On January 19th, after months of managing symptoms of unknown origin, I found out I had a septal infarct. A septal infarct is an area of dead tissue within my heart as the result of an unknown heart attack. Aside from the damage to my heart itself, I also developed an arrhythmia from the heart attack. Because the date of my heart attack is unknown, I cannot be referred out to cardio rehab and will have to self-pay for private Cardio PT sessions one-on-one.

My ongoing care has been complicated by many life and medical factors. On March 10th I underwent a hysterectomy, the surgery itself went well however healing was complicated and long. In total taking me over 16 weeks to become well enough to get close to my pre-surgery baseline. The morning of my hysterectomy my car was stolen, and most likely will never be found. Throughout my healing a neighbor has begun stalking and harassing me, making my living situation unsafe. 

With everything happening, I'd hoped there would be a moment of rest or reprieve but that has not been the case. In addition to my biologics to help manage my autoimmune disease I have begun treatment with methotrexate. Methotrexate is a chemotherapeutic drug and the hope is that it will get my autoimmune symptoms in remission. Even though I am on a low dose, I am considered severely immunosuppressed and a large amount of time is going towards recovering from my weekly dose. In the midst of all this my dog, my emotional support creature, the biggest chunk of my heart, has passed on. Spikey kept me grounded through all the chaos and without him, things feel insurmountable. Just days after his death I found out that I have a mass growing in the soft tissues of my back, and that my lumbar spine has quite a bit of damage from my autoimmune disease and is considered unstable. This means that I am looking at two additional, unexpected, surgeries in my future. 

All funds will go towards medical care and medications not covered by my insurance, go into a fund to help me find safe housing, and allow me access to healthier food options while I am on methotrexate. 

My request is that if you're feeling resourced, please send what you’re able. If you don't want to donate through this fundraiser, I am also receiving funds via the methods below. If you want to help in non-financial ways, please reach out to me via email at zaire.bidgel@gmail.com

venmo: @zaire-bidgel
paypal: zaire.bidgel@gmail.com
cashapp: $theunicornprince