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Dawn in an amazing teacher and an even better mother of two young boys. She works hard, each and every day, to do what she can for others....even if it means self sacrifice. She is forever putting others before herself, and with a smile on her face as she does so.
Only a week into the current school year, tragedy struck.
Dawn had been feeling weak and tired, but true to "Dawn form", she kept up with her responsiblities...until one day it was too much.
She gave in and went to the neighborhood medical clinic. She thought she would leave with a prescription and orders to take a day off. Instead, she was immediately ushered off to the emergency room at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. The doctors said that she was lucky she made it that far..........................
Once at the hospital, her health failed rapidly. Her kidneys were shutting down, her heart was failing, and her lungs were filling with fluid. She was moved to the ICU. She had to be intubated and sedated. Her world was collapsing around her.
Dawn was so fragile that the medical team could not perform any procedures until they stabilized her. That took days. Eventually, and slowly, Dawn was able to fight back through many rounds of dialysis, steroids, and other treatments. The doctors discovered that she had a very rare genetic mutation that caused millions of micro clots in her kidneys. It's called atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Very little is known about the mutation and only last year was a treatment divised.
Fortunately, Dawn made a slow improvement. She spent 6 days in the ICU for a total of 12 days in the hospital. She saw many doctors and specialists throughout the time and continues today with dialysis and the infusions for the aHUS. Dawn missed 5 weeks of school and can now go back to teaching.
During her time off, Dawn was on short term disability, which only pays 60% of her salary. She also has to pay out-of-pocket for her children's health insurance. The medical bills are now coming in for all of the specialists and the hospital stay. The infusions will be long term, so the recovery process will take time, as well as more co-pays and costly prescriptions.
Any donations that you could make would greatly help out Dawn and her boys get through this chapter in their lives and focus on healing.
Only a week into the current school year, tragedy struck.
Dawn had been feeling weak and tired, but true to "Dawn form", she kept up with her responsiblities...until one day it was too much.
She gave in and went to the neighborhood medical clinic. She thought she would leave with a prescription and orders to take a day off. Instead, she was immediately ushered off to the emergency room at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center. The doctors said that she was lucky she made it that far..........................
Once at the hospital, her health failed rapidly. Her kidneys were shutting down, her heart was failing, and her lungs were filling with fluid. She was moved to the ICU. She had to be intubated and sedated. Her world was collapsing around her.
Dawn was so fragile that the medical team could not perform any procedures until they stabilized her. That took days. Eventually, and slowly, Dawn was able to fight back through many rounds of dialysis, steroids, and other treatments. The doctors discovered that she had a very rare genetic mutation that caused millions of micro clots in her kidneys. It's called atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS). Very little is known about the mutation and only last year was a treatment divised.
Fortunately, Dawn made a slow improvement. She spent 6 days in the ICU for a total of 12 days in the hospital. She saw many doctors and specialists throughout the time and continues today with dialysis and the infusions for the aHUS. Dawn missed 5 weeks of school and can now go back to teaching.
During her time off, Dawn was on short term disability, which only pays 60% of her salary. She also has to pay out-of-pocket for her children's health insurance. The medical bills are now coming in for all of the specialists and the hospital stay. The infusions will be long term, so the recovery process will take time, as well as more co-pays and costly prescriptions.
Any donations that you could make would greatly help out Dawn and her boys get through this chapter in their lives and focus on healing.
Organizer and beneficiary
Dawn McKeich
Beneficiary