Support Makenna's Fight Against Epilepsy

This is Makenna, a sweet, caring, and courageous 11-year-old girl. Makenna was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 5 after having a grand mal seizure at her pediatrician's office. Before that, she experienced one other grand mal and many absence seizures that would leave her totally fatigued and drained. After being diagnosed, she was put on medication to help control her seizures. Even though she was dealing with many side effects of the medication, Makenna almost made it 2 years seizure-free. About a month before the huge success, she had another grand mal, and it was right back to square one. She started getting horrible depression and anxiety along with debilitating migraines. She also was having memory problems that were causing delays in learning and social skills. She has since been put on several medications and unfortunately was unable to try to work towards reducing medication due to the connection between her migraines and her seizures. In January of this year, she was again almost 2 years seizure-free with the exception of occasional migraines and anxiety. She started having temporal lobe seizures when she would get sick. These seizures cause hallucinations, intense fear, and anxiety along with a loss of reality. We still have not been able to fully control these seizures, thus most likely resulting in medication changes. Makenna has had many tests and specialist visits. Unfortunately, several of her specialist visits were not covered by insurance because insurance changes determine that those visits are elective. In addition, deductibles, copays and coinsuranse have increased significantly. This has left us currently medically in debt and financially struggling. We would love for Makenna to be able to go to epilepsy camp next summer to meet other kids who share the same stories. As it stands, we are unable to even consider it. Makenna also has a love for competitive Irish dance. We are currently unable to fully participate in the competitions she loves and are sturggling to be able to send her to her regional competition next month. We are also working to train her a service dog to alert for migraines, seizures, and to provide DPT for anxiety and depression. We have had to stop in-person training sessions due to lack of funds. Makenna has two full-time working parents who are trying desperately to catch up. Thank you to our amazing community for your love and support.