Let's rally for the Mercier Family!

DeLand! One of our very own families could really use our help right now.

Megan and Bobby Mercier have lived in DeLand for many years. They have two beautiful daughters, and they are each very active in the DeLand community. Paxtyn attends DeLand Middle School, has played baseball for several years, and is currently playing for DeLand Little League's The Finishers. In 2023, Paxtyn was invited to play with the Boston Slammers all girls baseball team in the National Baseball for All Tournament. It's no surprise that she aspires to be a MLB Player when she is older. Parker is attending Ivy Hawn Charter School of the Arts, and in her first year there has already managed to be chosen as Husky of the Month based on her character, leadership, and ability to always go above & beyond to positively represent the campus and her community! Parker also plays soccer for DeLand.

Now that you've gotten to know the family a little.. here's the tough stuff..

For about 6 months now, Paxtyn and Parker's dad, Bobby, has been experiencing some odd symptoms - losing his balance & getting dizzy if he closed his eyes in the shower. They passed it off as just weird things that happened. Well, on 9/11 he had ulnar nerve surgery & while recovering in bed, he started to experience loss of feeling in his legs. This progressively got worse & worse. Bobby was under the care of a chiropractor who ordered an MRI of his lumbar spine. The MRI showed some degenerative discs. The chiropractor immediately recommended a $6000 spinal decompression. Learning this, Bobby's wife Megan, had him into an orthopedist & a neurologist within a week. During the week that they were waiting for his appointments, Bobby's gait progressively became worse, resulting in him needing a cane to walk around. Bobby's first appointment was with the ortho who stated his symptoms were not consistent with the lumbar MRI results & her exact words were "if you were a female - I would say without a doubt this is MS" (this is because MS is primarily diagnosed in females). The neurologist ordered an EMG & an MRI of the brain + an MRI of the cervical spine. Thankfully, his brain is healthy. However, the cervical spine MRI showed severe spinal cord compression which resulted in the radiologist (not even the neuro) calling Bobby personally & advising him he needed to seek emergency treatment. Megan and Bobby arrived at Advent Health Daytona on Friday night (they have a great neurosurgery program). The neurosurgeon did not feel his issue needed immediate surgical intervention; however, they could not allow him to leave the hospital for fear it could get much worse. Since Friday night when he was admitted he has had repeat brain & cervical spine MRIs, a thoracic spine MRI, & multiple rounds of labs. There is still no definitive cause. Today, Bobby is going to have a lumbar puncture to check his spinal fluid. Once Megan and Bobby have the results of the puncture, they SHOULD know if they are up against an inflammatory disease (like MS) or if he needs to go into surgery to fix the compression on his spine. In either case, it doesn't appear that Bobby will be home for a while.

Megan has been driving back and forth from home to the hospital a few times a day, to ensure the girls make it to school on time, are picked up on time, and also getting to their soccer and baseball practices/games on time. Paxtyn has baseball 3 days a week and Parker has soccer 2 days a week. Thank God there is wonderful family nearby who have been able to help with some of the transporting.

The medical bills, household bills and rent, and money for gas and eating out (while driving back and forth) are quickly racking up. Although Megan and Bobby are staying positive and are hoping this will soon just be a terrible memory, no one knows for sure how long Bobby will be in the hospital or how long he will be able to continue working (he's working virtually from the hospital) - he has an amazing employer who is doing everything they can for him.

I'm asking all of you amazing people for any donation at all to help this beautiful family - nothing is too small. I will post updates as I receive them! Please.. Let's come together as a WONDERFUL community and help Bobby - and ease their minds of financial obligations right now.

**If you don't feel comfortable donating here, please consider:

Zelle: Contact Megan on Facebook for this.

Venmo: @megan-mercier-4