Jeannine and Johnny Need Your Help

Hello everyone. This GoFundMe page has been created to help my sister, Jeannine, and her husband pay for some significant medical expenses. Johnny has been ill for quite some time and hasn’t worked much in the last year or two.  (He was a self-employed computer technician, and his business is now defunct.) A little over two years ago, he was hospitalized with pancreatitis and he really hasn’t been the same since then. In the past year, his health has declined further and we’ve seen a big change in his personality. He hasn’t been sleeping well, he’s had very little energy, he’s been depressed and irritable, and he’s been forgetting things very easily.

 

On March 8th, things came to a head when he had some bad seizures and was taken to the hospital. After a whole lot of testing and a long period of Johnny being unable to talk, the doctors found significant swelling in his brain and decided that he is suffering from a condition called limbic encephalitis.

 

The limbic areas of the brain control many functions including memory, learning, and emotions such as aggression. The symptoms include memory loss, seizures, confusion, disturbances of sleep and psychological problems such as altered personality or behavior, so this certainly seems to explain a lot of what’s been going on.

 

The doctors aren’t sure whether this is “infectious encephalitis” (caused by a virus or infection) or “autoimmune encephalitis” (caused by Johnny’s immune system reacting against parts of the limbic system); but what they do know is that it can be treated with medication and rehabilitation. However, they also say that the recovery period could be very long.

 

After seven long weeks in the hospital, he seems to be improving and he has finally been discharged, but my sister may need to have some in-home healthcare workers watching over him at the house for a while so she can continue working.

 

Obviously, they’re going to have some very large bills to pay, and their savings have already been completely drained. So, anything you can give will be a huge help to them. I thank you in advance for your donations as well as your prayers for a full recovery.

 

Jennifer