Help Macie Fight Meningitis

If you know Macie Beeners you know she's an always smiling, always happy young lady. This is her first year at Preston Middle School and up until the days leading to October 17th, she's been a ball of energy, cheerleader and wonderful student and friend. Last Wednesday, after multiple visits to the doctors' office as well as two trips to the ER, her symptoms changed to severe headaches. She was taken to the ER, and after a lumbar puncture, they concluded that Macie had meningitis. Macie was transported from PVH to Children's Hospital via ambulance and has since been undergoing tests to figure out how she became so sick, so quickly. This tough little girl has had to endure 2 spinal taps, multiple blood draws, MRI's, CT imaging, ultrasounds and much much more. More than any child should have to experience. To top it all off, her cranial nerve was affected, which is making her have double vision. 


On the 19th the hospital staff decided to move Macie to the ICU due to cognitive changes, hallucinations, nightmares, and high fever. 
On the 20th, they decided to do another lumbar puncture (the second one) due to her ongoing double vision and terrible headaches. An ophthalmologist was called in to do a thorough eye exam to check for pressure behind the eyes. Thankfully this was normal. While normal, she is still dealing with double vision and now has to wear special glasses. 


On the 22nd, Macie was moved to the medical floor. Meningitis is an incredibly complicated disease. Due to her ongoing symptoms, the team decided to test her for autoimmune meningitis. This means her body might actually be fighting against its own neurons. This test will take a least a week to come back. If this is positive, she may have to undergo ongoing treatment to prevent meningitis from coming back. 


As of today, Macie is showing small improvements but she has a long way to go. Due to her drastic weight loss, they have placed an NG tube (feeding tube). Until she can tolerate real food without becoming ill she cannot go home. She also and she is desperately homesick and ready to feel better. 


There is so much more happening to this family and more tests than I can fit into this section but the bottom line is this. The Beeners family needs our help. Kendra has had to take a leave of absence from work to stay in Denver and care for her daughter but it doesn't stop even after they leave the hospital. The doctors have informed Kendra that until Macie's double vision is gone as well as the ongoing fatigue due to brain swelling, she will have to be in constant care which means she will not be able to go back to school for quite a while. Once discharged, she will have ongoing appointments and physical therapy. Kendra is currently using up her sick and vacation days in order to get paid while in the hospital but that's running out and the last thing this family should worry about is paying the bills. This has all happened so quickly and it could happen to any one of us. Please consider donating whatever you are able to. 


Anyone who knows Kendra and Matt knows that they are the first to step up and help in times of need. Now they need our help. Please consider donating and lets get Macie home!