Dear Family, Friends, and Kind Hearts,

Christmas Day of 2020, I entered the emergency room with severe abdominal pains beyond the limits of anything I had endured previously. I was admitted and emergency surgery was performed on December 26th to remove a ruptured ovarian cyst as I was bleeding internally. Post operation, I was told I may have endometriosis. Since then, my cycles have been extremely painful up to the level of debilitating. For over half my life, I have felt this “calling” to be a Mom; including all of the experiences a mother has (such as pregnancy, birth, etc.). My husband and I have been trying, and each cycle is a reminder that I am still not pregnant.

I have been eating healthier, researching causes for infertility, and making changes throughout our home, as well as diets to make pregnancy more possible. We prayed to understand why we were not conceiving. I have checked in with doctors and had bloodwork done with them advising me that my hormones were off a bit, but could not explain why. In our continued hope for pregnancy, I had found an office for midwives to have “my annual” done and review my hormones. They reviewed their records and found notes that during the 2020 surgery, they removed unusual tissue from my left fallopian tube because the tube was dusky, which was biopsied and tested. This testing provided confirmation that I had endometriosis. I lost it! I had asked for a copy of the complete records and read them. I have been chasing the cause of these grueling monthly cycles as well as what has been impeding my ability to become pregnant, and ultimately become a Mom. Why was I not told then? Why was I learning this 4 years later? Why was this not in the file I requested? Why was this not in MyChart? Why was the test, nor the results, inside of MyChart? How much endometriosis was left behind? How much has it evolved since then due to lack of follow up? I realized with each cycle I have a week of pure pain, 13 cycles a year times 4 years is 52 weeks. I have literally endured an entire year of crippling pain that could have been addressed had I been told and/or it had been documented correctly.

My husband and I have completed extensive research with multiple providers and sources.

- Option 1: Have a hysterectomy which will assist with the pain but will also eliminate my ability to have children

- Option 2: Early on-set menopause to trick my body and assist with the pain, however this is accomplished by invoking prescription birth control and thus, eliminating my ability to have children

- Option 3: A laparoscopic procedure that may remove some of the endometrial tissue however this procedure has a high risk of the endometriosis returning as well as creating scar tissue due to “burning” the endometrial tissue as well as the good tissue it is attached to. This would mean I am more likely to be back for another one of the procedures in the future; some women have had to have this done six times before they decided to have Option 4.

- Option 4: Perform a surgery that will require a surgical team from multiple fields to allow them to work together and “shift” the lead surgeon, depending on what areas of the body have endometrial attachments.

It seems that I am bordering on the line of Stage 3 / Stage 4 endometriosis, given the multiple attachments I can feel, which makes me more concerned over how many are there that I am not aware of, as each endometrial attachment seems to intensify the cramping that occurs each month. Reviewing the options, we have reached a point where it appears the only viable solution is Option 4 surgery.

We have found two highly skilled surgeons in New York who specialize in treating complex cases of endometriosis. However, both require full payment before the surgery is scheduled. The cost of the surgery is in addition to the hospital stay and anesthesia, as well as the possibility of requiring additional specialists- such as a cardiothoracic surgeon, depending on what is discovered during the procedure. Considering I have been a heart patient all my life due to having open heart surgery at 7 months old, this has a high probability. As a result, I am unable to move forward until we can raise the necessary funds because the specialized surgical teams do not accept insurance, and we are faced with the challenge of paying the full cost upfront before I can even schedule the procedure. Post-operatively, we may be able to submit to our insurance as an out-of-network provider however there is no guarantee it will be approved / reimbursed or to what degree.

This surgery is a chance for me to not only be pain free, but also give us hope in expanding our family. Given that the endometriosis has already had four years to roam freely within my body, delaying further does not seem to be an option. Between this and being asked by some women in our church, ‘We want to help and I am sure others would too. Where do we go to financially give? Do you have a link for us to go to?’, this is what brought us to here and posting.

If you are able to bless us in any way - donation, praying, and/or simply sharing this campaign with others, it would mean the world to my husband and me. We are grateful for the support of our community and hopeful that with your help, we can finally take this important step toward healing, relief, and a brighter future.

We deeply appreciate your love, support, and kindness from the bottom of our hearts.

With love and gratitude,

Mike & Ellie

Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.

 - Psalms 33:20-22