Financial Relief for Maddie's Family

This is a picture of my 12 year old niece, Madeline on December 31, 2017.

On Tuesday, January 2nd Madeline began to exhibit odd behavior which quickly progressed, becoming more alarming and severe.

On Thursday, January 4th Madeline was admitted through the ER at San Antonio Regional Hospital in Upland and was transferred to Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) Thursday evening and has remained there.

It has been confirmed that Madeline has encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) which began causing dramatic, uncontrollable mood swings. She began having trouble communicating and was then in and out of responsiveness. She has now been unresponsive since Sunday, the 7th.

A specific rare bacteria has also been confirmed to be in her system. They are treating her accordingly. They are still searching for more infection(s), as they have stated that the level of inflammation in the brain denotes a more severe infection than the bacteria that they found. 

Madeline has been through 2 spinal taps, 2 CT scans, a MRI, an ultrasound, and a 30 minute EEG. Unfortunately, on The 9th she began having seizures. She has never had a seizure prior to this illness. On the 10th she was hooked up for what was supposed to be an over night EEG, which has since become a 24/7 EEG. The continuous EEG has shown that she is having one sub-clinical (meaning it cannot be physically observed) seizure per hour. They are upping her anti-seizure meds to try and counter act this. Please pray that they find a good balance of medication to avoid further seizures. They had also administered an IVIG on the 7th. Many tests have been run. Many results have come in and many more results will continue rolling in through the month of January.

At this point, the doctors are suspecting an autoimmune problem. This specific test result has not yet come through, however, due to the likeliness of it and in an attempt to be proactive, Madeline began her first plasmapheresis treatment on Monday, the 15th. This is a reoccurring treatment to be administered over the course of several days.

At this time we are unsure of what the financial burden for the family will be. Daren has excellent medical coverage and Madeline was admitted through an emergency situation (As of Friday, 01/19/18 medical costs are $450,000 and climbing- The current cost for the Koch family = $100!!! Praise God!!! What a relief and a true blessing!) However, the constant travels to and from the hospital for showers, laundry, and visits to see their son, Nathaniel is becoming quite costly due to fuel (roughly 40 miles for a one way trip) and paying for parking at the hospital (discounted with validation, but still a cost each time they leave). Along with this, the necessity of meals away from home and missed work. As we find out more, the amount may be adjusted to fit the need, but for now, a little help would go a long way.

Yet, more important than financial donation, please keep Madeline and her family in your prayers and thoughts. This is a very trying time as the doctors diligently search for the cause. Pray the doctors find the answers needed and that Maddie can begin her path to full recovery.