Dr. Marnee's Hope for Recovery Fund
Donation protected
Marnee has been blessed in life with tremendous talents and gifts, and has always sought to use her super powers for good, often superseding the expectations of others. Whether witnessing her marked athleticism, her kindness toward the planet and all of it's creatures, her ability to dance as though no one was watching, the beauty of her spiritual practice, or the amazing way that she could support and heal the physical bodies of our furry friends, she humbly (and often unintentionally!) attracted others to her through her presence, humor, love for life and music and travel. Her work ethic, moral fortitude, sense of responsibility and self-sufficiency are only rivaled by her never-ending search to understand herself and authentically connect to the world around her.
Her life was instantly changed on Winter Solstice (December 20) 2014 when she fell down some steps while carrying a small ancient dog patient outside at her clinic. The rain had just started and though she was sure-footed, she caught a slick spot. Without hesitation, she tucked the dog into the crook of her arm like a football to protect him as her feet flew out in front of her, causing her to take the fullness of the fall on her thoracic spine and the back of her head. In that moment, she bruised her thoracic spine, ruptured a disc in her neck, bulged a couple of other adjacent discs, sustained whiplash and a brain injury (not her first...the girl's played a lot of sports!). Because of Marnee’s natural instincts and physical prowess the dog, of course, was fine and because of Marnee’s exceptional care he continued to live out his days in optimal health.
Though we didn't fully understand the extent of her injuries at the time, the last two years have proven to be those of unrelenting survival, excruciating pain, devastating grief, cumulative financial stress, and hopeless exhaustion. Marnee has already undergone five major surgeries in the last year...NONE of which have been able to correct the actual primary problem: the constant cervical and radiating nerve pain as a result of the ruptured cervical disc. She even had to have heart surgery to correct one of the side effects of her medications. She divides her day (which mistakenly infers that she has any degree of control in their course) between attempting to sleep (which she does the majority of the hours in each day), tearfully pacing, rubbing her arms and legs in response to the radiating nerve pain, rocking back and forth because of the migraines that are all too regular, and rotating between sitting, standing, and lying down because NO position is comfortable. Her quality of life is virtually non-existent, her social connections are all but lost, her success as a well-respected veterinarian seems like a distant memory, and her physical body gives her very little aside from incessant pain. She has existed in this "new normal" with a tremendous amount of patience and grace, but literally doesn't know how much more she can endure. And for Kellie, having to watch her reality and not be able to take the pain away is pure torture.
Marnee has always had a tremendous memory, but now she really struggles with memory, word recollection, and self-expression. She has migraines 50% of the time, and struggles regularly with dizziness and nausea because of some vision difficulties as a result of the head injury. Her eyes don't communicate properly with her brain currently. Her eyes don't work with each other either; she cannot get images to focus, she has constant double vision and flashing lights across her visual field whether her eyes are open or closed. She cannot read, even for a few minutes without migraines and dizziness and confusion and difficulty with tracking and processing. To Marnee, this is an incredibly heartbreaking loss. It literally takes Marnee weeks and sometimes months now to complete seemingly simple tasks like making a phone call or writing an email, between the physical pain, the foggy brain/vision, the lack of ability to prioritize tasks and steps within tasks. She even worked for a couple of months on writing this Go Fund Me description (in very small blips of time as she was physically/mentally able), but it was very disjointed and difficult to follow. It’s arduous to explain to those outside of her experience what it is like to be on this journey. And for Kellie it is like a quagmire in which you can make no progress in any direction…like a slow-motion drowning.
On top of all of this, Marnee had two total knee replacements...surgeries that she needed years before her fall, but because of her injuries had to wait until recently, at which point she no longer had a good knee on which to recover, so they did both surgeries at the same time. This kind of recovery is incredibly challenging for someone in the best of circumstances. For Marnee it was nearly unbearable.
During all of this, Kellie has attempted to almost single-handedly dissolve their veterinary practice, work full-time for the City, while operating as the manager and general contractor of their rental property renovations (which is where they put all of their retirement funds and without Marnee working for the last two years, is their sole hope for passive income since she is not likely to be able to work again in the near future). Kellie also takes Marnee to numerous doctor and therapy appointments each week (which is literally almost the only time Marnee leaves the house), since Marnee cannot drive much. Kellie takes care of most of Marnee's daily living needs, and tries to manage the home (she recently transitioned their clinic space into an airbnb to generate some income). They have sold the majority of their furniture and other valuable items to make ends meet. Between their businesses and her City job, Kellie has steadily averaged 14 hour work-days 7 days a week for the last 2 years.
Kellie has now had to take unpaid time off from her job to tend to Marnee and their home, which is only creating exponential financial stress. In addition, the cumulative exhaustion and stress has caused Kellie to succumb to some health issues, and now she is having three (thankfully relatively minor) surgeries in the next three months to counter those effects. Kellie, who as many of you know, is generally so capable, organized and efficient is now physically exhausted, emotionally fragile, socially deprived, and mentally depleted. She is always so generous with her time and talents, and has sacrificed so much to support Marnee during this time. Her patience, devotion, and stamina during this journey has been extraordinary, but she has very little left to give, not only to those around her but even more importantly to herself.
And yet, Marnee and Kellie continue to be dear to each other. And they have their faithful bundle-of-spots, aka: their dog Kanuk to bring groundedness and playfulness and snuggles. Though the sparkle in Marnee’s eyes is pretty elusive these days, the kindness in her heart is still easy to see. And though the stress and exhaustion have taken such a toll on Kellie, her thoughtfulness and passion to make this world a better place continues to shine through.
Marnee will see two different neuro surgeons in the coming weeks to once again pray that surgery is an option. With two years of myriads of alternative/eastern/holistic treatments with many brilliant practitioners who support Marnee in many ways, it seems that structurally the cervical and radiating nerve pain needs to be corrected surgically...a strength of western medicine. At this point, it seems to be the only chance she has of any kind of recovery and true relief from the pain.
Marnee and Kellie are both such hard-working, self-sufficient, fun-loving, financially intelligent, generous people, and they are beyond their breaking point. They need help to:
* Pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars of current and past medical bills and other accrued debt since Marnee's fall
* Compensate for two years of lost income from their veterinary practice and the lost income from Kellie's temporary unpaid leave to tend to Marnee and her own health issues
* Pay for Marnee's vision/brain therapy, which is at this point the only hope to correct her vision difficulties related to her brain...this therapy is not covered by insurance and must be paid in full at the onset; and to pay for ongoing osteopathy, acupuncture and other therapies not covered by insurance
*Possibly pay for a trip to the Mayo Clinic to again seek surgery on the ruptured cervical disc (depending on the options with local surgeons)...without which it seems that Marnee will not be able to recover
* Compensate for the lack of social security disability support, as that decision by the state is still in process
* Possibly allow them to take a breath, engage with the world from a more hopeful and less fearful place, and perhaps allow Kellie to find some sense of herself again, as that has all but been lost in her efforts to hold everything together for their family while watching Marnee struggle so profoundly every day for over two years
At this point, the need is urgent. They have both experienced such generosity in many forms during this journey and remain exceedingly grateful for all of your warm thoughts, well-wishes, food dishes, brief visits, errand-running, help with the household, financial loans and gifts, hugs and cards, and your patience. It is so very hard to ask for more help. They obviously need financial help, and they also continue to need help around the house, and help with tasks and errands and Marnee's appointments. Thank you for taking the time to read this and please pass this on to anyone who may seek to support Marnee at this time.
Her life was instantly changed on Winter Solstice (December 20) 2014 when she fell down some steps while carrying a small ancient dog patient outside at her clinic. The rain had just started and though she was sure-footed, she caught a slick spot. Without hesitation, she tucked the dog into the crook of her arm like a football to protect him as her feet flew out in front of her, causing her to take the fullness of the fall on her thoracic spine and the back of her head. In that moment, she bruised her thoracic spine, ruptured a disc in her neck, bulged a couple of other adjacent discs, sustained whiplash and a brain injury (not her first...the girl's played a lot of sports!). Because of Marnee’s natural instincts and physical prowess the dog, of course, was fine and because of Marnee’s exceptional care he continued to live out his days in optimal health.
Though we didn't fully understand the extent of her injuries at the time, the last two years have proven to be those of unrelenting survival, excruciating pain, devastating grief, cumulative financial stress, and hopeless exhaustion. Marnee has already undergone five major surgeries in the last year...NONE of which have been able to correct the actual primary problem: the constant cervical and radiating nerve pain as a result of the ruptured cervical disc. She even had to have heart surgery to correct one of the side effects of her medications. She divides her day (which mistakenly infers that she has any degree of control in their course) between attempting to sleep (which she does the majority of the hours in each day), tearfully pacing, rubbing her arms and legs in response to the radiating nerve pain, rocking back and forth because of the migraines that are all too regular, and rotating between sitting, standing, and lying down because NO position is comfortable. Her quality of life is virtually non-existent, her social connections are all but lost, her success as a well-respected veterinarian seems like a distant memory, and her physical body gives her very little aside from incessant pain. She has existed in this "new normal" with a tremendous amount of patience and grace, but literally doesn't know how much more she can endure. And for Kellie, having to watch her reality and not be able to take the pain away is pure torture.
Marnee has always had a tremendous memory, but now she really struggles with memory, word recollection, and self-expression. She has migraines 50% of the time, and struggles regularly with dizziness and nausea because of some vision difficulties as a result of the head injury. Her eyes don't communicate properly with her brain currently. Her eyes don't work with each other either; she cannot get images to focus, she has constant double vision and flashing lights across her visual field whether her eyes are open or closed. She cannot read, even for a few minutes without migraines and dizziness and confusion and difficulty with tracking and processing. To Marnee, this is an incredibly heartbreaking loss. It literally takes Marnee weeks and sometimes months now to complete seemingly simple tasks like making a phone call or writing an email, between the physical pain, the foggy brain/vision, the lack of ability to prioritize tasks and steps within tasks. She even worked for a couple of months on writing this Go Fund Me description (in very small blips of time as she was physically/mentally able), but it was very disjointed and difficult to follow. It’s arduous to explain to those outside of her experience what it is like to be on this journey. And for Kellie it is like a quagmire in which you can make no progress in any direction…like a slow-motion drowning.
On top of all of this, Marnee had two total knee replacements...surgeries that she needed years before her fall, but because of her injuries had to wait until recently, at which point she no longer had a good knee on which to recover, so they did both surgeries at the same time. This kind of recovery is incredibly challenging for someone in the best of circumstances. For Marnee it was nearly unbearable.
During all of this, Kellie has attempted to almost single-handedly dissolve their veterinary practice, work full-time for the City, while operating as the manager and general contractor of their rental property renovations (which is where they put all of their retirement funds and without Marnee working for the last two years, is their sole hope for passive income since she is not likely to be able to work again in the near future). Kellie also takes Marnee to numerous doctor and therapy appointments each week (which is literally almost the only time Marnee leaves the house), since Marnee cannot drive much. Kellie takes care of most of Marnee's daily living needs, and tries to manage the home (she recently transitioned their clinic space into an airbnb to generate some income). They have sold the majority of their furniture and other valuable items to make ends meet. Between their businesses and her City job, Kellie has steadily averaged 14 hour work-days 7 days a week for the last 2 years.
Kellie has now had to take unpaid time off from her job to tend to Marnee and their home, which is only creating exponential financial stress. In addition, the cumulative exhaustion and stress has caused Kellie to succumb to some health issues, and now she is having three (thankfully relatively minor) surgeries in the next three months to counter those effects. Kellie, who as many of you know, is generally so capable, organized and efficient is now physically exhausted, emotionally fragile, socially deprived, and mentally depleted. She is always so generous with her time and talents, and has sacrificed so much to support Marnee during this time. Her patience, devotion, and stamina during this journey has been extraordinary, but she has very little left to give, not only to those around her but even more importantly to herself.
And yet, Marnee and Kellie continue to be dear to each other. And they have their faithful bundle-of-spots, aka: their dog Kanuk to bring groundedness and playfulness and snuggles. Though the sparkle in Marnee’s eyes is pretty elusive these days, the kindness in her heart is still easy to see. And though the stress and exhaustion have taken such a toll on Kellie, her thoughtfulness and passion to make this world a better place continues to shine through.
Marnee will see two different neuro surgeons in the coming weeks to once again pray that surgery is an option. With two years of myriads of alternative/eastern/holistic treatments with many brilliant practitioners who support Marnee in many ways, it seems that structurally the cervical and radiating nerve pain needs to be corrected surgically...a strength of western medicine. At this point, it seems to be the only chance she has of any kind of recovery and true relief from the pain.
Marnee and Kellie are both such hard-working, self-sufficient, fun-loving, financially intelligent, generous people, and they are beyond their breaking point. They need help to:
* Pay the hundreds of thousands of dollars of current and past medical bills and other accrued debt since Marnee's fall
* Compensate for two years of lost income from their veterinary practice and the lost income from Kellie's temporary unpaid leave to tend to Marnee and her own health issues
* Pay for Marnee's vision/brain therapy, which is at this point the only hope to correct her vision difficulties related to her brain...this therapy is not covered by insurance and must be paid in full at the onset; and to pay for ongoing osteopathy, acupuncture and other therapies not covered by insurance
*Possibly pay for a trip to the Mayo Clinic to again seek surgery on the ruptured cervical disc (depending on the options with local surgeons)...without which it seems that Marnee will not be able to recover
* Compensate for the lack of social security disability support, as that decision by the state is still in process
* Possibly allow them to take a breath, engage with the world from a more hopeful and less fearful place, and perhaps allow Kellie to find some sense of herself again, as that has all but been lost in her efforts to hold everything together for their family while watching Marnee struggle so profoundly every day for over two years
At this point, the need is urgent. They have both experienced such generosity in many forms during this journey and remain exceedingly grateful for all of your warm thoughts, well-wishes, food dishes, brief visits, errand-running, help with the household, financial loans and gifts, hugs and cards, and your patience. It is so very hard to ask for more help. They obviously need financial help, and they also continue to need help around the house, and help with tasks and errands and Marnee's appointments. Thank you for taking the time to read this and please pass this on to anyone who may seek to support Marnee at this time.
Organizer
Kellie Nemke
Organizer
Eugene, OR