Dear friends and family of Nicole and Jason,
We are in crisis and could really use your help.
After spending eight months bedridden and unable to function due to a massive relapse of her chronic illness (a debilitating neuro-immune syndrome that began in 1996), Nicole had to be hospitalized in June, 2009, for starvation - she had developed food sensitivities so severe that a bite of any food put her body into shock.
The good news is that she made it through and is now able to tolerate a short list of foods, with the help of a drug prescribed to her in the hospital. The bad news is that we are still fighting hard every day to keep Nicole's head above water. We've relocated to Vermont from Rhode Island so that Nicole could be treated at the Sojourns clinic (which has greatly helped her before), and we are sorely lacking local community.
Jason is running on fumes after months of carrying the physical and emotional burden of caring for Nicole, who is still so ill -- on "bad days" she can not speak out loud, and can barely roll over in bed -- that her care is its own (unpaid) full-time job.
Vermont social services are badly under-funded, so we currently lack the resources for a personal care helper like the ones who kept us afloat when we lived in Rhode Island. We must pay out-of-pocket for someone to relieve Jason for a few hours a week, though we're now subsisting off of rapidly dwindling savings.
In addition, much of Nicole's treatment is ours to pay out-of-pocket, as is the advanced genetic testing available to Nicole through the clinic. This crucial testing and treatment is not cheap, nor is the home medical gear we've had to purchase. The sum total of Nicole's formidable medical expenses, all told, simply exceeds what we can afford.
What's worse, on top of her existing food and chemical sensitivities, Nicole has developed overwhelmingly strong sensitivities to electro-magnetic fields (EMFs). She must now remain isolated from most electronic devices, as well as from synthetic chemicals (fumes from nearby highway traffic, just for example). Exposure to even low levels of pollutants can make her unbearably sick, and each exposure further heightens her existing sensitivities -- it's an exhausting vicious cycle.
To allow Nicole's overwhelmed immune system a chance to heal, we have no choice but to relocate again, to a rural area with no close neighbors. It is imperative that Nicole be moved ASAP, to our fifth temporary residence in six months.
Luckily, there is a very bright light on the horizon. It appears that the scientific breakthrough many "Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" sufferers have been praying for has finally emerged. You can read all about it here and here.
So -- finally a proper name for this life-robbing illness that plagues at least seventeen million worldwide: XMRV Associated Neuro-Immune Disease, or XAND. And a cause: a retrovirus! Essentially all the top CFS docs who have followed this epidemic for years agree that the implicated retrovirus, XMRV, is the cause, and will be treatable. Hallelujah! Trials of anti-retroviral treatment, we've learned, began this past summer.
Nicole has been holding on and waiting for thirteen long, pain-filled years for this breakthrough. We are now more determined than ever to get Nicole on a stable path back to wellness, and will not stop until this has been accomplished! Viable treatment could be available as early as a year from now, as most of the drugs being tested are already FDA-approved -- WE JUST NEED AN OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP NICOLE GOING UNTIL THEN...
This is where you (we hope!) come in. We've decided it's time to mobilize the troops en masse in the form of this online fundraiser. The premise: If everyone who is reading this commits to sending a small donation each month for a year (via an automatic PayPal subscription), the results will be astronomical -- we will be able to regain our financial footing, settle into a long-term, safe living situation, and focus on stabilizing Nicole for the next leg of her healing journey.
If 250 people are each able to give $10 per month, for example, that will cover the majority of our out-of-pocket health expenses for a full year!
We understand that these are tight times for many, and have included a donation amount as low as $2.50 each month for those who normally wouldn't be able to give at all -- if four of you could part with $2.50 each month for one year, that's $120.
If you've already generously donated to us, we are so grateful. Looking forward, this new method would allow us what we so urgently need right now: a reliable monthly income.
As a token of our gratitude, all who take a moment to "sponsor us" will receive a specially selected gift straight from Jason and Nicole's personal collection of long-amassed treasures, packaged and mailed with love. (As we are in transit, gifts will go out after we've settled again.)
Subscription amounts are listed below -- all you have to do is click one! Please remember: this will be a miracle for us, but only if everyone who possibly can signs up for a monthly donation amount. Click now if you can. We'll report back about the exciting first month's success, so you can see what an enormous difference you all -- as a joined community -- have made!
Our longer term goal? To get Nicole well, so that we, as a duo, can devote ourselves to helping other folks who are mired in similar chronic illness nightmares. After living through this, leaving others behind is not an option.
PLEASE SELECT ONE
| $50.00/month: | $25.00/month: | $10.00/month: | $5.00/month: | $2.50/month: |
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Thank-you gifts will be sent to your PayPal mailing address, so please make sure yours is up to date. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can still click a link and make a secure credit card payment through PayPal -- it's easy! (In this case, please let us contact you for your mailing address.)
To donate in a denomination not listed here, please let Jason know what you have in mind, and he'll direct you to a special link.
If you would prefer to donate by monthly check, contact Jason for our mailing address. Just email: jason [at] greatbliss [dot] net
If you are as excited about the potential of this fundraiser as we are, please forward this message to concerned friends and family -- help us create a ripple effect! The few minutes you're able to set aside in order to browse your address book and select those who may be receptive to our mission (fellow artists, activists, congregation members, online communities) will make this project exponentially more effective. (You might decide to begin the forwarded message with a few lines of your own putting this letter into context.)
Another excellent way to help us cast a wider net is to post this message to your Facebook page (or other networking sites), with a bit of background -- or else post the following link to your blog, website, etc: http://supportfornicole.com/fundraise.html
We both thank you in advance from deep in our hearts for your participation in NICOLE AND JASON: TEAM THRIVE!
With Love, Gratitude, and Hope,
Nicole and Jason