Help Melissa to Win her Battle with MS
Donation protected
Melissa Azoulay is a relatively new attending radiation oncologist practicing at the MUHC in Montreal. Between years spent on fellowship and an extended maternity leave after her beautiful daughter Claire was born, Melissa was able to work at the MUHC for only a little over 2 years before the pandemic exposed the suddenly devastating consequences of a condition she had been hoping to manage quietly, Multiple Sclerosis. Faced with a rapid progression of symptoms, Melissa, her husband Piotr, and their daughter Claire have spent the entire pandemic (not just lockdowns, but every day) in total confinement – giving up childcare support, interacting with no one, not even outdoors, and going nowhere aside from her medical appointments – because Melissa needed aggressively immunosuppressive therapy for her MS. Sadly, instead of slowing, Melissa’s illness progressed. Simple pleasures like dancing with her daughter or moving around outdoors have been out of her reach for a long time now.
Suddenly, on February 16th of this year, her husband noticed that Melissa was having trouble forming sentences. Within hours, she had started stuttering and slurring her speech. Her husband drove her to the ER, where her consciousness faded as she was found to be hypothermic (with a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius) and hypoglycemic, her lymphocytes and her platelets inexplicably also in freefall. The ER doctors said sepsis.
An acute infection – unrelated to the MS – put Melissa in the ICU for 12 days, where she was intubated and subsequently needed a tracheotomy. In the words of one of her ICU physicians, she was comatose on arrival in the ICU and if he had not intubated her, she would have died. Thirty-three days later, Melissa was discharged from hospital into an inpatient rehabilitation centre. The acute cause of her body’s collapse has still not been identified, and she and her family fear that this could happen again. In the meantime, the extended ICU stay and hospitalization have deconditioned her to the point where she cannot stand up, shower, or use a toilet without assistance.
Anyone who knows Melissa would attest that, in spite of this adversity, she has always made time for her family, her friends, and her patients. Even in her lowest moments, she found generosity, energy, and kindness for everyone around her. She is a very private person, and although her struggles have been painfully real, she has kept this mostly to herself and to those who are closest to her.
Just a few months before the pandemic, Melissa and her husband and then-2-year-old daughter moved into their newly purchased home. Renovating the house to adapt to Melissa’s loss of mobility stretched the family’s finances very thin. The financial burden that Melissa’s acute illness has now caused is pressing on the family, as it will be many months before Melissa can even think about the prospect of returning to work to support her family again. In speaking with Melissa, she just really wants worry-free time for her family and for rehabilitation.
To say that this experience has been difficult would be an understatement. It has been heartbreaking to see how much MS has taken from Melissa and from her family. In spite of this, Melissa is doing whatever she can to be present for her family and to reclaim as much of her health and well-being that she can.
Melissa and her family are incredibly grateful for any support she has received. If you would like to donate here, please do so. If you would prefer to donate via e-transfer, her e-mail address is AZOULAYKOSICKI at GMAIL.COM
Below is a photo of Melissa with her 3-year-old daughter Claire that was taken only six weeks before Melissa landed in the ICU. We never expect these kinds of dramatic turns to come so young and medicine is all about the delayed gratification. We feel this tragedy, for those of us with a shared experience, on so many levels. Our thoughts and prayers are with Melissa and her family.
Suddenly, on February 16th of this year, her husband noticed that Melissa was having trouble forming sentences. Within hours, she had started stuttering and slurring her speech. Her husband drove her to the ER, where her consciousness faded as she was found to be hypothermic (with a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius) and hypoglycemic, her lymphocytes and her platelets inexplicably also in freefall. The ER doctors said sepsis.
An acute infection – unrelated to the MS – put Melissa in the ICU for 12 days, where she was intubated and subsequently needed a tracheotomy. In the words of one of her ICU physicians, she was comatose on arrival in the ICU and if he had not intubated her, she would have died. Thirty-three days later, Melissa was discharged from hospital into an inpatient rehabilitation centre. The acute cause of her body’s collapse has still not been identified, and she and her family fear that this could happen again. In the meantime, the extended ICU stay and hospitalization have deconditioned her to the point where she cannot stand up, shower, or use a toilet without assistance.
Anyone who knows Melissa would attest that, in spite of this adversity, she has always made time for her family, her friends, and her patients. Even in her lowest moments, she found generosity, energy, and kindness for everyone around her. She is a very private person, and although her struggles have been painfully real, she has kept this mostly to herself and to those who are closest to her.
Just a few months before the pandemic, Melissa and her husband and then-2-year-old daughter moved into their newly purchased home. Renovating the house to adapt to Melissa’s loss of mobility stretched the family’s finances very thin. The financial burden that Melissa’s acute illness has now caused is pressing on the family, as it will be many months before Melissa can even think about the prospect of returning to work to support her family again. In speaking with Melissa, she just really wants worry-free time for her family and for rehabilitation.
To say that this experience has been difficult would be an understatement. It has been heartbreaking to see how much MS has taken from Melissa and from her family. In spite of this, Melissa is doing whatever she can to be present for her family and to reclaim as much of her health and well-being that she can.
Melissa and her family are incredibly grateful for any support she has received. If you would like to donate here, please do so. If you would prefer to donate via e-transfer, her e-mail address is AZOULAYKOSICKI at GMAIL.COM
Below is a photo of Melissa with her 3-year-old daughter Claire that was taken only six weeks before Melissa landed in the ICU. We never expect these kinds of dramatic turns to come so young and medicine is all about the delayed gratification. We feel this tragedy, for those of us with a shared experience, on so many levels. Our thoughts and prayers are with Melissa and her family.
Organizer and beneficiary
Ewurabena Simpson
Organizer
Ottawa, ON
Melissa Azoulay
Beneficiary