Help for Crafty Karen

A fellow member of the Crafter’s Companion forum that I belong to is experiencing severe difficulties at the moment, and our friend Wendy (also on the forum, and whose blog I follow) has decided to promote some practical help for her. I told Wendy that I would spread the news on my blog, and put a link to make a donation if anyone feels so inclined.  I believe that as crafters and artists we are part of a huge family community online, and that when one is hurting, then we all do, and we can show our appreciation for each other by helping as and when we can.

I’m going to paste below what Wendy has written on her blog, so you can see what it’s all about. She writes:

 

Please read the whole post some of it is Karen`s  own words

A crafting friend that I have been chatting to for a few years on the crafter companion forum is in need of some help.

This Is Karen (Krafty Karen)

She is in constant pain over the last few years and it is getting worse, I and the other girls on Crafters Companion Forum have heard about Karen s struggle to get doctors to listen to and believe in her symptoms and send her for testing.

She once said they made her feel as if it was all in her head and her imagination, well a year ago after Karen collapsed she found herself I hospital and finally the tests were being done.

Well she was given a diagnosis, and thought this is it ,help is on the way at last.

A year later she is still in constant pain .

I meet up with Karen a month ago while I was holidaying near her home, she invited both my husband and I to come and meet at her home for Coffee.

Meeting Karen was like meeting a long lost friend, and her kids were wonderful and polite( she has 5 ranging from 15 to 3)

While visiting I could see for myself how much pain Karen was in ,every movement caused her pain, her husband and oldest daughter are helping Karen with the younger kids and everyday life.

Karen was saying that any day soon she would be going to see her pain management consultant and that she would be having an Epidural in her neck that would help a lot with the pain and her mobility .

Well last week Karen phoned the hospital to find out that her pain management consultant has gone onto long term sick leave and all his waiting lists have been cancelled., She is devastated by this news.

I noticed that this week Karen has been listing lots of her crafting items for sale on E bay.

I also know that crafting has been Karen s escape thought all this trouble .

I asked her why she was selling her stuff.

Karen feels that the only option left open to her is to go to see a private consultant and is trying to raise funds for her fees.

That why she is selling her much loved crafting Items

This weeks I asked Karen for the first time about her illness, in depth, what it was and what were the problems it caused.

Here are Karen s own words As she Emailed to me a few days ago

I have Degeneration of the C spine... (My neck) The disks which are damaged by change so far are;-

C4/5 C5/6 C6/7. I also have narrowing to the Exit Foramina which is causing root nerve compression - all of this causes a whole host of nasties for me, not least of which is the pins & needles, numbness to my limbs, loss of use and weakness to my arm, hand, and leg. Black outs, dizzy spells, headaches, loss of vision to my right eye and so many other problems they are too many to mention here.

The biggest thing I live with day to day is the sheer level of constant pain. The pain I have is in my neck, my shoulders, my arm, partly in my back, and in my leg too.

I also get a lot of pain to the back of my skull because of the problems with my neck. I suffer from paralyses and have good and bad days with this.

I also suffer from something called Complicated Migraine, which causes separate issues of it's own, but this is being managed with medication. But it does mean that I am unable to take normal analgesic or over the counter pain relief.

So I go day to day without any pain relief at all.

I have been waiting for such a long time for an Epidural injection in my neck, to give me some relief to my symptoms, which the hospital have just put back - and I am now on an "active waiting list" - I am still awaiting a referral to a London Spinal Specialist - I have been waiting for this referral for a long time now, and again, this appointment keeps getting knocked back.

I am currently trying to raise the funds to visit a private consultant, so that I can get some straight, honest, unbiased answers on exactly what my problem is and what my options are for getting it sorted out., I also want to be able to have the Epidural done if I can raise enough money for this.

I am so desperate to be able to do things with my children again. The worst thing this summer has not been having one single day out with my kiddies. It's made me feel like I've failed them some how.

It is now two and a half years since these symptoms started, and a year since my diagnosis and I am still right at square one for getting any help. I am still suffering daily with no pain relief. I am still fighting to see the right consultant who is willing to help me and give me an honest answer with regards to what procedure is needed.

The only consultant who was honest enough to tell me my neck is in really bad shape, and that I need to go to London, and that I will need a series of operations in my lifetime, has just taken long term sick leave. He was my pain management consultant, and this is the reason why I have now been knocked back yet again, and I am now still waiting for my long awaited Epidural in my neck..

This is why I have been selling some of my crafting stuff in the hope of raising some funds to go and see a private consultant.

The thought of waiting maybe another year to be seen is unbearable

It seems to just go round and round and round in circles until I am right back where I started hun..

 

Wendy continues:

Well I just felt so angry on Karen s behalf and felt the need to do something.

This where I was wondering if you lovely crafters out there would be willing to help.

Karen has designed a few kits for sale at paper creator stores.

She is very modest lady and I did not know that she was doing this until a few days ago, She said its to keep her mind of her pain and designing has been a bit of a life saver for her this last year.

Well her kits are lovely and are available at paper creator stores,

I emailed Debbie at the PC store and she told me that Karen gets paid for every kit that is sold..( a few I have included in this post)

Well a light bulb went off in my head( it does not happen very often ROFL).

What a great way to raise funds for Karen s treatment.

If you buy a kit or two it will all go to Karen s private Consultant fund and get her the help she needs ASAP.

If you are feeling really generous how about buying the whole set,

This way we are all helping a fellow crafter in need and have a few lovely card kits to play with as well.

So please click on these links and take a look and help if you can.

These links will take you to Karen s Designs.

There are two site you can order from ether, Karen has a few extra kits to choose from on the USA site

Uk site

http://www.papercreator.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=248

USA Site

http://papercraftkits.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=264&zenid=c926dc32985c855c56124e6d0391f2ed

These are the links to Karen s designs
The 5 kits shown on paper creator site and 9 kits shown on Paper crafts site.
If you are looking at the stores side bar to find Karen s kits they are listed under the title
EXCLUSIVES 
"Karen works alongside the Crafty Gals and uses the Crafty Gals EXLCUSIVES logo at the two stores."

It would also be great if you could post some links about this onto your blogs , face book pages and forums that you visit.

Lots have emailed me asking for a donate button to be set up, for those who are not crafter`s but would still like to help.

I have added one at the top of my page in the side bar

If you do buy one of Karen s kits, I am sure she would just love it if you popped over to her blog and left her a link so that she could come see your cards.

That would be a sure way to help her feel better

This is Karen s blog, Some of you in crafting land may already know her.

http://kraftykarens.blogspot.com/

Please pop over and say hello, she could do with your support,

Karen never moans Just gets on with it.

Well Lets all help Karen s Children Get their Mummy Back.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help and support

Wendy

 

Well, I think that is wonderful.

Most of us would say, “Oh dear, how awful, that poor girl… I wish I could do something.” Wendy hasn’t just done that, she’s actually done something practical, to get the ball rolling, to help Karen get some much needed funds to help her on the road to recovery, so that she can enjoy her life again with her husband and their five children. I do hope there will be a massive response to this appeal so that she knows that the whole crafting community out there really does care when one of its members is suffering and in need.

Thank you for reading this, and thank you in advance for helping us bless this lovely young lady.