Hello,

My name is Ciara Taylor and I am Dakota's older sister. All I can say is: MENTAL HEALTH SUCKS & IS REAL! Dakota has suffered from it for a long time and has failed to admit he has a problem, and it got worse after we lost our dad. Life just keeps knocking him down, as it does everyone; but with untreated mental health problems, it takes a bigger toll on a person.

Well, twice in the last week, Dakota has felt that his only way to feel better is to no longer be here… obviously, we all know that’s not true, but that’s mental health for you. He tried unsuccessfully on 12/13, was admitted to Mercy Psych for a few days and released with no plan of action in place for him, all within a day and a half. He then attempted again on 12/16, and this time, he’s been fighting for his life since. Currently, he is sedated and on a ventilator suffering from serotonin syndrome. If you don’t know what that is, here is the definition:

“Serotonin syndrome is a potentially life-threatening condition resulting from excessive serotonin activity in the central nervous system, typically caused by the use of certain medications or drug interactions. It is a predictable consequence of excess serotonin and is characterized by a triad of symptoms: mental status changes, autonomic hyperactivity, and neuromuscular abnormalities.”

With that being said, Dakota has had no idea who anyone is, what happened, or where he is. He has no feeling in his limbs nor can he move them. Up until today, when they discovered that’s what he’s dealing with, we were very uncertain of what things would look like for Dakota. Once they got to the bottom of what they thought were seizures, which turned out to be tremors from the serotonin syndrome, they gave him medication to counteract his side effects. Within about an hour and a half of being given this medicine, Dakota started to come to, remembering who we were, and started moving his right side. He still has no feeling in his left side nor can he move those limbs, but he was signing to us and asking for food, so things are moving in the right direction, slowly!

Everything right now is still up in the air. We have no idea what long-lasting medical issues Dakota is going to have from this because it is still too soon to tell if he has suffered any brain damage or long-term side effects to his organs. Regardless, Dakota has a very long road ahead of him. They are hoping to start weaning him off of sedation tomorrow, depending on how he does overnight and how he handles coming off sedation and if he passes his breathing tests. He is in Madison ICU currently and will be for some time, and I’m sure he will be put into inpatient rehab, but again we don’t have any of those answers, as we are going day by day, which is all we can do right now. He has a long road to recovery, physically and mentally.

My mom has been driving up to Madison daily and spending the day up there, and has missed a few days of work. I work in Madison, so I have been going after work to see him. I understand it’s the holiday season, we are not looking for handouts, but if anyone can help as Dakota will be out of work for some time, we’d appreciate it. Dakota needs all the love and support he can get right now as he faces the obstacles and works on getting better. Please share, get the word out. Thoughts and prayers are always appreciated, as it’s very clear there is something out there for Dakota, because he is still here with us, and that is all we could ask for!

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read this, share, donate, or send thoughts & prayers. We appreciate it!