Meridith's Seizure Recovery

Hi, my name is Krista, and I'm fundraising for my good friend and neighbor Meridith's recovery from a life-threatening seizure. TLDR: Meridith had a seizure, then got rhabdo, then got fired, and now may be permanently unable to move her right foot.

On Friday, August 5th, Meridith called my partner Connor to get a package from the mailroom for her because she hadn't been feeling well all week. After not finding anything in the mailroom, Connor went to her apartment and promptly called me to come up as well. We found Meridith on the ground, where she had crawled to unlock the door for us and got her to the couch—but not without great pain for Meridith. After some assessment of what was going on (numb feet, painful hip, broken glasses, confusion), we called an ambulance to transport her to the hospital when it became clear that she had fallen and could not walk.

After a long night in the emergency room, we discovered that Meridith had been on the concrete floor in her apartment, drifting in and out of consciousness, for 24-48 hours. This prolonged time on the hard floor had caused Meridith to develop rhabdomylosis (often called rhabdo): a severe condition in which the muscles begin to break down and release toxins into the bloodstream, causing issues for the kidneys (and ultimately kidney failure, permanent disability or death) if left untreated. Rhabdo is measured by CK levels; normal CK levels for women are around 100, and Meridith's levels were 35,000. Because of this, Meridith was unable to move or feel her legs. Very slowly over several days, the inability to move was replaced by slight movements of the ankle or knee, and unfortunately, the inability to feel was replaced by intense pain in the form of "pins and needles."

Having undergone many tests and scans, doctors were initially unable to determine the cause of Meridith's rhabdo. Rhabdo is often caused by a crush injury, overexertion, alcohol abuse, certain medicines, and toxic substances, but Meridith hadn't been drinking or using any other substances. Doctors determined the most likely cause was a first-time, isolated seizure that caused Meridith to lose consciousness.

Meridith was connected to an EEG brain monitor for several days, but thankfully they did not detect any further seizure activity. She slowly gained most of the movement back in her legs and can now walk with a walker and the assistance of a physical therapist. However, Meridith is still unable to move her right foot, likely due to a damaged nerve in her knee, and we don't know if that movement will ever return.

On top of everything that happened with Meridith's health, she was fired from her job as a product designer because of this medical emergency and has no protections because she was a contractor.

I started this Go Fund Me to help Meridith begin to cover the costs of medical bills from this over-a-week-long hospital stay, living expenses as she cannot work for the next few months, and continued medical treatment. Anything you can donate is a deeply valued contribution to Meridith's recovery from this trauma.

PLEASE NOTE: Meridith has a trip to the Czech Republic scheduled for next month that she hopes she will be able to go on, and this trip was already completely paid for before the accident occurred. None of the funds from this Go Fund Me will be used to cover costs incurred by that trip.