One autumn day four years ago, Maureen’s daughter, Anne, suddenly lost her voice and had trouble breathing. Anne was an ICU nurse, long-distance runner, and single mother to a seven-year-old daughter. She was active, energetic, and busy. Neither she nor her family knew what could be wrong, and they suspected the worst.
After six weeks and a barrage of tests, Anne and Maureen sat together in the neurologist’s office, both worried that Anne’s symptoms indicated multiple sclerosis. They were unexpectedly relieved when the doctor told them that Anne had myasthenia gravis.
“We both had the feeling like it was good news because neither of us knew much about MG,” Maureen said. “Anne is an RN, so she had heard of MG, but it’s not her specialty.”
Of course, they would soon learn the heartbreaking truth: that myasthenia gravis can be devastating for patients and their families. Since her diagnosis four years ago, Anne has struggled to manage her symptoms. She had to leave her job as an ICU nurse and has difficulties with daily tasks, like making her daughter’s school lunch. She still struggles to speak, which makes it challenging to interact regularly with friends and family.
As a mother, Maureen hates to watch her daughter lose her identity and cope with the feelings of loneliness. Her optimism and positivity help carry Anne through on her toughest of days.
To make a difference for others facing the same situation, Maureen makes giving to the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America a priority.
“My greatest focus has been to support awareness. The driving force behind my commitment to the organization is to help people know about MG. I wish people better understood that MG is something you live with. You may look like you’re doing fine one day, but the next, you have to pay the toll and spend the day in bed. Understanding this disease is really the baseline for everything.”
Maureen’s philanthropic investment enables the MGFA to fund educational programs and awareness campaigns to help the general community — along with patients and their friends and care partners — understand myasthenia gravis. MGFA’s commitment to shining a light on the MG experience is something Maureen believes is making a difference for Anne and all those living with MG.
“You are doing so much to create this environment that I want for MG, in the world, in the nation. I really focus on contributing to the MGFA with any funds that I have.”
Thank you to Maureen, and committed donors like her, who fuel our efforts to make life better for those living with myasthenia gravis and their families.