On October 13th, our lives changed forever. 

We had finally gotten our little girl to bed after a busy day of attending our friend’s wedding. As Chris sat down eating a salad (like he had eaten hundreds of times before), his throat suddenly started to swell. 

Our home had previously been a no pharmaceuticals household as we treat everything holistically. So we rushed to the store to buy Benadryl hoping to stop his allergic reaction. 

About 6 Benadryl and a few hours later, his reaction ceased. We were terrified but relatively confident his reaction was to one or two toppings on his salad so we decided to avoid these foods. 

A week later, it happened again. Mouth itching, tongue swelling, throat closing reaction. There was only one similarity with these two different meals so we were again, fairly confident we figured out the source of his anaphylaxis. 

We were very, very wrong. 

Fast forward 12 days - we thought we were in the clear. And all of a sudden, he went into anaphylaxis again and again and again and again. 

In a span of a few days, we discovered he couldn’t eat or drink anything besides minimal amounts of organic bone broth. 

We went to multiple doctors, an allergy specialist and left all with zero answers or explanations. 

A month went by and the reactions increased exponentially despite Chris only consuming bone broth every few days. He quickly lost 40+ pounds and slept 90% of most days. 

His reactions started to be triggered by everything at this point:

Smells of food

Animals 

People 

Cleaners

Lotions

Pollen, dust, mold

Weather/temperature changes

Lack of sleep 

Stress

He very quickly had to be quarantined alone in a room living off a combination of Benadryl, Zyrtec, Claritin, Pepcid & EpiPens. 

After a couple of months, we moved him out of our house and quarantined him in a room at my parents’ house. This is when we discovered our HVAC system was covered in black mold - most likely contributing to the severity of his condition. 

About 6 weeks after the onset of his condition and countless hours of research, I discovered what he had - MCAS or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. 

If you ask most doctors about MCAS, they have no idea what you’re talking about - it’s that rare. 

We called 35 specialists in the country trying to find someone, anyone who could help us and of that 35, only 1 specialist could take Chris on as a patient before the year 2020-2021. Unfortunately, he’s in San Diego, CA and it’s extremely dangerous for Chris to travel (he cannot be on a plane). 

For about 3 months, Chris stayed quarantined in a room at my parents’ house. He spent every minute of every day fighting to stay alive. Ellie and I got to see him for about 10-15 minutes each day, if at all. I had to set an alarm to check on him every 2-3 hours 24/7 and wake him to take more medicine to prevent full anaphylaxis. 

On average, Chris can go into anaphylaxis anywhere from 4-12 times every single day. 

I cannot tell you how many times I thought I was going to find him not breathing - it was a near-paralyzing fear for months. 

Our entire lives changed drastically. Due to his severity, he was basically unable to continue working and I had to put my coaching business on hold in order to care for him and our daughter. 

Needless to say, we are now at a point where we need help. I never imagined being in this place but I feel as if we’re slowly drowning and it’s time to put aside our pride and admit that we’re truly struggling and need support from our friends & family. 

We currently have about $4000 worth of unpaid medical bills (and this doesn’t include the most recent ER trip by ambulance this past week). 

On top of the $4000, we have to spend around $500 on Benadryl and life-saving supplements every single month. 

In August, we will be driving across country (this could take up to two weeks depending on his condition at that time) and it will most likely be around a $2000 trip, at the very least. 

We will also be starting to try alternative treatments like Vitamin IVs, hyperbaric chamber therapy and infrared. All of these will be out of pocket costs as none of this is covered by insurance. 

The prognosis for Chris’ condition is pretty bleak but we don’t accept that prognosis - we believe in full body healing from the inside out with nutrition, holistic medicine and the power of prayer.

If you’re looking for other ways to support us, here’s a few different ways you can help:

1. Share our new business opportunity, Elevate VIP Group - we started a monthly subscription group to teach you how to build a brand online and make content that stands out. Message me (Amanda) for more details.

2. Local friends, we go through countless bags of organic baby carrots and mandarins for Chris and can always use more. 

3. Ellie - if anyone can help with Ellie by letting her come to have a playdate or taking her to the park or aquarium, that would be priceless.

4. Last but most importantly, we NEED prayers.