Morgan’s Journey to Recovery
Donation protected
For anyone who knows Morgan, you know her iconic laugh and her love for adventure. She recently was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a neurological disorder where her immune system is basically attacking her nervous system, causing extreme pain, muscle weakness and paralysis. It can take weeks, months, to years to fully recovery, but the good news is most people do completely recovery. It’s just a long and painful process.
To assist her through the recovery process, please donate to help pay medical and personal bills (rent, utility bills, etc.), as well as give her the motivation she needs to be back to her old self as soon as possible. Any amount helps!
I’ll be posting weekly updates on her progress and keep the GoFundMe account running through her recovery.
For more information about GBS, visit https://www.gbs-cidp.org/gbs/
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BACKGROUND (posted June 23, 2019):
Morgan had been looking forward to her two week trip to Switzerland and Austria with her mom for over a year. Before she left on June 4th, she started having numbness in her hands and shoulder pain. She brushed it off, thinking she may have slept on her shoulder funny, and got on the plane with her mom. While in Switzerland, her symptoms kept getting worse and worse. Her pain was excruciating, her muscles weakening, and she knew something serious was going on with her body. She went to the ER in Switzerland where they suspected she may have Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). They told her she needed to get an MRI and spinal tap to confirm their theory, and if she did in fact have GBS she was going to get a lot worse before she got better.
Morgan and her mom took the first flight they could back home to Philadelphia. Luckily she landed before her symptoms got too bad. Her dad picked her and her mom up the afternoon of June 11th and rushed to the ER at Jefferson Hospital, where she also works as a Pathologist Assistant. Hearing how quickly her symptoms were progressing, the hospital staff rushed her to ICU, as many people with GBS have breathing difficulties and need to be intubated.
On Friday, June 14th, Morgan was moved from the ICU to a general hospital room - good news that they did not have to intubate her and thought her breathing had improved. However, since then she’s continuing to get weaker and weaker as GBS is still attacking her nervous system. She has good days and bad, making it hard to tell if her overall trend is improving or declining.
Because GBS is so rare, the doctors don’t know when she’ll reach her “plateau” aka the worst of the worst, before she starts getting better. It could be any day now or it could be a couple weeks from now. Once she starts to feel better, she will still need weeks to months of physical therapy to help her relearn how to walk and gain muscle strength back.
Again, please help her and her family through this by easing the burden of paying medical bills, rent, utilities, and other expenses.
To assist her through the recovery process, please donate to help pay medical and personal bills (rent, utility bills, etc.), as well as give her the motivation she needs to be back to her old self as soon as possible. Any amount helps!
I’ll be posting weekly updates on her progress and keep the GoFundMe account running through her recovery.
For more information about GBS, visit https://www.gbs-cidp.org/gbs/
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BACKGROUND (posted June 23, 2019):
Morgan had been looking forward to her two week trip to Switzerland and Austria with her mom for over a year. Before she left on June 4th, she started having numbness in her hands and shoulder pain. She brushed it off, thinking she may have slept on her shoulder funny, and got on the plane with her mom. While in Switzerland, her symptoms kept getting worse and worse. Her pain was excruciating, her muscles weakening, and she knew something serious was going on with her body. She went to the ER in Switzerland where they suspected she may have Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). They told her she needed to get an MRI and spinal tap to confirm their theory, and if she did in fact have GBS she was going to get a lot worse before she got better.
Morgan and her mom took the first flight they could back home to Philadelphia. Luckily she landed before her symptoms got too bad. Her dad picked her and her mom up the afternoon of June 11th and rushed to the ER at Jefferson Hospital, where she also works as a Pathologist Assistant. Hearing how quickly her symptoms were progressing, the hospital staff rushed her to ICU, as many people with GBS have breathing difficulties and need to be intubated.
On Friday, June 14th, Morgan was moved from the ICU to a general hospital room - good news that they did not have to intubate her and thought her breathing had improved. However, since then she’s continuing to get weaker and weaker as GBS is still attacking her nervous system. She has good days and bad, making it hard to tell if her overall trend is improving or declining.
Because GBS is so rare, the doctors don’t know when she’ll reach her “plateau” aka the worst of the worst, before she starts getting better. It could be any day now or it could be a couple weeks from now. Once she starts to feel better, she will still need weeks to months of physical therapy to help her relearn how to walk and gain muscle strength back.
Again, please help her and her family through this by easing the burden of paying medical bills, rent, utilities, and other expenses.
Organizer and beneficiary
Virginia Vassalotti
Organizer
Philadelphia, PA
Morgan Smith
Beneficiary
