Pam urgently needs life-saving surgery overseas

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 Nutcracker Syndrome and May-Thurner Syndrome (possibly more).

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 overseas (Europe), which comes at an eye-watering cost (quoted approx. $180k for surgery alone).

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