I’ve chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because it’s tax deductible. The money doesn’t go to me directly, it goes to my medical bill vendors, so it doesn’t affect my Medicaid status – which is based on income. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Donate Now button.

I’m now 2.5 years out and have come so, so far. I still have some damage to my organs, but I’m managing just fine. I do need ongoing medical treatment and get chemo infusions to keep my immune system from randomly attacking me, but the side effects are very minimal so far. Many of the prescriptions I need are life saving, but are not covered by insurance. I’ve been able to get grants from Southwest Airlines for some of my travel, but there are other travel expenses we need help with. I go to the only specialty center in the country for my condition 4 times a year, in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins. I also go to 3 other hospitals in our area, depending on which specialty doctor I need and I’m hoping to see a premier specialist out west that is highly recommended for auto-immune disorders.

I still can’t believe that I have survived 4 potentially fatal disorders that struck all at the same time, but I’m determined to make my recovery worthwhile. I’m going to law school to help others with rare diseases and who are legally disabled, while still working toward better pregnancy and breastfeeding rights, like I was before this all happened. See my site. www.RustikEvents.com

Please sign my guestbook to say hi and if you can afford to, please make a donation and share my page on FB and via email to your friends. We are hoping to raise enough funds just to pay my current medical bills. I’m hoping I can eventually go back to work and make a living as a legal advocate so we can live as a family again without financial help from others. My condition is very unpredicable and serious, but we are taking it one day at a time, sometimes just by the hour. Thank you so much for reading, for your donations and for keeping us in your prayers.

To learn more about what happened with my strange and rare illness and equally rare recovery, read on.

In June of 2016, I was bit by a black fly after a day of hiking and swimming with my 4 year old son and our friends. I felt incredibly ill after the bite and went to the Emergency Room, but got no help. I started to feel better and went home. Then a week or so later, I felt really sick again. I went to a walk in clinic and was told to take more Tylenol for my headache. I kept working my two part time jobs, but within 3 weeks I was back at the emergency room with a high fever and terrible headache. I thought I just needed fluids and was dehydrated. I waited about an hour to be seen, and then once lying down, never got up again before I was transported by ambulance to a higher level hospital. I was (temporarily and partially) paralyzed, affecting all 4 limbs and some of my organs. I could move my arms I think, but I couldn’t use them, they were so weak.

I was initially diagnosed with:
Viral Meningitis
Transverse Myelitis (TM) and
Acute Disseminating Encyphalomyelitis (ADEM)

The cause was thought to possibly be from an every day virus that just savagely attacked my brain and spinal cord.

After three weeks, while in an Acute Care Physical Therapy Rehab, I was able to start taking steps again with the help of a walker and two people holding onto a waist belt to assist me. I lost so much weight and was down to 106 pounds. I was in various hospitals for 7 weeks and was away from my husband and son for 10 weeks, with weekly visits if I was well enough.

I was told that I would have a full recovery and just needed aggressive physical therapy. After 5 and half months, I was able to start snowshoeing and even cross country ski in my back yard! I still had a lot of healing to go, but was hopeful.

Then in January of 2017, I had a set back and ended up back in the hospital for most of the month. Actually it was New Year’s Eve of 20216, my mother’s birthday. She spent it with me in the ER for 13 hours. My diagnosis was corrected. The cause of the damage and rare neuro diagnoses was from a really rare form of Lupus, not a virus.

I’ve chosen to fundraise with Help Hope Live in part because it’s tax deductible. The money doesn’t go to me directly, it goes to my medical bill vendors, so it doesn’t affect my Medicaid status – which is based on income. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Donate Now button.

For more information, please contact me at (603) 630-6382 or Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your encouragement and support!
Kate Frederick