This is Nick. He's a husband, a dad to two little girls — a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old — and right now, he's fighting for his life. After years of being told his symptoms were unexplained fatigue and anxiety, Nick was finally diagnosed with documented adrenal insufficiency. His adrenal glands don't make cortisol, the hormone that keeps a person alive. Without daily medication, this condition is fatal. The diagnosis came after multiple lab tests confirmed the worst: undetectable ACTH on two separate systems, a failed cosyntropin stimulation test, cortisol below range, and a QTc of 573ms — a measure of dangerous heart rhythm risk that put him in cardiac emergency territory. In a matter of weeks, Nick has been hospitalized more than six times — including a 4-day hospital stay and a Flight for Life helicopter transport from our rural area to a trauma center when he went into adrenal crisis. The medical evidence is undeniable. What's been harder to come by is adequate care. Nick has been denied the standard emergency injection kit that every adrenal insufficiency patient is supposed to carry. He's been told to stop his life-saving steroids over the phone. He's been removed from a hospital while in active crisis. He's had to fight, document, and advocate for every single piece of treatment he's gotten — while sick enough that most people couldn't get out of bed. Neither Nick nor his wife are able to work right now. She is caring for him, the baby, and their 4-year-old, around the clock. They are out of options and running out of time and money. Where your donation goes: Rent and utilities while neither parent can work Groceries and basic supplies for two small kids Co-pays, prescriptions, and gas to medical appointments Securing and traveling to a neuroendocrinologist who will treat him properly Our initial goal of $15,000 covers approximately 3 months of basic living expenses while Nick fights to stabilize. Any amount beyond that goes directly toward securing a neuroendocrinologist and ongoing medical needs. Nick wants his life back. He used to hold his baby without his heart racing past 140. He used to walk his 4-year-old to the park without ending the day in an ER. He wants to go back to the life he had before he got sick — and with proper treatment from a real specialist, that life is still possible. But only if he can get there. Nick is still here because he refuses to give up — for his girls, for his wife, and for the version of his life that's still possible if he can just get through this stretch. Anything you can give helps keep him fighting. If you can't give, please share. Word of mouth keeps families like ours afloat. Thank you. — Nick, Amanda, and the girls
Please help. gofund.me/ab032d916
Anything is greatly appreciated. Even if you just share this post and wish me well