Dear friends,

Eleven years ago, I developed autoimmune diseases that caused me to lose my sight and my lymph nodes to go haywire. For seven years, I was misdiagnosed, which allowed the diseases to run their course and made everything worse.During that time, I also had to undergo several operations to remove various lymphomas. After seven years, the correct diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus first came to light, followed a little later by the suspicion of chronic leukaemia and a tumour in my pituitary gland and a tumour in my sinus.On top of that, I had severe problems with my adrenal cortex, blood pressure and cholesterol, which led to Cohn’s disease. Now I have problems with my blood sugar, which drops extremely low because the systemic lupus is attacking my pancreas.On top of that, I have been picked up by the ambulance several times in the past year and admitted to hospital due to very severe epileptic seizures, resulting in numerous serious fractures and the feeling that I was going to die. This has led to massive jaw fractures and chin fractures.As a child, I developed extra teeth that became lodged horizontally in my palate. Due to the fractures, these have shifted inwards, causing the systemic lupus to affect my teeth and vocal cords as well.I have had surgery on my vocal cords and the chronic leukaemia is being treated by the haematologist, but the systemic lupus and rheumatoid arthritis need to be stopped because they are making my body ill; there is a treatment involving TNF therapy.But then the teeth need to be removed internally, my jaw joint needs surgery, and the tumour needs to be cut out through my mouth, as it is located beneath the sinus.Without that operation, TNF therapy cannot be started because my immune system is compromised and it is too dangerous to contract an infection that could spread from the mouth and lead to death.The big problem is that the health insurance fund does not cover the extraction of the teeth from the inside or the treatment for my other teeth, which makes for a huge price tag.The total cost could be €3,400. I have tried everything to get a payment plan, but nothing has worked. Discussions with the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (RIZIV) and the Department of Health have been to no avail; I need to raise at least €1,700 before a clinic will help me.But the epileptic seizures are getting worse and worse; the illnesses are getting worse as they progress.I want to finally be able to start TNF therapy so that I can get some of my life back. Because all these illnesses together cost a fortune every month on medication and follow-up care; there is health insurance, but the patient is still left to pay a portion.I used to have hospital cover through my job in the pharmacy, but because of my illness, which began 11 years ago, I could no longer claim hospital cover for anything caused by the illness or related to it, which made life incredibly difficult for me as a single mum.All my dreams have been taken away from me and I feel so guilty that my child has had to suffer as a result.I have one wish, and that is to be able to have the operation, receive the right treatment and get some of my life back. Because you can’t live like this, and I hope for the support and kindness of the people who want to help me; I would be so grateful for that with all my heart.I would love to be able to work again, to dream, to see a little light at the end of the tunnel, and to be able to hope and believe in a future, because without this operation there will be no treatment and my organs will continue to be damaged, ultimately leading to death – and I want to be able to avoid that.Thanks to the kind and good people who have supported me over the past year, I have been able to get my chronic leukaemia under control, for which I am very grateful.I can also show the people who support me and donate proof of the amount they can be sure will not be covered by the health insurance fund; this is simply the calculation of the amount without the health insurance contribution – the actual amount is much higher, but the other part will be covered by the health insurance fund.Thank you in advance, lovely people, for your support and love 🫶