See Katie: More than T1D & TBI

Katie Schwab, our baby sister, is a Type One Diabetic. In 2014, she had an insulin pump malfunction that turned into a life threatening emergency resulting in a medically induced coma and a severe Traumatic Brain Injury.

Over the course of the last six years, our family has been researching and advocating to get Katie a more aggressive and holistic medical care treatment plan to address her ever-evolving needs as a Type Oner with a TBI. In November of 2019, our prayers were answered when we found an emerging consciousness program that could provide Katie a team of Neuroscience experts in a tailored and tiered treatment, recovery, and rehabilitation care program. In an even greater victory than just finding this program, their team of experts reviewed Katie’s medical records and accepted Katie as a potentially “great candidate” to this out-of-state therapy program through Nexus Health Systems in Texas called The Phoenix Project for Emerging Consciousness Disorders (https://www.nhsltd.com/services/programs/emerging-consciousness-program/).

We were overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude, but as many of you know, this endeavor has not been an easy task in the transition of care for Katie. Since November, we have been working with her current health care team in South Bend, Indiana and our liaison from The Phoenix Project in Texas to #GetKatietoTX.

However, our attempt to get this holistic, neurological care for Katie has been denied multiple times by Indiana Medicaid. In the denial letter, Medicaid stated this: “The documentation and review of the literature does not support the likelihood of the program providing a reasonable expectation of therapeutic value in a chronic stable condition with little hope of change."

As Katie’s TBI advocates, we want to change this systemic generalization for the future of all TBI patients. Most importantly, we want Katie to show the medical world that Katie can do more and be more with the proper medically trained team of experts in a specialized program for her TBI needs.

We are strong, faith-filled advocates who have hope that Katie will be able to get the care she needs, but we need your help. Help us to contribute to Katie's case, share her story, and get Katie to Texas. Help us to help the medical world see Katie as more than just a diagnosis or prognosis.

TBI Patients deserve access to care. This is our primary desire for Katie. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE FIGHTING FOR.

To read more about Katie, read this article from the Strong of Heart written by by CURT RALLO | 2016: https://strongofheart.nd.edu/profiles/katie-schwab-2016/

See how Katie's Team, The University of Notre Dame Women's Basketball, rallied behind her and finding a cure for Type One Diabetes: https://notredamefcu.com/blog/notre-dame-womens-basketball-put-together-team-katie-jdrf

Follow us on Facebook, TeamKatie Schwab, https://www.facebook.com/teamkatie.schwab.7 or check-out more on Caring Bridge at www.caringbridge.org/visit/katieschwab.