Hi, my name is Aleigh, and for the past 8 years, I’ve been living in near-constant, life-altering pain.
After years of confusion, misdiagnoses, and being told “nothing was wrong,” I finally have names for what’s been happening to my body: POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome), Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Behçet’s Disease, MCAS, Psoriatic Arthritis, Bipolar II, severe depression, and OCD. Each of these conditions brings a unique type of pain, dysfunction, and challenge, and together, they’ve completely reshaped my life.
It took years of fighting to be heard before I was diagnosed. Years of being in pain, exhausted, bedridden, dismissed, and told it was all in my head. I’ve seen countless doctors, undergone endless tests, and tried more treatments than I can count. Nothing worked. Until now.
Recently, I was accepted into an Intensive Outpatient Pain Management Program (IOP) that is finally helping me experience something I haven’t felt in nearly a decade— relief.
For the first time in 8 years, I’m beginning to feel like myself again. This program combines physical therapy, occupational therapy, pain psychology, and medical support in a way that’s tailored to complex cases like mine. My doctor has even said, “you’re a complicated mess,” but for once, someone is actually treating the mess and it’s working.
Here’s the hard part: the program costs $490 per week and while we’ve done everything we can to make it work, we’re a single-income household already struggling to make ends meet. What started as a four week commitment has now been extended, but we don’t know how many more weeks I’ll need. As much as I hate asking for help, I can’t do this alone.
If you’re able to contribute anything—even just a few dollars—it will go directly toward helping me stay in this program that is literally changing my life. Your support would mean the world to me. And if you can’t give, sharing this page helps too.
Thank you for reading, for caring, and for being part of my healing journey.
With gratitude,
Aleigh
