Help Meg Recover From Brain Surgery

Thanks for visiting this fundraising effort to help my best friend Meg O’Connor with an upcoming health challenge. In late December, Meg needs to travel to NYC for an intensive brain surgery at Weill-Cornell and spend two weeks recuperating in Manhattan before flying home. The doctor strictly ordered Meg to stay within 20 minutes of the hospital for 2 weeks after being discharged, meaning she must pay for lodging in some of the most expensive areas of New York City. Therefore she needs our helping paying for airfare, food, and lodging while she’s in NYC.

Most of us know about Meg’s quirks--clumsiness, shakiness, and that she’s had to work mostly from home over the last six months because of excruciating headaches, etc… After many months of doctors' visits, she was recently diagnosed with a congenital brain defect called a Chiari Malformation, which means her skull is too small for her brain. This causes the brain to compress the brainstem -- to move out of her skull and into her spine. While not life threatening, the condition causes severe symptoms -- headaches, balance, and swallowing issues. With luck, the upcoming Chiari decompression surgery will relieve her symptoms and she’ll be fully functioning Meg again.

I ask you please do one or more of the following:

Thank you so much, and reach out if you have concerns or questions!

If you have received this gofundme from someone you know, but you do not personally know Meg, here is some information about this lovely human! Meg is an expert oceanographer working in rural Louisiana and Mississippi, whose dedication to science and to science communication has driven her make science accessible to the public. She works hard at not only ensuring her work has social impact, but also translating her brilliance and skillsets into creative work like music and writing. She is passionate, incredibly generous and kind, and a light of a human being. She makes the lives of those around her richer, more dynamic, and more complete with her sense of humor, her humility, and her empathy. I would not be the person I am today without her love and support. If I could pay for this entire fund, I would. Any help is so greatly appreciated.