Health Rising’s 2024 BIG (little) End of the Year Donation Drive

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Basic Stuff

  • Name: LauraB
  • Country: United States
  • State: New York
  • City: Rock Stream
  • Gender: Female
  • Age: 57
  • Education: Jr. College
  • Primary Illness: Fibromyalgia
  • Diagnosis:
    • Fibromyalgia (FM)
    • Spinal Stenosis
  • Year Illness Began: 2017

Functioning Interrupted

Former Level of Functionality: 90
(No symptoms at rest; mild symptoms with activity; normal overall activity level; able to work full-time without difficulty.)
Current Level of Functionality: 40
(Moderate symptoms at rest. Moderate to severe symptoms with exercise or activity; overall activity level reduced to 50%-70% of expected. Not confined to house. Unable to perform strenuous duties; able to perform light duty or desk work 3-4 hours a day, but requires rest periods.)

Work Interrupted

  • Former Occupation: RN
  • Job Responsibilities at Former Occupation:

    Supervision of staff, home patient assessments, incident investigation.

  • Current Occupation: RN
  • Current Job Responsibilities:

    Remote consulting, data entry, staff education .

  • Years of Work Lost: 1
  • Current Work Status: Still working

Income Interrupted

  • Minimum Current Annual Income Loss:

    +$10,787

Other Interruptions

Certified Disabled: No

Finances:
  • This illness has severely impacted my ability to financially prepare for retirement
Work:
  • I took on jobs with less responsibilities than I otherwise would have

Most Impactful Loss

What has impacted me most is having the ability to participate in activities I enjoy. I had seven horses once upon a time, but now can not ride or even care for them because I don't have the strength or range of motion. Some days I can hardly walk.

My Story

On the way home from work, I saw a cat hit by a car on a busy roadway. I pulled over, ran out like 'frogger' and picked him up to see if he could be saved. I got bitten. He died as soon as we arrived at the nearest vet's and I never got better. After two courses of antibiotics my finger healed, but I was not well and my doctor treated me for presumed Lyme's Disease- another course of antibiotics. My neurological problems got worse and I went through a battery of tests and was pronounced as the proud owner of a new fibromyalgia diagnosis. (We were testing for MS and ALS-pretty scary time). Anyway, 6 years later I am at a desk job and very grateful to have gotten it, as it is all I can do now, my last horse is at a boarding stable (never wanted him to be there), my husband is disabled, my mother is 82 with COPD and I am spending four hours or more a day to keep her out of a nursing home. Each day my alotted spoons are more than spent and I keep hoping that something will help. I am on conventional medical treatment, but do try supplements, have tried massage, foot baths, homeopathy, yoga, yadayada.... I am very tired. Physically tired, mentally tired. I am beginning to think that until God himself intervenes, I will never be better.



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