Help for Marcy during her battle with lupus

The following is an update from Brad.

“Marcy has been dealing with some health issues and has been in and out of the hospital repeatedly over the last two months. The truth is, Marcy's health issues started in 2012. Well that is when it was diagnosed but are unsure of when the lupus began, she may have always had it. In 2021 her lupus attacked her kidney, lupus nephritis. After a few months of chemo it went into remission and she was able to get back to work and life went on as normal. Until this year. In the middle of August she was feeling nauseous, vomiting, had a headache, among various other issues.

When she arrived at the ER on that date her blood pressure was at a 197/135. It reached a level of 208/145 and she was at a high risk of having a stroke or a heart attack with these numbers. After admitting her into the hospital their first focus was to get the blood pressure under control, then make her more comfortable, then finally to find the underlying issue. After days of tests a biopsy was done on her kidney and the culprit was found. She now has a rare disorder, cryoglobulinemia. There is a rare protein in her blood that is building up at her kidneys and obstructing it's functionality.

The doctor got her on a treatment that is the best option to treat this issue. It is a slow long process and she would not see results immediately from. It starts with one treatment a week for four weeks, and then goes to one treatment a month for two months. We made it through the first three treatments before her next episode began. The beginning of the week that would be the final weekly treatment Marcy was having issues eating. It was painful to swallow and when the food entered her stomach it caused pain there as well. I was more concerned with the amount of fluid that she was retaining at this time and her behavior.

Upon this visit to the ER we were informed that she had a yeast infection in her mouth, esophagus, and stomach. With here weekly treatments her immune system is compromised even further than the lupus does on it's own. Taking oral steroids increases your chance of getting a yeast infection, this combined with the lowered immune system seams almost an inevitable outcome. The doctors were also concerned with the amount of fluid she had retained and getting this fluid off and curing the yeast infection became their new objective. Once that was taken care of we were sent back home.

A few days after being released she was feeling very ill again and had a slight temperature. One morning while I was getting ready for work and Alex ready for school she took her temp and it was 102 degrees, and she was having troubles breathing. It was determined at the hospital that she had pneumonia in both lungs, pretty severely.

After finally going home from that hospital stay, she again was unable to catch her breathe. Another trip to the ER showed her oxygen level at 86%. After even more tests, the doctors found that she is having a fluid overload due to her kidneys not functioning correctly. All of this is caused by lupus (SLE). The breathing issues are caused by the fluid buildup. Genesys Hospital transferred her to Henry Ford in hopes the doctors there can create a plan of treatment.

During this whole process she has been unable to work and our doctors have put her on a no work restriction. When starting her new job she had an episode during her first work day before this all started and did not complete her on boarding paperwork. We found out that she is not able to get the short term disability because the form had been missed. The company is holding her spot for a short period though while things are figured out.

When she was accepted into the nursing clinicals program I started stashing money away knowing that she would possibly be quitting her job when that started, but the health issue popped up shortly after that and the savings was gone quickly.”

During her multiple hospital stays, not only has Marcy missed many events for the kids, including Homecoming, she has also not been able to work. Brad has been taking care of the boys, attending all of their events, and working while also trying to spend as much time at the hospital with Marcy during this terrifying process. With the transfer to Detroit and the strict visiting hours, Brad will be making the drive each day. This fund has been set up to assist with the cost of medical, travel, and every day living expenses during this time of uncertainty.