You may say i'm a dreamer.

u wanna bet m8?

Before I even get started, I want to tell y’all about Amy (who is pictured up above with her son who I’ll soon tell you about). Amy and I met each other through working at Target and, technically, we’ve only known each other for less than a year, but it seems like so much longer because Amy is just that kind of person, okay? She is always going out of her way for everyone around her. Like, take this for example. One day at work, I was having a bad day self-esteem wise and couldn’t cheer up (and, at the time, I was struggling with my depression, too, so that made it worse). And guess who was working with me? Amy. And guess what Amy did? She bought me a little stuffed toy giraffe to help cheer me up even when she should’ve spent that money for more important things. That alone should tell you what kind of person she is. Amy is so humble and god, I could ramble on and on about her. As my best friend, Sarah (who has known Amy for pretty much her whole life), put it, Amy “deserves everything” and I totally agree. But I’m not asking for everything here. I’m asking for donations and they, technically, aren’t for Amy, but I’ll explain that in a second.

Okay, so the boy pictured above with Amy is her youngest son, Kyle. I haven’t met Kyle personally yet, but I hope to in the near future. But I’ve definitely heard enough about him through his mom and he’s got a pretty amazing story that I’d like to tell you about. See, he had some surgeries when he was younger and they went fine other than the fact that he spent so much time afterward in pain—a lot more than anyone should have after a surgery. It turns out that he developed Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome. I’m going to link you to some information about this nasty disease, but the long and short of it is that Kyle is in pain all the time. And that’s not an overstatement. Here’s the more technical explanation:

“Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome (also known as Reflex Neurovascular Dystrophy (RND) Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)) is a very painful neurovascular disorder. A good scale to compare this pain to other conditions is the McGill Pain Scale. In amplified pain, a very slight sensation can become unbearable pain. This is caused when there is a real pain somewhere. The message of pain goes from the nerve to the spinal cord and then short-circuits to the autonomic nerves that control the blood vessels. This leads to lack of blood flow (ischemia) so the tissues do not get enough oxygen and there is a build-up of lactic acids that lead to pain. This new pain signal is then again short-circuited to the autonomic nerves which again decrease the blood flow. This vicious cycle is how the pain is amplified.” (x)

It’s so horrible, guys, but thankfully, there are a few programs in the country that can help and Kyle got accepted to the program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia! It’s an intense program that will help retrain Kyle’s body so that he doesn’t experience pain anymore and the program has an 88% success rate! Unfortunately, it’s going to be five weeks long and that’ll be five weeks of no pay for Amy or her husband that’ll be up there in Philly with Kyle at the program. It’s why Amy took her second job at Target where I met her. Unfortunately, Amy’s ended up with pneumonia twice this month and she’s been off work for almost two weeks altogether. Both she and her husband are desperately trying to get some money especially since their insurance company can only pay for 85% of the bill. Of course, being the humble and hardworking people that they are, they don’t like to ask for help. They received some donations from their church and Amy told me that she was so happy and cried, but hated feeling like she had to rely on people.

But me being, well, me, can’t let them go up to Philly without a little something to help them through their five weeks and the cost that their insurance won’t cover. So, I may or may not have made a paypal that you can donate to! And I know I’ve made it seem like it’s all about her, but this isn’t just about Amy. It’s about a good kid that’s in pain all the time and no one should live their life like that. I mean think about just standing up and walking outside to breathe in some fresh air…Kyle can’t do that without being in agonizing pain. He loves swimming only because he can walk around with less pain and actually feel like a kid again. I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty damn upsetting. This can change his life and, as lame as this is to say, even a dollar would help. And even if you can’t donate, a signal boost would be just as great!

If you’re interested in donating (which would be amazing!!!), the email to send your donation to is [email protected].