Support Maggie's Battle with Crohn's Disease

Maggie and I met Freshman year at Mount Assisi Acadamy. We have remained friends through the years. I am writing this in the hopes that we can come together to help Maggie in her time of need. She is a single mom of two and can use your help. Please share this!

Maggie was first diagnosed with Severe Crohn’s disease by Dr. Gannon from the University of Chicago when she was 19 years old. At that time, he told her it was the most severe case of Crohn's disease that he had seen in someone so young. Maggie has had multiple hospitalizations, and treatments such as steroids for flares. She has been on Remicade and Humira treatments throughout the years. She has endured a life with chronic pain, accompanied and exacerbated by extreme stress and struggles. She prioritizes working to support her children and is unable to prioritize her health.

On Tuesday, August 15th of 2023, she had an acute episode of abdominal pain and was taken into the emergency room at Porter Memorial Hospital in Indiana. She underwent an emergency exploratory laparotomy. She was fortunate that the surgeon on call that day was exceptional and had saved her life. She was intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation in the ICU after surgery and within 24 hours she developed Sepsis and Acute respiratory distress syndrome. The hospital exhausted all measures of care they could provide and in a timely fashion they transferred her to a higher level of care to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The medical team was waiting for her and when she arrived, they started the measures to prepare and place her on a machine that would bypass her lungs to treat the acute respiratory distress syndrome (VV ECMO).

She was taken off the ventilator on August 22 and she started to slowly recover. She was not able to walk initially and was severely weak, deconditioned, and confused, having been paralyzed and sedated while she was on VV ECMO and the ventilator. She was home within a month and returned to work within a few weeks. She has since struggled medically with GI absorption issues, low electrolytes, and exhaustion to name a few. She had also developed a post-op hernia requiring a second surgery. She underwent surgery on June 21, 2024, to repair the hernia. She will be unable to work for 4-6 weeks. Maggie will not have any income to pay her bills and has fallen behind financially. Although she’s struggled greatly both medically and financially, asking for support beyond her immediate family is difficult for her. Any support you can provide is greatly appreciated. If you are not able to provide financial support at this time, please consider sharing this with your network.