Hello friends and family! This is a very difficult thing to share with everyone as my brother and sister-in-law, Nate and Katie McGinness, do not have an easy time accepting help. If you know Katie, you know that almost every cell in her body has stubbornness attached to it!

About a year and a half ago, Katie began losing mobility in her hands and legs. By December 2021, she was unable to walk and was admitted to the hospital. Katie spent 3 months in the hospital and was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome. She has been in a wheelchair since and has gone through extensive physical therapy. Here are some of the things she has been dealing with since:

Physically:

▫️Steroid Withdrawal (Katie was on high dose prednisone for over a year and her body has stoppped producing it on it’s own - she has still been trying to figure this out with her rheumatologist)

▫️Dysautonomia (A dysfunction of the (autonomic) nerves that regulate nonvoluntary body functions (think: behind the scenes), such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature regulation, digestion, etc.) *Sjögrens is the 2nd most common cause of dysautonomia*

Mentally:

▫️Not having insurance for four months (Insurance companies changed at the beginning of the year and it’s been a nightmare to figure out)

▫️Not having disability benefits or income for four months (due to the insurance issues, she has had to cancel multiple important doctors appointments, including Physical and Occupational Therapies). Katie does not have care established with a primary doctor, meaning the proper paperwork has been traveling from office to office not getting completed; she has also had to forgo follow up scans, bloodwork, and X-rays.)

▫️Without insurance, her prescriptions are generally $500-700/month.

With all of this being said, Katie took a turn for the worse this past week. She began losing her hearing and eyesight and was also losing mobility in her hands again. On Wednesday, May 3rd, she was taken by ambulance to the emergency room and was admitted. They determined there was swelling in blood vessels to her brain and that was causing her loss of senses. Due to her inability to hear or see, she didn’t know what was going on, which was visibly scary for her. She has since been moved to ICU in Rockford where she has been sedated and on a ventilator and doctors have not been able to determine the cause.

Nate and Katie have a very long road ahead of them. They are looking at medical bills upward of $500,000 by the time all is said and done and anything anyone can do to help them would be so much appreciated. I will provide updates as available and can’t thank everyone enough for your support.