6 different antibiotics. I was tested for strep, flu, mono, and many other blood tests. They all came back negative but I was getting worse. I was referred to a local hospital and they spent a couple months running the same tests. After several months a doctor there ordered a Tilt Table Test. It confirmed I had POTS but they did not know how to treat it and I went to a specialty hospital. I thought we'd never figure it out! It's been about 3 years now and I'm learning to live with POTS but it's not a very easy task and isn't easy to live with!
I have tried many medications and treatment plans but none have really helped. I've been praying for a miracle! I believe that treatment at the POTS Treatment Center in Dallas, TX could be my miracle. They have had a lot of success at this facility in helping re-program the nervous system and getting that para sympathetic response back. Many patients have shared their success stories and I am excited to go. We've learned that a lot of the symptoms can get better treatment, but some people never get over it which makes me hope that I am not one of those few. Our problem is that treatments are really, really expensive such as thousands and thousands of dollars and since we're from Kansas we need to have a place to live while we're down there. This is why we're trying Go Fund Me to see if we can raise enough money to help pay for my treatments.
I've wanted to be a doctor since I was 3, so hopefully these treatments will help me get through high school and college. After all of this I have now decided that I want to become a POTS specialist so I can help others.
Treatments are going to be about $5,500 at the POTS Treatment Center. You can read more about the treatment center at www.potstreatmentcenter.com. You can read more about POTS also on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_orthostatic_tachycardia_syndrome and see a list of symptoms on the Dysautonomia Information Network site at http://www.dinet.org/index.php/information-resources/pots-place/pots-symptoms.
So, I hate to ask anyone for money, but we don't know what else to do. Any donation you can make or even just sharing this link will help me out so much!
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Becca
POTS is short for Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. It's a rare condition. One in every one hundred teens are diagnosed with POTS and it’s a little different for everyone. The most common symptoms are a racing heart rate when you go from laying down to sitting or standing up, which can also cause you to faint. Physicians that treat POTS often compare it to congestive heart failure.
My life went from being normal to struggling to get through every day. Basically there is a malfunction in my autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls things like my heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, including fatigue, lightheadedness, feeling faint, weakness, and cognitive impairment.
I struggle daily with low blood pressure, headaches/migraines, dizziness, extreme nausea, brain fog, chest and joint pain, sore throats, regulating my body temperature, lightheadedness, heart palpitations, and exercise intolerance, I constantly feel tired and just exhausted.
I used to have almost perfect attendance at school and played practically every sport but I can't really do any exercise anymore because it makes me feel a lot worse which means that I had to cut all sports from my life which was pretty upsetting. I've been working really hard on my attendance at school but most days I just cannot get up and make it there. It's really frustrating going from a normal life to having to drop everything for my health. Fortunately I love school and all of my friends and they are working with me and supporting me. I've still been able to get straight A's and I just received an award for being in the top 5 of my class and I'm really proud of that.
It’s been almost three years ago that I got a viral infection. As time went on I just kept getting worse and the doctor tried about 6 different antibiotics. I was tested for strep, flu, mono, and many other blood tests. They all came back negative but I was getting worse. I was referred to a local hospital and they spent a couple months running the same tests. After several months a doctor there ordered a Tilt Table Test. It confirmed I had POTS but they did not know how to treat it and I went to a specialty hospital. I thought we'd never figure it out! It's been about 3 years now and I'm learning to live with POTS but it's not a very easy task and isn't easy to live with!
I have tried many medications and treatment plans but none have really helped. I've been praying for a miracle! I believe that treatment at the POTS Treatment Center in Dallas, TX could be my miracle. They have had a lot of success at this facility in helping re-program the nervous system and getting that para sympathetic response back. Many patients have shared their success stories and I am excited to go. We've learned that a lot of the symptoms can get better treatment, but some people never get over it which makes me hope that I am not one of those few. Our problem is that treatments are really, really expensive such as thousands and thousands of dollars and since we're from Kansas we need to have a place to live while we're down there. This is why we're trying Go Fund Me to see if we can raise enough money to help pay for my treatments.
I've wanted to be a doctor since I was 3, so hopefully these treatments will help me get through high school and college. After all of this I have now decided that I want to become a POTS specialist so I can help others.
Treatments are going to be about $5,500 at the POTS Treatment Center. You can read more about the treatment center at www.potstreatmentcenter.com. You can read more about POTS also on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postural_orthostatic_tachycardia_syndrome and see a list of symptoms on the Dysautonomia Information Network site at http://www.dinet.org/index.php/information-resources/pots-place/pots-symptoms.
So, I hate to ask anyone for money, but we don't know what else to do. Any donation you can make or even just sharing this link will help me out so much!
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Becca
Organizer and beneficiary
Rebecca Brunner
Organizer
Leavenworth, KS
Julie Brunner
Beneficiary