As many of you know, Mika was run over by a car in 2018 and sustained a significant TBI. She made a full recovery, and then in January of 2025, experienced another concussion after being hit by a car by a man who has now been charged with vehicular assault. Mika worked hard to rehab last spring, and by July, was back to work and life again, riding her bike on the beach. Unfortunately, in August of 2025, she sustained a third assault to her brain, when electrocuted while cleaning an appliance. After bed-resting for two months, and hopeful about her full recovery, she suffered a full neurological collapse in November 2025 and has not been able to recover. Mika is now functionally disabled, and unable to stand, or process visual or auditory information for more than a few minutes a day.

Mika is now bedridden, and unable to open her eyes or talk for more than a few minutes a day. At times, she is unable to eat or drink. She also suffers 10/10 pain daily. When one of Mika’s friends arrived to care for her, she found Mika in a state that appeared unsurviveable. It is very hard for Mika to access necessary medical care because she has great difficulty talking to communicate about her situation with doctors, open her eyes, or travel to see providers in person without incurring severe worsening of her condition. She found an amazing GP who she sees virtually, and he was able to stabilize her on over 10 prescription medications. One doctor that was able to make a house call and ran bloodwork concluded that this is severe enough to be autoimmune encephalitis. Meanwhile, two in-network doctors who were not able to see her in person or assess the severity of her condition have offered no answers. Mika was on home-health through the hospital for some time, but was denied renewal due to the severity of her condition and the medical system’s concern for liability. She seems to be falling through the cracks between in-hospital stay and home care, and because of the complexity of her case, she is coming up against many barriers within the medical and health insurance systems.

Mika’s will to live is strong, but it is going to be a long road to recovery. Because of the complexity of her case, her healing path is not straightforward. Her advocates continue to work vigilantly to connect her with every specialist that she can feasibly see, and help her access necessary testing. Still, Mika needs a lot of care to stay stabilized. Mika and her advocates are finding that accessing the level of care that she needs in a way that is fully covered by insurance is just not possible.

It is hard for anyone to appreciate the complexity of being in such a health crisis unless they’ve been there themselves: being out of work without income for so long, the long wait times to get appointments or government financial assistance, and unforeseen costs of living. And because she is in such a fragile condition, every step along the way of accessing these needs is a struggle, for which is relying heavily on the generosity of friends.

The help of friends who have offered her a place to stay, volunteered to come and care for her, offer administrative help, coordinate doctor’s appointments, and do medical research has been invaluable. Still, her situation is beyond the scope and ability of just friends to help. And although she continues to advocate for in-hospital stay or full-time caretaker, these services have strict criteria for admittance. And without a clear diagnosis or treatment plan, access to these services has not been forthcoming.

How you can help: Financial support would give Mika options for accessing out-of-pocket providers, functional medicine doctors who may offer alternate perspectives, caretakers, specialized testing, and administrative help.

We all know what an exceptionally magical person Mika is, and she is overflowing with gratitude for the friends who have helped already. Mika is an asset to her clients who are of the most vulnerable population…struggling with complex chronic illness themselves. This is an opportunity to give back to someone who is so generous herself and such an asset to our community. Any support—whether through donating or sharing—will help Mika focus on what matters most: resting, healing, and finding her way back to health.