Support Erin Menes's amazing life in her battle against MS

Hello Everyone, first I want to start by saying I have known this amazing woman over half my life. For those that know Erin Marie Menes, since the first day I met her on Aug 28th, 2003, she has always been a beacon of hope and positivity. From our time at Texas Roadhouse as college students; to her time in nursing school where she received her MSM Masters of Nursing after years of hard work in 2022; and then becoming a mentor and teacher in the Nursing industry so she can continue passing on her knowledge and more importantly her empathy and passion for helping others. Erin is also an Aunt to her favorite person in the world, Noah. Going back to Ohio for every important aspect of his life possible, Erin is the epitome of the perfect Aunt. Her entire life up to this point has always been about putting others before herself and helping people. If you are reading this, there is a good chance she touched your life positively as well.

Unfortunately, approximately two years ago, she was diagnosed with MS. For those unfamiliar with MS, or its full name Multiple Sclerosis, it is a lifelong autoimmune condition that affects the central nervous system such as the brain and spinal cord. Erin's version is called RRMS (Relapsing Remitting MS). Some complications are seeing double, muscle weakness (dropping or holding onto things), pain, and extreme fatigue. Progression varies from person to person, and unfortunately, the nature of Erin's workload has put too much on her to where she is experiencing such fatigue and other symptoms it's become too hard for her to work even 1-2 days a week. This is adding more stress to her plate because she has only so much FMLA and no more PTO time, which is causing more stress and makes the fatigue, pain, and general weakness worse. It's a vicious cycle she has been battling since prior to the diagnosis.

She has finally reached the point where she is no longer going to be able to work much or at all for at least awhile. This is due to what the stress does to setting off attacks of her symptoms. While working on receiving disability, hopefully through her work insurance, she is heartbroken as she is most likely going to have to move back to Ohio from her happy place in Tampa so she can be closer to her dad and family to help support her and take her to doctors etc. On top of all this she was involved in a car wreck recently during the storms that has rendered her car useless currently while she fights with insurance. Another added stress that no one should deal with.

All the money from this donation will go to help Erin pay her medical bills, standard monthly expenses, cover the cost of moving her back to Ohio, help find a reliable car so she can get to and from doctors, and hopefully taking some of the issues off her plate that has her worrying. Anything left will go toward research in finding a cure and reliable treatment for MS. Hopefully we can help her get set back up and in a place where she will be comfortable enough to maybe be able to work again in the future albeit part time or anything. Erin has been so good to so many of us, the least thing we can do is band together and whether it's $5 or $100 help pay her back and take some stress out of her life! Please reach out to me with any questions whatsoever!