Support Kali's Journey to Recovery

Groundhog Day will now be my least favorite holiday, let me tell you why. February 2nd, 2025, started like any other Sunday, but it ended with my eldest daughter in the ER having had her first seizure. Kali spent that evening in the Emergency Room and left with a suspected diagnosis of Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures. The next day, she had half a dozen of these events, but we still decided to continue with the previously scheduled sleep study that night. Things went well with the study, but in the morning, as the tech removed her wires, Kali had another seizure, but this one lasted for over an hour. Despite having already been seen for this, the tech said after 30 minutes protocol stated he had to call an ambulance. I agreed; none of her previous episodes had been even close to that amount of time. Back to the ER we went. This time, I was determined to leave with either a referral in hand or an appointment with neurology in the calendar.

The doctor we saw this time did us one better and got her transferred to Mass General after a very long 12 hours in the Emergency Room, truly an act of God that we were not there longer. Kali then spent the next 24 hours at Mass General being evaluated and then having multiple tests done. Her official diagnosis became Functional Neurological Disorder with Non-epileptic Seizures. And so our long journey to a new normal began. Kali has daily episodes with some days being better than others.

Before this, Kali was an accomplished and driven runner, high-performing student, National Honors Society member, leader of her church youth group's worship band, loving big sister to 4 siblings, wonderful daughter, granddaughter, and niece. She is still all those things, but this new diagnosis has trapped her inside of her own mind and body at times. When her brain decides that things are too hard or stressful, it just decides to shut down itself and her body. Kali has hopes and dreams of going to college one day and running competitively there. She wants to become either a therapist or nutritionist, two things that she is very passionate about. But if she cannot get this new disorder under control, those dreams may have to change. Steps forward include 3 types of therapies and figuring out what her limits are. Right now, our goal is one full week of school.

It has been a little over a month since everything happened, and while Kali has made some progress towards figuring out what that new normal looks like, it will be a long and expensive journey. Right now, we are spending $160-$200/week on her therapies and doctor's appointments. This is not something we can sustain for very long, but her progress is slow, and she seems to gain new symptoms weekly. We are hoping that some of you might be able to assist with Kali's medical bills between the incurred expenses from the hospital stays and ambulance rides to the ongoing expenses for therapy. If you feel called to help, we would truly appreciate your support. Thank you and God Bless.

-Linda