Pam urgently needs life-saving surgery overseas

$41,491 of $180,000 goal
Given by 392 generous donors in 6 weeks

Give Pam a second chance at life

Athenree, Bay Of Plenty

Pam, husband Jon and boys Benny (8yrs) & Ollie (6yrs) are a family from the Bay of Plenty. Prior to Pam becoming severely unwell in August 2021, she was active, adventurous, had a wonderful small business and her whole life ahead of her.

Now, in March 2024, after a grueling 2.5yrs and counting, Pam is fighting for her life and finally has some answers.

Pam has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (classical; cEDS). EDS is a genetic connective tissue disease that affects her entire body. Pam is severely affected and suffers from co-occurring conditions, one of which is a confirmed diagnoses of the rare Abdominal Vascular Compression Syndromes (AVCS).

Specifically, Pam suffers from NCS (Nutcracker Syndrome), MTS (May-Thurner Syndrome), MALS (Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome) and SMAS (Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome).

EDS and AVCS are extremely misunderstood in NZ and there is little to no treatment for it here. Health insurance is also of no use.

Pam battles daily with debilitating abdominal & pelvic pain, fatigue, migraines, tinnitus and nausea to name a few. She is malnourished and has been tube-fed via different methods since April 2022. Pam's quality of life is so reduced, she can barely make it out of bed these last few months. She is deteriorating quickly.

The only option is to undergo life-saving surgery in Germany, which comes at a huge cost.

For her full story, please search Facebook for "Pam’s Positively Full Life", as the space available in this description is very limited.

Renee Taylor's involvement (page creator)

Pam is my sister

Use of funds

The cost of surgery, immediate after-care overseas, travel costs, further medical costs when home in NZ etc. Our main goal is ambitious; any funds, even if not reaching the full amount, helps immensely.

Read more

Latest update

Update image

An update from the surgeon in Germany, and a Trivia Fundraising Night!  5 May 2024

Hi everyone! Thank you for all your unwavering support. We wanted to let you all know that Pam is in contact with the specialist surgeon in Germany, getting paperwork together for all the moving parts, in the hopes she can have the surgery this year.

What she did happen to find out during that contact, is after he reviewed her scans that were performed here in NZ, she does in fact have all 4 AVCS compressions (NCS (Nutcracker Syndrome), MTS (May-Thurner Syndrome), MALS (Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome) and SMAS (Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome)). It's not too much of a surprise given Pam's symptoms and how much she understands her own health. But it does show how superior this incredible surgeon is compared to the knowledge here in NZ, for him to diagnose all 4 from just looking at the NZ scan (whereas here in NZ, she was only diagnosed with 2).

There is a further specialist also in Germany with far-superior technology for these types of scans, so Pam is in touch with him as well. Both this specialist, and the surgeon, work closely together for patients like Pam.

On another note, if you're keeping up with Pam's socials you will see that our Beats by Bingo FUNdraiser for Pam in Matamata next week SOLD OUT! We're so, so grateful for that and can't wait for the event.

If you missed out, Pam's Positively Fun Night of Trivia is happening in Waihi Beach on Saturday 18 May at 6.30pm - 10pm. Check out the flyer for more info!

Share this update

Read 4 more updates

Read more

Latest donations

Kerrie
Kerrie 30 mins ago
$50
Millie
Millie 1 hour ago
Butterfly Mother’s Day photos
$15
Renee Taylor

Thank you so much Millie for your kind donation ❤️

Renee Taylor
Lisa
Lisa 3 hours ago
From the Butterfly mother's day fundraiser
$25
Renee Taylor

Thank you so much Lisa for your donation! ❤️

Renee Taylor
Lauren
Lauren 7 hours ago
From the Butterfly Mums day photo fundraiser sending well wishes
$25
Renee Taylor

Thank you so much Lauren for your support and kind donation ❤️🥹

Renee Taylor
Madam Moo's House
Madam Moo's House 9 hours ago
Good luck from Madam Moo's House
$120
Renee Taylor

Such an incredible act of kindness Sally thank you! Everyone loves a good coffee ❤️☕️

Renee Taylor

Who's involved?

Renee Taylor's avatar
Created by Renee Taylor
Pamela Coburn's avatar
Paying to a verified bank account of Pamela Coburn
Page Moderated
The page has been checked by our team to make sure it complies with our terms and conditions.

Help Fundraise

You can help fundraise to have your own page that raises money directly for the beneficiary.

Gallery

Any concerns?

Report this page
This campaign started on 25 Mar 2024 and ends on 25 Sep 2024.