Tatum's Recovery Fund

Our good friend Tatum Larson moved to Maui almost two months ago to further her schooling career in massage and nutrition. As she was setting everything up to make the move to Maui she spent the first couple of weeks on the Big Island in Hilo working on a farm and visiting a friend. While there she contracted Rat Lungworm disease, a brain-invading parasite that can be transferred by slugs and snails onto fruits and vegetables. The parasite can cause a rare form of meningitis called eosinophilic meningitis, which she unfortunately contracted. Tatum went to three different doctors on Maui with the all the symptoms of Rat Lungworm disease; severe headaches, stiff neck, nausea, painful and itchy skin, like something was crawling under it, and neurological symptoms. She was told nothing was wrong with her.

She ultimately flew back to Seattle to seek treatment, where she only received a diagnosis because her family friend had warned her of this rare disease and she mentioned it to her Washington doctor. She arrived just in time to be hospitalized seeing as it rapidly progressed within a day of arriving home, she has since then been hospitalized twice and been under the careful watch of her doctors. It has sadly become evident to her and her family that she will have to move back to Washington in order to properly recover and to be under surveillance of her doctors. She still is struggling with severe meningitis and has had multiple lumbar punctures and therefore cannot fly; it has also become very evident that there is a major lack of education and knowledge about the treatment of this disease by doctors on Hawaii.

Her recovery time is relatively unknown, and she cannot work for the foreseeable future. Although Tatum does want to make it clear that she has extreme optimism in fully regaining her health and is so grateful for avoiding the permanent neurological damage and lifelong pain so many others have received from this parasite. Information on this disease is very unknown, including that of treatment and duration of symptoms, so the length of recovery can be quite a guessing game and differs from victim to victim. With all the losses of her schooling deposit and payments, cost of moving to Hawaii, costly emergency flights, loss of wages due to inability to work for the last two months or for the foreseeable future, and now relocating all of her belongings back to Washington, the debt has started to add up.

Any amount will help and would be much appreciated, and will be used to pay off the debt, continuing lost wages, and to get Tatum back on her feet and starting a new life here in Washington near friends and family. She still plans on continuing onward with her schooling. Educating people about this disease and how it can be prevented is very important to Tatum, and she plans to raise awareness and to help those who have been severely affected and gone unheard. So please help and spread the word, especially to those travelling to Hawaii… thank you!

https://rat-lungworm-awareness.org/2017/04/21/rat-lungworm-in-hawaii-is-not-new-and-tourists-have-the-right-to-be-informed/