Support for Dawn (Niki) Larson

Hello! I am Dawn's (Niki) sister-in-law and wanted to share her story. On August 23rd Dawn experienced difficulties writing and slurred speech. She immediately went to Urgent Care to be evaluated. They recommended if her symptoms were not better within two weeks to return. Throughout that night and into the next day her symptoms continued to worsen, which led to an emergency room visit. Dawn was diagnosed with an Ischemic Stroke. The part of the brain impacted was the left basal ganglia. She was out of the time frame to be given the clot busting medication. Dawn was hospitalized and over the last six weeks has gone through extensive testing to determine the location and cause of the stroke. The healthcare team identified a hole in her heart that caused a blood clot to travel from the heart to her brain causing the stroke. Two cardiac surgeries were done to repair the hole and place a monitor in her heart. Dawn has been unable to return to work due to ongoing deficits that include difficulties speaking/understanding/remembering and weakness in her right arm/hand. Part of the recovery involves extensive physical, occupation, and speech therapy. Dawn has always been actively involved in the community and an advocate for many. She has a master’s in education and taught school for many years. Eventually, transitioned into the Developmentally Disabled Program Manager role for the state of North Dakota to further carry out her passion for advocating and helping others. She is unable to return to doing the work that she loves. Dawn has exhausted all her vacation hours over the last six weeks and does not have short term disability. This causes significant financial strain and impacts her stroke recovery. Dawn’s goal for recovery is improvement in her speech, short term memory, strength back in her right arm, and RETURNING to work. Creating this go fund me as Stroke Awareness to others and to help with the medical and financial impacts the stroke has caused. Thank you for supporting Dawn and please keep her in your prayers for strength and recovery!