GoFundMe.com

After almost seven years of fighting illness, and being in and out of a wheelchair and even out of state for a second opinion, I still had never set up a financial fund. Asking people who were just as sick as myself, or going through an equal hard time financially for money was just never an option. I still can not be comfortable with the idea of a website where people can go to give money to my cause. I would do anything to be just well enough to work for all my own money, to make ends meet with pure determination and strength. I tried multiple times in a row to work a season at Gunstock Ski Resort, and fell in love with the environment there. I wanted nothing more than to make myself independent and gain experience in the work force that would benefit me later as I hit adulthood and searched for a full time position. I found the days I worked extremely taxing, and needed extra help in the work place as well as accommodations to special hours and shorter shifts. I tried to fight through as best as I could, smiling through the overwhelming pain and paying for it later as I lay in bed in tears. Each season ended a month or more early for me, as I reached a point where tendonitis, neurological symptoms, IV treatments, and surgeries pushed me over the edge. I just wanted to be normal, and I fought so hard to work better and faster than any other employee there. I could not however fool my body into believing I was well. This year, as my season at Gunstock wrapped up early and I went in for open heart surgery, I had no choice but to ask for help. I explored all my options with applying for state aid, even calling a local organization to get ideas for what they could do for me. Partners in Health, described in my last post, suggested I create a GoFundMe.com page. GoFundMe is a public website where a cause can be supported monetarily through anonymous (if you choose) donations that go into an account and can be withdrawn and mailed to the recipient in check form. If it wasn't for my medical insurance ending this week, and my needing more than $3,000 worth of work, with no other options left to me, I would never follow through with creating a page to beg for help. However, in certain cases someone has to be humbled to a point to ask for help, and this is what I've done. I have created the account with the same private name as my Lyme-related Facebook account, Elaina LymeTeen. If you find it on your heart to support my Cardiac Rehabilitation, much needed Lyme treatment, and car repair funding, please visit www.GoFundMe.com/ElainaLymeteen