Hello everyone and thank you for making it to my blog page.
For those people who do not know, I am living with a rare liver disease and have been for some time now. I was diagnosed with PSC , (Link 2) August of 2007, spent 4 days in the hospital and had 6 procedures / tests to determine what I had. In early July I developed a full body itch, it kept me awake almost every hour of the day. I was now sleeping maybe only 1-2 hours per day, this only after my body finally gave out and could not stay awake any longer. I didn't know what was happening, skin poisoning, sun poisoning, hepatitis? I was lost. For a short time it got a little better, sometime in the middle of July. I never thought to go to the doctor until the itch intensified. The whites of my eyes were now yellow, skin itching uncontrollably, not sleeping but 1 hour per night now, and losing weight fast. I had to do something, so I go to a walk-in clinic and get some blood tests. I have a liver function panel done, and a full spectrum of hepatitis tests. It turned out my liver was inflamed, enzymes elevated 5 times the normal level, and I had an extreme case of Jaundice. Going as far as a walk-in clinic could go, I turned away without any solution to my problem. The Zyrtek prescription did absolutely nothing since the itch was coming from the inside out, and was not a skin surface problem. The itch was due to bile acids backing up into the liver then f
orcing themselves into the bloodstream. My common bile duct is narrowed and not draining into my gut properly. Being diagnosed with PSC allowed me to at least start to deal with the problem. Before I knew I did always feel so tired, fatigued, and totally exhausted for no reason at all mostly all day. And the weight loss was also a mystery, 12 pounds in one month can make you wonder what is wrong with you. So far I have been in the hospital a total of 8 days, all uninsured days, mostly all unpaid. (details below) What does someone do in that case? Too expensive to buy health insurance that will cover people with a pre-existing condition, and being on disability I do not qualify for Florida low income health programs. This is why I am reaching out to everyone, anyone. 
Walter Payton also suffered from this disease in 1999, he was diagnosed in February 1999 and died from this in November 1999.
The main reason for this site is to inform everyone about me and my disease, the second reason is to possibly raise enough money to cover the cost of a future transplant which can range from 300,000 - 500,000 $, and the ongoing health costs that I incur along the way. I do not have health insurance now, and I cannot buy it either due to "pre existing" conditions. My first hospital stay in August of 2007 accumulated 29,000+ dollars in a bill. My most recent hospital bill is unknown, I was just released as of July 24, 2008. I spent 3 full days trying to get my symptoms under control, losing 10 pounds in one week.
Below is a PayPal Donation button, your help is needed. Every little bit means a lot. I have considered how many people I have known through the years, and how many of those people were very charitable towards people they didn't know personally. So I am wondering who I can find to help and support my cause. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my page, take care, I will be doing the same.
Jahine Arnold
