Sometimes it takes a village...

Most of you know Taylor or have seen her around The Village over the last 8 1/2 years… either as our former server Mellissa’s daughter, the voice on the other end of the phone when you make a call-in order, serving you or at the register cashing you out…

You may have noticed Taylor’s absence in the recent months and that is because, for Taylor, the past 3 months have been an extremely traumatic and distressing time in the young life of this beautiful, silly, loving, hardworking, busy and incredibly vibrant girl. At just 23 years young, Taylor’s life has quite literally been turned upside down, as she has been showing an ample number of symptoms very similar to (MS) Multiple Sclerosis. Through various tests and a brain biopsy (craniotomy), the doctors have determined that Taylor has 6 lesions on her brain and will have confirmation of her diagnosis in the coming weeks... but while an official diagnosis has not been given, please understand a life with MS is anything but “normal.”

I beg you to read the following details of her heartbreaking road to a diagnosis and the beginnings of her new life, living with Multiple Sclerosis.

At 23, You don’t expect to have these type of health concerns and especially the worries that come with a disease like Multiple Sclerosis or MS, at least not until much later in life. So, at 23, for Taylor to hear she most likely has a progressive and incurable disease, that she knows absolutely nothing about is very scary and somewhat devastating not only for Taylor, but her family as well. With the potential diagnosis and the debilitating symptoms of multiple sclerosis Taylor’s life has changed dramatically in just a short amount of time. Taylor has been forced to leave her (2) jobs that she loved. One as a bartender at The Trolley Barn in South End and the other at The Village Restaurant on N Graham St.

For those of you that don’t know, MS is a condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of symptoms, including problems with vision, loss of arm or leg movement, nerve sensation, and severe loss of balance. It's a lifelong condition, that can often be debilitating.

The Journey to a Diagnosis:

On December 10, 2022, Taylor was struck down with what she thought was an ocular (vision loss) migraine. While Taylor has had many Migraines before, she had never been affected by ocular migraines, so this was very frightening. In the days to come, Taylor spent several long days bedridden and in agonizing pain while her symptoms became increasingly worse. As things progressed over the next few days, slowly her vision blurred, she had a loss of coordination, some numbness and extreme fatigue. But soon things took a turn for the worse, To the point, she was no longer able to walk or see clearly and was eventually taken to the hospital by ambulance.

In the coming weeks, Taylor would temporarily lose vision in her right eye, develope slurred speech and begin to have a cloudy memory. She would lose the ability to balance herself and the strength on her right side would start to diminish. Simple things like texting, watching TV, bathing,  driving and walking were suddenly a huge challenge and Taylor has needed 24-hour care ever since. All of which have caused a huge amount of stress on her family. At one point, Taylor was confined to a wheelchair for several weeks but since having a craniotomy, some of the pressure on her brain has subsided and she is now able to walk short distances with a cane. Taylor is slowly having to retrain her right side of her body to work again and because of this, her current limitations are severely limiting her daily life. The potential diagnosis of this disease continues to take from several aspects of her young life. She is still facing high levels of pain, muscle weakness, severe fatigue and at times, extreme nerve pain. All of which mean Taylor is no longer able to work and this has caused a huge financial burden.

After waiting several long weeks, on January 17, 2023, Taylor finally had several scans and her neurologist determined she had 6 lesions on her brain. On 1/23/23 Taylor was taken into surgery to have a biopsy done on the lesions on her brain, which came back negative for cancer but are still not the best prognosis. Throughout all of this Taylor has spent a total of 8 days hospitalized on the Neuroscience floor.  

Anyone that knows Taylor, knows she is not one to complain, but with a diagnosis like MS, time is not on her side, and she wakes up every day wondering what new challenges she may face, when/if she will have another relapse and if so, what damage it may cause. Taylor wonders everyday if she will ever be able to have a somewhat normal life again.

With her future uncertain and the endless amount of bills coming in, we are hoping that the help of donations, will allow Taylor and her family to focus on her immediate health needs and will also, help alleviate some of the financial burdens she is currently facing and will ultimately help bring some joy back into her life. We will not be setting an end goal, as any help/donation would be a blessing. Especially, considering the potential diagnosis of such an uncertain and debilitating disease which has already taken so much from this young girl’s life.

No donation is too small; for Taylor and her family, anything would help to make a difference and be a huge blessing. Your thoughts, well wishes and prayers are also greatly appreciated.

Taylor and her family have asked that you  please send either Mellissa, Taylor or Danielle a DM with your address so they  can send out handmade thank you cards to anyone who is generous enough to help.