Check out the updates and notes from Jacque. We are making a difference! Please continue to spread the word!
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I have known Jacque for about five years. I first met her when, as a complete stranger to me, but a friend of my son and many other elite skaters, she offered to pick me up at the Detroit airport and take me to Detroit Skating Club to meet my son who was working on his programs in preparation for the US National Championships in Boston where the 2014 US Olympic Team would be named. We had a lot in common. We became friends. She was working as a field producer for a national TV network and doing skating photos on the side to take a break from all the horrible things she was sent to cover.
In January of 2016, Jacque was found on the floor in her house with what was diagnosed as meningoencephalitis, an inflammation of the brain and its meninges; also called encephalomeningitis. A few days before that, she had a horrible headache and what she thought was the flu. Jacque ended up in a coma for 18 days. When she came to, she had no balance, double vision and no depth perception. It took months of rehab. Jacque went from doing photography, freelancing for national news shows and playing softball to using a cane, learning how to write, walk, talk, deal with balance and just about everything else you need for daily independent functioning.
Many survivors tend to get autoimmune disorders within a year or so after diagnosis. It was nearly two years before additional staph-related symptoms showed. Jacque contracted a recurring case of pneumonia, and was also told she had mild COPD. It took from that Christmas until April to get it under control.
This November, Jacque woke up and couldn’t breathe. She was rushed to the hospital and put on a ventilator. Mid- December, she started throwing up, and by right before Christmas ended back in the hospital for eight days with a blocked bowel that caused pneumonia, heart palpitations and breathing issues again. When she was finally discharged, Jacque could only walk a few steps - just enough for them to release her with a walker. Her legs had gotten weaker, and by that night, she couldn't pull herself up.
Jacque has very little left on insurance. She has been told that she has about 2 to 5 years left unless her symptoms can be controlled. Her hospital co-pays are astronomical. Jacque wants to stay in her home and not go to a nursing facility. She would lose her house under the rules of Medicaid if they put her in a nursing home. In-home care that requires CNA assistance to administer six medications, as well as personal hygiene care, and light house cleaning / meals, is more than $100 a day. I know this personally having just gone through it for three excruciating years with my mother who passed a year ago.
Jacque is a very proud woman. Jacque is a very strong and determined one, as well. However, all the courage in the world can only go so far. Now, we are circling the wagons to help an amazing woman who has selflessly helped so many – including a bevy of cats for which she has found forever homes – to stay in her home. Please join me. Please give whatever you can. NO amount is too small. Everything makes a difference.
Your help is needed NOW. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
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I have known Jacque for about five years. I first met her when, as a complete stranger to me, but a friend of my son and many other elite skaters, she offered to pick me up at the Detroit airport and take me to Detroit Skating Club to meet my son who was working on his programs in preparation for the US National Championships in Boston where the 2014 US Olympic Team would be named. We had a lot in common. We became friends. She was working as a field producer for a national TV network and doing skating photos on the side to take a break from all the horrible things she was sent to cover.
In January of 2016, Jacque was found on the floor in her house with what was diagnosed as meningoencephalitis, an inflammation of the brain and its meninges; also called encephalomeningitis. A few days before that, she had a horrible headache and what she thought was the flu. Jacque ended up in a coma for 18 days. When she came to, she had no balance, double vision and no depth perception. It took months of rehab. Jacque went from doing photography, freelancing for national news shows and playing softball to using a cane, learning how to write, walk, talk, deal with balance and just about everything else you need for daily independent functioning.
Many survivors tend to get autoimmune disorders within a year or so after diagnosis. It was nearly two years before additional staph-related symptoms showed. Jacque contracted a recurring case of pneumonia, and was also told she had mild COPD. It took from that Christmas until April to get it under control.
This November, Jacque woke up and couldn’t breathe. She was rushed to the hospital and put on a ventilator. Mid- December, she started throwing up, and by right before Christmas ended back in the hospital for eight days with a blocked bowel that caused pneumonia, heart palpitations and breathing issues again. When she was finally discharged, Jacque could only walk a few steps - just enough for them to release her with a walker. Her legs had gotten weaker, and by that night, she couldn't pull herself up.
Jacque has very little left on insurance. She has been told that she has about 2 to 5 years left unless her symptoms can be controlled. Her hospital co-pays are astronomical. Jacque wants to stay in her home and not go to a nursing facility. She would lose her house under the rules of Medicaid if they put her in a nursing home. In-home care that requires CNA assistance to administer six medications, as well as personal hygiene care, and light house cleaning / meals, is more than $100 a day. I know this personally having just gone through it for three excruciating years with my mother who passed a year ago.
Jacque is a very proud woman. Jacque is a very strong and determined one, as well. However, all the courage in the world can only go so far. Now, we are circling the wagons to help an amazing woman who has selflessly helped so many – including a bevy of cats for which she has found forever homes – to stay in her home. Please join me. Please give whatever you can. NO amount is too small. Everything makes a difference.
Your help is needed NOW. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Organizer and beneficiary
Jacque Tiegs
Beneficiary