The congregations of two Lutheran churches have taken up the cause of a 16-year-old girl with a mysterious illness.

The first time Tracie Pittman of Mercer passed out, it happened at her high school last November.

And it kept happening.

“She would literally turn blue. Her skin tone would be blue-gray and she would pass out on us quite often. It would happen any time,” said her mother, Heather Pittman.

Trips to the local emergency room led to visits to Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and then visits to the Cleveland Clinic.

It was doctors at the Cleveland Clinic who said Tracie had postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

“It is a condition where the patients have a sudden change in their heart rate, an elevated heart rate, when they move from a sitting to a standing position,” said Dr. Phillip Painley, an interventional cardiologist at Butler Memorial Hospital.

“It's a pretty unique situation. The autonomic nervous system that controls your heart rate and blood pressure becomes disregulated,” Painley said.

“When you go to stand, you should have a proportional response in your heart rate to your changed position. Your heartbeat should change in response to your position,” he said.

“Patients have racing heart rates, palpitations, light-headedness and even chest discomfort,” Painley said.

Heather Pittmann said, “There is no known cause. It mostly hits women 15 to 50. Each case is different, but there is often an extreme heart-rate. Her heart can be beating at 250 beats per minute. When she is sleeping her heart rate is 194 beats per minute. It's like she's running a marathon.”

And then there's Tracie's blood pressure.

Heather Pittmann said, “When you go from sitting to standing, your blood pressure goes up to compensate. Tracie's blood pressure stays pretty even, which causes the blood to pool in her lower extremities.”

Tracie has had to be schooled at home by a tutor. She used to play softball, mow the neighbors' yards and participate in a flag corps. Now, she mostly sits.

When asked how she feels, Tracie said, “Eh, it has its ups and downs.”

The family has also had its ups and downs with its insurance company.

Heather Pittmann said insurance wouldn't pay for the Cleveland Clinic visits.

That's where St. John's Lutheran Church in Connoquenessing and Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Prospect come in.

St. John's made Tracie its cause of the month, said the Rev. Gary Brown, who is pastor at both churches.

Emmanuel staged a clothing drive that raised nearly $400, Brown said.

“I found out about Tracie through a friend of Tracie's,” he said. “I'm sure there will be more from both congregations, although there is nothing planned right now.”

He said both churches have congregations of nearly 100 each.

The Pittmans will take all the help they can get.

Heather Pittman said there is no cure.

Because Tracie is intolerant of the drugs that may moderate her condition, for now her only treatment consists of increased fluid and salt intake to regulate her blood pressure.

Her mother said it's a balancing act because the amount of liquid Tracie is drinking, a gallon daily, can flush out of her system and dehydrate her.

Tracies goes to the emergency room once a month for intravenous hydration but refuses to have a line put in to allow her to take IV treatment at home.

In two years, the prognosis is that Tracie will be in a wheelchair.

“I am not accepting that,” said her mother.

They hope a planned trip to the CHOP Specialty Care Center in Philadelphia in August may bring Tracie some relief.

There also is a treatment center in Dallas that specializes in POTS. But since Tracie's insurance won't pay for that clinic, the Pitt-mans have to raise money for that as well.

But Heather Pittman said she is taking to heart the Bible verse, Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”