AngieJustWantsToEnjoyLife

This is Angie, my best friend since 1990. She is simply amazing. She's selfless, courageous, loving, funny as hell, vivacious and probably the strongest person I know. She has lived a full life and traveled to various places and, until recent years, lived in the Virgin Islands for almost 20 years with her significant other before having to move back to the United States due to multiple chronic illnesses and a lack of Doctors on the island. Her mother became terminally ill a few years back and she took amazing care of her in her final months even though she herself was struggling with her own health. She has always been the foundation that holds her family unit together and now she is the one needing help. After experiencing a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane in the VI and becoming ill with various autoimmune diseases from the bacteria that inundated the island, she was forced to move back to the United states to seek medical treatment. She was diagnosed with multiple diseases such as Sjogren's syndrome, Raynaud's syndrome and most importantly Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome, or CRPS for short. This particular disease has ben nicknamed " The Suicide Disease" due to the fact that most people who suffer from this devastating disease commit suicide within 3 years because the pain is absolutely intolerable. Angie, being the Rockstar that she is, has been able to manage and maintain her pain levels for the last few years and has hopes to make it another 15 before she needs to end her pain. She is 100% disabled now because of the slew of complications that have come with these various diseases and has also had a lifelong seizure disorder as well, adding to the diminished brain functionality of her daily life. She has been living on a fixed income of monthly disability payments for several years now. So now the state has decided this year her benefits are suddenly decreasing and expenses are increasing by $500-$600 a month by taking away her medical assistance program. She will now have to pay out of pocket for her daily medications and Doctor visits, all which was paid for by her Medicare plan but now is being taken away from her without any change to her income. She is appealing this decision but is not able to continue even paying her normal living expenses at this time. Her home is paid for but she has her monthly lot rent, her car payment, gas, electric, etc, the normal bills to simply exist.  She is currently only getting $23 for food benefits from the state and cannot even afford to buy groceries for herself so my husband and I have "adopted" her in order to help her eat regularly. I love to cook and send her meals multiple times a week. (At least I know she is eating.) My goal is to build a small nest egg for her so she can breathe and know money is in the bank as she needs it and to help her financial stress because the more stress she is under, the higher her pain levels are. Her normal pain levels are well above the natural childbirth pain levels according to her Doctor. He told her, "On a scale of 1-10 and natural childbirth being a 12, your type of chronic pain resides around a 24". This floored me and I was astounded. Angie has a spinal stimulator that helps disrupt pain receptors/signals and a regimen of countless medications to help just control her pain. Some days are better than others, but she is never pain free and never will be. It will only continue to get worse and worse as time goes by. I can't even believe she can manage throughout the day dealing with such intense pain. I know I certainly don't think I could. She absolutely loves life I rarely see her without a smile, no matter how bad of a pain flare she is in.  She is truly my inspiration and I admire her so much and just want to help make her life a little bit better, to the best of my ability. She has always helped other people throughout her life no matter if they needed a place to stay, transportation, money, employment, etc. Now that she can no longer work I am asking for kind hearted people to see the value in a person whom I love dearly and help extend her ability to enjoy life the best she can for as long as she can. Thank you for being kind and sharing whatever you can in this difficult time, as I know it is difficult for so many people right now and even a $5 donation is a lot of money for some families. I have been there myself and understand the profoundness in giving to others, especially during hard times. Much love to you all and I appreciate those of you taking the few minutes to read about my campaign for Angie. Blessings!