Help the Dupree Family Through Medical Crisis

Update 2/2/25

We are still trying to raise enough to start the stem cell treatments.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  This is our only option left to try to give Jennifer some sense of normal.  

Mike

So here's an update for y'all. We are still dealing with doctors not really being sure what is going on. Jennifer has good days and bad, as we all do.

She is still having motor issues with her arms and legs, and has started having some cognitive issues at times. She is having sporadic bouts of not remembering people or places, and losing both the ability and knowledge of how to use objects around the house.

The doctors are doing their best to treat the symptoms but because it’s not checking all the boxes, they don’t really have a plan.

We are looking into stem cell treatment now. There have been some good results with this but it is expensive. We are looking at roughly $17,000 for the treatment.

We appreciate and feel blessed by all the help we have been given, but we have to ask for your help again. Please share our story so we can see if stem cell is even going to be possibility.

Thanks to everyone and Merry Christmas.

M

Hi, we are Jennifer and Mike Dupree. We live in Ruston, LA with our two children. One is a senior in high school and one is a sophomore in college. Over the past 11 months, our lives have gone sideways.

After moving to Ruston, I found out the job I came up here for was not going to happen. We survived on Jennifer commuting back and forth the Baton Rouge for work, but just barely. Finally, in February, I found a job. Between her income and mine, we saw a light at the end of the tunnel. However, that soon changed. Three days after I started my new job, Jennifer had a medical situation occur. Her blood pressure dropped to 50/20, and she became unresponsive and began to have seizures. After many tests and misdiagnoses, she was finally diagnosed with Addison's disease and spent 9 days in 2 different hospitals. The next 2 months were filled with doctor's visits and trying new medications, many of which did not work and left Jennifer unable to continue her job, so we were down to one income again.

In April, the house we were living in flooded. The house became unstable and literally had pieces of the ceiling falling down. Black mold also formed in the house. We had to move and move quickly.

This move brought a new condition to light. Since the move, Jennifer has lost function in her left side and began to have seizures much more frequently. She experiences total loss of function in her left arm and leg. Her head now seizes to the left, leaving her without the ability to turn her head. She has lost her ability to speak on a regular and recurring basis. She lives with daily fatigue that leaves her bedridden for sometimes days at a time. She experiences large episodes of memory loss at times. Lastly, she has lost the ability to hold food down on a regular basis.

After more testing, more medications, more hospital stays, and more doctor's visits than I can count, they finally diagnosed her with dystonia. It is a cousin of Parkinson's Disease that, while not as deadly as Parkinson's, is permanent and irreversible. Basically, it is a neuromuscular disorder that makes the brain fire signals to your muscular system, forcing the muscles to contract and expand on their own constantly. This is why the cramping and seizures became more violent as time went on. It can occur with or without Parkinson's. We are currently on a waiting list to see a functional neurologist that specializes in movement disorders to attempt to find a way to treat the symptoms and if it is just Dystonia or Parkinson's as well. As neither disease is curable at this point, identifying and treating the symptoms is the best we can do. She is obviously unable to work at this point, as this disease is at times debilitating.

Throughout this, both of our mental health situations have taken a beating. Depression and anxiety have been hard to control. Many of these anxious moments have been made worse by the financial strain created by medical bills, travel expenses, and the cost of some of the medications Jennifer has been given. We were already tight due to the cost of a family on one income, but these medical expenses have made life impossible.

We come to you today asking for help. this is one of the hardest things we can ever ask for, but we have no choice at this point. We have exhausted our saving. Now that we finally have a diagnosis, we are working on disability for Jennifer, but all the government red tape takes a lot time to deal with. If anyone can find it in their heart to help us deal with these medical expenses, we would be blessed. If you can't, please share our story. We are in desperate straits, and I'm not sure how we are going to make it through this, but with a few blessings, we will.