I’m Allyson, and thank you for reading this!
One of the hardest things for anyone to do is to ask for help. But I am at my breaking point, and … I need help. Your help.
I have struggled with weight my whole life, despite always being active. I played sports in school, and I was ALWAYS outside, riding my bike or playing on our trampoline – I was a deceptively healthy person!
In 2008, when I turned 30, I was finally diagnosed with PCOS. After a ton of trial, error, and doctor’s appointments, I finally found medicines that help my body do what it is SUPPOSED to do, and as a result, I’ve lost well over one hundred pounds.
Unfortunately, that’s where the problem lies; this is where I need your help. I am under the care of a Lymphedema specialist AND a wound care specialist because the result of losing so much weight has left me with a lot of loose skin that ALSO contains fibrous tissue and fluid I can’t shed, no matter what I do. Especially in the abdominal area, where my Lymphedema specialists estimate that the weight I am carrying as a result of this loss, and the fluid and tissue that results from my Lymphedema, is somewhere between 150-200 pounds.
That’s a whole extra person! Imagine trying to carry yourself around ALL the time – imagine the strain that would put on your legs, your knees, your back!
Every doctor I have is ADAMANT that I need to have this surgically removed, not only for my quality of life, but because it’s causing severe medical issues as well. I am prone to cellulitis infections, which require multiple rounds of antibiotics – and, if I don’t catch it in time, hospital stays as well. It is LIFE-THREATENING, if not medically treated in time, and I’ve had it more times than I can count, just in the past few years!
I have been searching everywhere since October of last year for a surgeon who will do the operation, but my still-high BMI is the sticking point – because surgeons don’t like to operate on people with high BMI.
I have finally found a surgeon willing to perform the surgery – but they’re eight hours away, in another state … and they don’t take my insurance.
I have to pay out of pocket for the entire procedure, the traveling back and forth for two to three visits before the surgery, and for the week I have to stay under medical supervision AFTER the surgery.
So I am reaching out – asking for help in ANY way, to have this literally life-saving surgery.
Because I’m carrying so much extra weight, I can’t stand up straight. I can’t walk more than ten feet before my spine spasms; I have a wound in the area where the skin hangs over that my doctors say will never heal because there isn’t adequate blood supply to the area. To avoid infections and worse, I’ve been on constant antibiotics for four months, and until I have this surgery, that is how I will remain.
I don’t go anywhere now except work, home, and doctor’s appointments. I can’t even shop for myself, because I’d never make it through the store.
Aside from the physical side effects, the emotional and mental toll this is taking on me is extreme. Only my family, and the knowledge of the hurt that it would cause them, is keeping me going at this point.
As an adult, I worked two jobs, on my feet all day, for over a decade. I work a desk job now, out of physical necessity, but I’m there more than fifty hours a week
I’m a hard worker. I’m an independent person. I’m strong and capable – but I need help.
I need your help. You’ve never met me, but I need your help. I’ve GOT to have this surgery.
Please share this wherever you can, and please know how grateful I am for any help you can give.
All of the money from the fundraiser will be marked for covering the cost of the surgery, the travel, and the time I’ll need to be under medical supervision.
Thank you so much for your time and assistance!