Friends and Family, Far & Wide ~
Think about the last time you spent $25 bucks without blinking.
What did it buy?
- A giant jar of Nutella?
- An ink cartridge for your printer?
- An IMAX ticket?
- A decent bottle of wine?
- The baggage fee on United Airlines?
- A week's worth of lattes at Starbucks?
- A handful of lottery tickets?
What if you had THE CHANCE TO CHANGE SOMEONE'S LIFE with that $25?
Would you do it?
Vanessa here, Megan Brim's older sister.
THE SITUATION IS URGENT.
On Megan's behalf, I'm asking each of you for a hugely important favor, a mere $25 donation that will literally CHANGE HER LIFE.
Hands down, the best $25 (or $50, $75, $100, $150, $200, $350, take your pick of any size) investment you'll ever make.
It'll take a village, but our collective action is going to move mountains.
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."
Ready To Take Action? YES! YES! YES!
Donate Now and Help Us Reach Our $55,000 Goal.
Want to hear Megan's IMPROBABLE COMEBACK STORY?
How, at just 26 years old, she made it through:
--> MASSIVE STROKES
--> EMERGENCY BRAIN SURGERY
--> A SEVERE HEART INFECTION
--> A 10% CHANCE OF SURVIVING
How Megan FOUGHT BACK EVERY SINGLE DAY?
&
Why Megan NEEDS ALL OF US NOW for a LOOMING LIFE-OR-DEATH PREDICAMENT?
Read On…
THE PREDICAMENT: OPERATION PEARLY WHITES
At just 28 years old, Megan is faced with a dire dilemma: She needs a full set of dental implants ASAP. Meg's mouth is a chronic war zone of missing, crumbling, shifting teeth; of bone loss and infectious decay that's threatening her on a number of levels.
--> HEALTH-WISE: Beyond daily agony, dietary restrictions, and a steady stream of antibiotics, if any germs from dental infections travel through Megan's bloodstream and attach to damaged areas of her heart, it's game over. Megan's recent months-long stay in the ICU was due in part to a life-threatening infection of the heart's valves and inner lining known as endocarditis. Megan's heart surgeon has required her to first complete dental implants before she moves forward with an inevitable open-heart surgery to replace those damaged valves.
--> AFTER YEARS OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, Megan has endured a war zone of broken teeth and decay the likes of which no insurance company is willing to cover, particularly the Medicaid she qualifies for. Insurance companies consider dental implants to be cosmetic in nature and therefore an elective surgery. There are no "gray zones" for those like Megan who at such a young age suffer from true health crises that necessitate implants as a lifetime solution, since they are far too young to use dentures and bridges.
Dental implants are incredibly expensive. Megan's out-of-pocketcosts for afull set are estimated at $55,000 – UP FRONT ***
Clearly, our Meg is stuck between a proverbial rock and hard place. Her dental woes continue to hinder not only her health and wellbeing but also her confidence and capacity to job-hunt.
As we seek out your support, Megan is ready to tell you her comeback story and she's so grateful to all those who have helped her through this journey to smiling proudly again.
We hope Megan's story INSPIRES YOU to DONATE to OPERATION PEARLY WHITES!!
Let's help Megan live this second chance at life to her very fullest!
* * *
MEGAN'S STORY
"My journey is one of trial and error," Megan wrote in January of 2018. 
"At times, too many times, to a fault. But in college I learned that the most important life lesson of all, to succeed at anything worthwhile, is that one must first fail. Knowing how to fail, to be humbled by your mistakes, and how to recreate yourself from these ashes helps to build a person in an honorable way."
At last Megan feels she has finally found her way back to the light at the end of a very long tunnel.
"I had to really map out every last creative solution to a large web of problems that I'd accumulated throughout heavy depression and debilitating addictions that literally killed me."
"I decided in the hospital, after a stroke that gave me only a 10% chance of surviving, that I wasn't going to fall victim to my addictions, my vices, and my failures any longer. I wasn't going to allow a cliché to write my story for me. No chance. I was not done living. I wasn't done writing my story here on this planet."
"My failures weren't going to swallow me whole."
"For several months in the hospital, I rose above statistics, above assumptions, and back into my body. I learned how to talk, how to walk, how to live as a human, as a woman, again. I wanted to be proud of myself, just as I was the day I graduated college with a bachelors in fine arts from California College of the Arts. I wasn't going to fail myself, my camera, my dreams, my loved ones. So I ditched that walker and helmet that the doctors were so sure I'd be bound to for the rest of my days, and I walked tall and proud, head held high out of Kaweah Delta Hospital in July of 2016."
"Every day since, I've been constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have this second chance at life. This time, I'm not going to give up on myself, not going to allow depression to take hold of me, my goals, or my will to live."
"I was given this second chance for a reason and I'm going to fight for it every day, no matter what obstacles stand before me."
From here on out, my mantra is and always will be: 'Forward Momentum.'" --Megan Noël Brim
FINDING MEGAN'S SMILE
This past summer, after careful research into the field of dental implants, we took Megan in for an extensive consultation at a trusted center in Marina Del Rey. Their doctors have broad experience treating patients with complex cases that have regularly been turned away by others. The team walked us through the process from start to finish:
--> Taking a 3-D CT Scan of Meg's mouth to assess her precise
treatment plan
--> Demonstrating how technicians will determine the shape, color, and
size of Meg's new teeth so that they look completely natural
--> Encouraging discussion of every detail along the way
Most importantly, helping Megan dare to feel HOPE (instead of fear, shame, or disappointment) for the first time in years!!
AS MEG STRIVES TO GET HER LIFE BACK ON COURSE:
Why should her smile hold her back from her dreams?
How can we let our beautiful girl continue concealing, coping, suffering through heartbreaking misery?
That GORGEOUS SMILE Megan flashed in high school (not so very long ago) is possible again with OUR SUPPORT!
Contributing to this FULL TRANSFORMATION promises to be the BEST INVESTMENT we'll ever make in our favorite strawberry blonde, ***IF WE WORK TOGETHER TO REACH OUR GOAL!***
(Megan with her sister Vanessa and their mom Linda)
* * *
HOW DO DENTAL IMPLANTS WORK?
The wonder of dental implants is that the artificial tooth roots literally integrate into your mouth by fusing to the living bone cells of the jaw, just like real teeth in appearance, feel, and function.
With dental implants made of zirconium or porcelain and embedded using permanent titanium screws, Megan will be able to do what you and I likely take for granted every day: brush, floss, savor food, and smile -- as if she's had those new teeth her entire life.
In short: Meg will finally BE HERSELF.
* * *
SISTERHOOD
Our entire lives, Megan and I have maintained a special friendship born of mutual respect, trust, and unconditional sisterly love. 
As Meg's older sister, I've strived to be a role model, encouraging her to be the best version of herself and always believing in her incredible potential.
In turn, I've found my sister to be a fountain of WISDOM and WIT, CREATIVITY and COMPASSION, SPIRIT and STYLE. 
Megan is one of the most AUTHENTIC people you'll ever meet.
She's ~
** PURE FUN to talk to
** GENUINELY INTERESTED in people
** CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORLD
** WICKEDLY FUNNY
** A PURVEYOR of wide-ranging topics (music, fashion, visual arts) 
She's also ~
** INCREDIBLY ARTICULATE and
** SUPER INTELLIGENT
Meg has an intuitive—almost psychic--understanding of others' feelings and intentions, just as she is innately self-reflective and attuned to what she herself is experiencing. 
CONNECTING WITH OTHERS is critical to Megan's personal happiness. She's a CARING, LOVING, DEVOTED FRIEND who has a tendency to put others' needs and problems before her own.
Likewise, she feels ROOTED BY FAMILY AND TRADITION. 
As long as I've known my little sister, she has been a collector of objects and heirlooms that hold meaningful stories. She also reads widely, journals frequently, and ventures out into nature or town, a walking fashion statement with camera in hand and music flowing to capture what the rest of us don't readily see with the naked eye. 
(Megan photographing our mom Linda near Cambria)
At her core, Megan is an ARTIST and an EXPLORER, and HER SOUL CRAVES INSPIRATION.
* * *
THE HOSPITAL
For all of my sister's amazing attributes, she has faced an equally daunting set of personal struggles over the last decade. That she has climbed her way out of such a deep, dark pit of despair at all is a testament to her FIERCE TENACITY.
Megan's graduation from the acclaimed California College of the Arts represented the pinnacle of her potential up until that point in her life; afterward however, she spiraled perilously down to rock bottom, withdrawing from the world and building a formidable wall that she'd ultimately have to scale because HER LIFE DEPENDED ON IT.
Megan endured:
1. EMERGENCY BRAIN SURGERY
2. MASSIVE STROKES
3. A HEART INFECTION requiring
-- HEAVY ANTIBIOTICS and FUTURE TRANSPLANTS
4. A HIDEOUS DETOX and a
5. 3-MONTH STAY IN THE ICU most of which involved
6. A FEEDING TUBE
Between this tube and antibiotics for months on end, the tooth decay in Megan's already vulnerable mouth spread rapidly. 
As a 26 year-old flanked by elderly patients on all sides, Megan was the ICU anomaly. She'd been given ONLY A 10% CHANCE OF SURVIVING after the strokes and brain surgery. 
Doctors were certain that IF she made a full recovery that would almost certainly include wearing a protective helmet and using a walker FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE. 
Rounds of medical students from across the sprawling hospital regularly visited her wing, marching behind the doctors, huddling over clipboards, marveling at Megan's vitals, whispering out of earshot.
I'll never forget the day I had to read Megan her last rites: helping her clutch the pen in fingers that would not grip; guiding her signature in loops her muscles could no longer conjure; her words far, far away; her eyes filled with panic.
During our many visits over her months in the hospital, we would hear Megan mumble insistently,"I want to live! I want to live!"
The thought of dying terrified her; she had so much more to live for, so much she wanted to do, so many loved ones she wished to hug in gratitude.
MEGAN DIDN'T WANT TO LET HERSELF --OR ANYONE ELSE-- DOWN.
She fought every single day to take back what the strokes and heart infection had stolen from her. Her stubborn resolve and sense of humor served her well in the hospital as she willed herself to defy all prognoses. She stayed alert, asked questions, spoke frankly, and demonstrated deep appreciation for all support.
Emerging from the fog that had swallowed her identity for too long, Megan was ready to finally exorcise the monster; she was ready to enter rehab and feel whole again. 
* * *
REHAB
A few months ago, Megan successfully completed her 90-day stay at Clare Rehabilitation Center in Santa Monica, CA.
Though required by law to complete the 60-day program, Megan opted for an extra month at the center, eventually working her way up to maximum freedom, becoming a success story among the staff and a role model to those just entering the program. 
She has passed through the worst of it by:
** SUMMONING COURAGE
** STICKING TO THE PROGRAM
** MAKING NEW FRIENDS
** ATTENDING MEETINGS
** FINDING A SPONSOR
** AVAILING HERSELF OF RESOURCES
-- like those at the CAREER CENTER 
(Megan with her sister Vanessa and their mom Linda)
Megan's current task in her yearlong phase of recovery within sober living:
To relearn how to manage life and maintain her wellbeing
DAY BY DAY
It's a challenge that involves JOB HUNTING.
And job hunting, requires CONFIDENCE. 
For Megan's comeback story to be complete, SHE NEEDS OUR HELP.
***PLEASE.
***DO WHAT YOU CAN.
~ DONATE to OPERATION PEARLY WHITES ~
***TOGETHER, LET'S HELP MEGAN THROUGH THIS JOURNEY TO SMILING PROUDLY AGAIN.
Let's help Megan live this second chance at life to the very fullest.
READY TO TAKE ACTION?
DONATE NOW to OPERATION PEARLY WHITES.
HELP US REACH OUR $55,000 GOAL. 
Feel free to SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS & MEMORIES and definitely SPREAD THE WORD!!!
EVERY. DOLLAR. COUNTS.
"Where there is great love, there are always miracles."
Your donation says, "I love you, and I believe in you!"
Invest in Megan's future today.
THANK YOU, FROM ALL OF US!
xoxo --The Pearly Whites Brigade
Megan, Linda (mom), Blair (dad), Martin (stepdad)
Vanessa (older sister), Lance (brother-in-law), Stephanie and Charlotte (stepsisters)
