Help Stephanie On The Road To Recovering From MG

Twelve years ago in the halls of Westwood High School I was lucky enough to meet one of the of the most kind, bubbly, and genuine people this world has to offer - Stephanie Coyle (Formosa). Stephanie’s huge heart has never failed to be her defining asset in every aspect of her life, from being the unwaveringly loyal friend I met at 15 years old, to working professionally as a veterinary technician, to now being a devoted wife to Sean and mother to Owen. While she has always hid it well with a smile on her face, Stephanie has suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis since she was 16 years old. The RA caused her not only chronic pain but also impairment in functioning that progressed from difficulty with fine motor skills (such as opening a water bottle or holding a pen) to more significant impairment that effects many aspects of her daily life, and has resulted in several hospitalizations. Over the years, Stephanie endured a laundry list of treatments and medication trials in hopes of attaining remission, but the disease continued to progress, and progressed exponentially so after the birth of her son. At this point she was but on infusions of low-dose chemotherapy and required three surgeries to repair the damage in both of her hands, wrists, and one of her ankles. While going through the extensive testing needed prior to surgery, her orthopedic surgeon noticed some abnormalities that prompted immediate referral to a neurologist. The neurologist conducted nerve and muscle tests that resulted in finding widespread muscle degradation and abnormalities, which he concluded to be an additional disease called Myasthenia Gravis. ​Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a neurological disorder characterized severe, widespread muscle weakness that can affect breathing, walking, swallowing, and essentially any voluntary muscle group. Severe complications from this disease are called a “Myasthenia Crisis”, which is rapid worsening of muscle weakness, resulting in respiratory failure that requires intubation and mechanical ventilation. Without medical intervention a myasthenia crisis has up to a 40% mortality rate. Within only weeks of being diagnosed Stephanie was hospitalized, and suffered her first myasthenia crisis in March 2020, where she required a several day ICU stay, and another week in the hospital for further stabilization. After being discharged she continued to follow up with biweekly IVIg (intravenous immune globulin) treatment, which resulted in horrible side effects and never quite attained remission. ​In May 2020 Stephanie was landed back in the ICU, this time for a double pulmonary embolism. Now this bring us to June 2020, where Stephanie is now in her third ICU stay for her most severe Myasthenia crisis. She has been in the ICU for two weeks and failed two different rounds of treatment, including medications and invasive plasma transfusion. Her condition has continued to deteriorate to the point where she is bed bound and cannot even so much as feed herself. Yesterday the doctors at Orange Regional Medical Center, where she had been receiving treatment, informed her that there is not much more they can do and she needed to be transferred to Mt. Sinai for more specialized care under team of some of the best neurologists in the country. The doctors at Mt. Sinai are working on coming up with a new treatment plan, with the ultimate goal being to get her strong enough to tolerate surgery to remove her thymus gland, which would hopefully result in significant reduction in MG symptoms and prevent future myasthenia crises. ​At this point, Stephanie is looking down a long road of recovery and physical therapy, and still needs to have the initially required surgeries for her hands and ankle due to the RA. The constant hospitalizations have taken a hard financial toll on her young family. Her husband Sean has needed to take a leave from work to care for their son, and she will likely need to hire help at home once she is discharged from the hospital due to her limited mobility and will need extensive assistance for some time. Stephanie wants nothing more than to get home and hold her one-year-old son, and while we can’t give her that, I am hoping that we can help ease some of the financial burden this has caused. Stephanie would bend over backwards to help anyone in need, and I am hoping that we can do the same for her, and if you are unable to support financially please send a thought or prayer for Stephanie’s recovery and for her family.