Save the She Beast Campaign

SHE-BEAST - noun- A gentle, driven, in your face monster with a heart of gold who never gives up. Aggressive, assertive, unwilling to fail. MaryJane is a She-Beast! 

She beast is a name given to my mother by her friends who witnessed her overcoming health problems to help her lead a more active and healthy life. My mother has never failed to impress me with each new venture she undertakes and her day-to-day determination to get through. A year ago on January 12, 2013 after a year of training, she walked a half-marathon (13.1 miles). This may not seem like a big deal until you understand that my mom is 54 years old, 260+ pounds, 4'10" and suffers from the following ailments: moderately severe rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypothyroidism, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, sleep apnea, degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis, and lupus. 

It's been downhill in so many ways since she did the half marathon. The toll to her body was very costly. Being nearly sedentary makes losing even more difficult, though she maintains a fairly healthy diet and monitors everything she eats. She's been counseled by three different doctors that bariatric surgery may be the best option for her, and without it her life expectancy is very short. Nothing else seems to work. She visited one of the top bariatric surgeons in San Antonio. He told her she was one of the best candidates for this surgery, that she NEEDS this surgery.

We have health insurance, but they do not cover any type of weight loss surgery, even though it means she will have less doctor visits, less health problems, less medication and less injuries if she gets this weight off, saving them thousands of dollars every year. She's spoken to several of the insurance company's patient advocates.  This company has NEVER changed their mind about weight loss surgery, even with the doctors' letters of medical necessity. Even the bariatric surgery center tells her that the insurance provider we have (one of the biggest in the world) never okays weight loss surgery.

We keep hitting dead ends. The surgery is out of reach for us financially, since she is a full time, unpaid caregiver of my elderly grandfather, as well as for my two small children while I work and go to school full-time.  Her only source of income and health insurance is from my step-father's job.

 What We Need & What You Get   - Our ultimate goal is $15,000 to pay for the surgery and associated costs. We are planning to undertake some local fundraising ventures here in San Antonio but $15,000 is a lot of money to make! I'm certain, however, that with as much love as we have in our hearts for my mom, we will succeed.The t-shirt sales will help us with this endeavor. Please consider buying one for yourself, and/or your family members. Please share this fundraiser with your friends and family as well!

Our face book page is at: https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheSheBeast .  My mom's story has been published by the associated press in a print article and in a recorded interview. You can view them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsX4mKAVJI and  <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/news/medical/article/Health-plans-don-t-cover-weight-loss-surgery-5234763.php#photo-5882561" target="blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.seattlepi.com/news/medical/article/Health-plans-don-t-cover-weight-loss-surgery-5234763.p... and an interview in the Examiner can be read here: http://www.examiner.com/article/san-antonio-woman-s-plight-to-beat-battle-of-the-bulge   Thank you for helping my mom live longer and healthier. We love and need her so much!