Mallory's Medical Healing Fund

To read Medical Updates click the "Updates" button up top ^^
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****UPDATE****
You all helped us reach our goal of $15,000 in just 33 short hours. Mal's friends and family have been shedding some tears, and JoAnn (Mal's Mother) is speechless. I have increased the goal and will leave it open as this will be a long road with many unexpected expenses for the family. 

Let's not only cover Mallory's recovery expenses such as therapy, transportation, and alternative treatements. Let's also raise enough money to help cover JoAnn's unexpected financial loss (she also doesn't have her car out in Winnipeg). Let's cover meals so JoAnn doesn't have to think about it. Let's pay for her family to fly to Winnipeg to visit. Let's cover Mallory's lost income from being on disability leave. Not to mention her family doesn't even have access to her bank account to pay her bills for her.

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Hi everyone, my name is Jamie New Johnson and I'm one of many lucky people that gets to be Mallory Boutilier's friend. To everyone that is lucky enough to know her, she is the most ridiculous, hilarious, generous, and genius person we know. She loves life, she's so in love with her boyfriend Zane, she loves her family and her (tons of) friends - and she would do absolutely ANYTHING for us all. 



You can read in further detail below, but a month ago Mallory fell into a coma with a rare brain infection that came on quite suddenly. Her loving mother JoAnn was able to fly out to Winnipeg and make it to the hospital only a few short hours before the coma took over. JoAnn is not going back home. She has decided to apply for compassionate care leave and then retire early and live at her daughters apartment until she recovers. And to anyone that knows JoAnn, we all know that Mallory certainly takes after her. JoAnn would do anything for anyone, and it's time that we all give back to them in their time of need. 

Let's not only cover Mallory's recovery expenses such as therapy, transportation, and alternative treatements. Let's also raise enough money to help cover JoAnn's unexpected financial loss (she also doesn't have her car out in Winnipeg). Let's cover meals so JoAnn doesn't have to think about it. Let's pay for her family to fly to Winnipeg to visit. Let's cover Mallory's lost income from being on disability leave. Not to mention her family doesn't even have access to her bank account to pay her bills for her. 

Please consider giving money, meals, prayer, or anything you can think of so we can show Mallory, JoAnn, and their entire family how much we love them.

Let's give so much more than we think we can.

Read the full story below. 
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What happened?

On June 3rd, 2017, Mallory fell into a coma with a neuro-psychiatric disorder called Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis (a type of Autoimmune Encephalitis). In short, this is when the immune system attacks the brain. 

What state is she in right now?

Please check the "Updates" section of this campaign for updates on Mal's medical state.

How did this happen?

They are currently unsure of the cause of Mal’s case, but the doctors at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg are treating her the best they can while they continue to run tests. Often times it can be caused by a tumor on the ovaries. The doctors currently can't find a tumor, so they are considering removing her ovaries if the current diluted chemo treatment doesn't wake her up. 

When did this start?

It seemingly began at the end of May with what the doctors thought was a flu, but after looking back at all the signs, it began at least a month prior with Mal's odd behaviour and apparent newfound struggle with "depression". 

Mallory was the happiest she had been in her life, so when she told me she was feeling depressed in April, none of it made sense. It didn't make sense to her either. Nonetheless, she was eager to start feeling better, so her doctor put her on depression medication in early May and she had set up her first counselling session for May 30th. On Mal's first day back to work after the May long weekend, she complained of feeling terrible with a really bad migraine. Although she has a history of migraine's, this time was different. Her migraine continued for 10 days. She had a fever, body pain, puking, ear ache, and even worse - she went 10 days without sleep, food, or bathroom breaks. She visited emerge a few days in, but they had sent her home saying it was either an untreated UTI and/or the flu. On day 6 Mallory told me she felt like was completely delusional, couldn't stop crying, and felt like she was dying. 

Little did we know, this entire time it was the brain infection. Autoimmune Encephalitis (AE).

In the 48-72 hours leading up to her second emerge visit on Friday June 2nd, Mal started to show very odd behaviour and further AE symptoms including delirium, paranoid thoughts, agitation, loss of inhibition, and finally cognitive impairment and invisible seizures (the kind you can only see on EEG tests). Her boyfriend Zane and friend Allie had to call an ambulance to take her to the hospital because she had become so delirious and paranoid and tried to hurt them when they came near her. Mallory was admitted to the ICU right away and lost conciousness rather quickly once admitted. 

What is the recovery?

When she wakes up, she will be in speech and language therapy, psychological therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy for anywhere from months to years. Without a vehicle or ability to drive, Mal and her caregivers will need assistance with extra travel expenses to and from her treatments, with unexpected medical costs, any alternative treatments they decide to take, and much more than we can imagine. 
 
You can also help by sending your prayers and positive vibes and sharing this fund with your friends. ❤

Thank you all for your generosity in helping us get our Mal back.

Taken from aealliance.org:
Some patients have total recovery, including patients who are severely ill. After recovery from an acute episode of autoimmune encephalitis, many patients have symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Symptoms of TBI can include, but are not limited to, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, acquired Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), cognitive challenges, coordination problems, memory problems, lack of motivation, change of personality, irritability, and depression.

Please keep Mal and her family in your prayers.