Much Needed Surgery at HS Institute

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Hello, my name is Meghan Dvorak. For the past 18 years I have suffered from an auto-immune skin disorder called Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS). It is the inflammation of the hair follicles and sweat glands. I get clusters of abscesses all over my body that pop, leak, and rarely heal. In 2009, my HS progressed to stage 3 and by 2011 I was so riddled with pain I could no longer work. My body is quite literally attacking itself and there is no known cause or cure for this disease. I do not heal very easily, so when an abscess finally opens, it stays open, leaving me susceptible to all types of bacterial infection. On December 22nd, 2015 I was hospitalized due to multiple abscesses on my left breast that were so severely infected that I had to be on iv antibiotics. In almost 5 months, nothing has improved on my breast. I still have abscesses under both of my arms, but there is a lot of inflamed scar tissue there as well. I still have a plethora of abscesses, both healed and unhealed, scars/scar tissue lining my buttocks, groin area, legs, and stomach.

In August 2014, I decided to try to combat this disorder by changing my diet and exercising. I ate cleanly, mostly living on green smoothies and veggies, and I learned a lot about nutrition too during that time. I lost 60 pounds by January 2015, but for some reason this did not help my HS. In November 2014 I became crippled with Rheumatoid Arthritis and could not walk, or roll over in my bed, or bathe myself. It came out of nowhere, but it is linked to HS because RA is also an autoimmune disorder.

It just keeps getting worse. I have monthly flare ups during mentruation and new abscesses spring up in new areas sometimes weekly.

The only option for me is to have the dead skin, tracks under the skin, abscesses and dead tissue removed. There is a facility in Ohio dedicated to my disease called the HS Institute. The team of doctors there perform C02 laser surgery and many who have HS have had much success there. Unfortunately, I live in New York and am living on Disability and cannot afford the trips there and the cost of the surgery. It costs roughly ten thousand dollars. I have been in contact with them and they do not award charity cases to folks in need, like me, so I have resorted to asking for help from friends, family, and complete strangers. I believe in the goodness of others but have always had a hard time asking for help. I have faith in you and I have faith in my recovery.

Your help would change my life, because this surgery would change my life. I wouldn’t be in constant pain, or in and out of the hospital, or on all of this medication I’m on. I would be able to live again, work again, be amongst the living, relishing in a life where I am the person I’m meant to be.

I would like to be able to get to Ohio this year.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for donating. Your kindness and generosity will not go unnoticed.