Last fall, my good friend Jen Hill woke up to find that half her face had gone numb. She thought at first this was related to neck trauma from a head bump the previous week. As feeling to her face returned, though, another strange event began--double vision....  Her eye doctor ordered an MRI, which showed myelination of nerve fibers. Her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis has since been confirmed. In her own words:

"All the tests have been run to rule out other conditions, so I do indeed have a firm diagnosis of relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis. Just a couple of decades ago this would have meant certain and potentially rapid disability, but treatments have (thankfully!) altered the prognosis in recent years. The good news is that with an intensive course of drug therapy I can expect relatively few symptoms. I'll need to take the drugs for the rest of my life, so this is no small undertaking, but far better than the alternatives. I'll start with a routine of three injections weekly of a drug called Copaxone as it's often the easiest to tolerate and among the most effective.

"The downside of all of this is the expense. The neurologist told me yesterday that paying for MS drugs out-of-pocket runs over $60,000 annually, so I'm tremendously grateful that I have insurance. I will max out my out-of-pocket limits annually, currently at $6,150. The unfortunate issue of timing is that MSU's insurance runs on a fiscal year that resets July 1, so I'll pay $6,150 now to get on the drugs and then another $6,150 in July and August before the limits kick in again. Every day on the drug therapy preserves brain cells and prevents damage to the central nervous system, so while I am tempted to wait until July to start treatment, I've been told that would be foolhardy...and stupid. :) Budgeting for $6,000 a year in medical expenses is something that I am still trying to wrangle but should be able to come up with some sort of plan for. Managing a $12,000 expense in the next six months is the part that has me absolutely flummoxed."

I first met Jen in 2017 when she came to one of my yoga classes. Her attentiveness, strength, vitality came across that first day I met her and she has continued to dazzle me as I have gotten to know her better. She has raised three daughters on her own, fully supporting them and herself as an assistant teaching professor at MSU. She lives on a small farm, keeps chickens and goats, and often arrives to class with the latest story of the visiting billy goat or the new puppy. She seems to often be upbeat in the face of adversity, and, once again, she is so today.

Please help me in supporting her.