Former Nurse of the Year fights rare autoimmune disease

BULLOCH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) – WTOC Exclusive: Former Bulloch County Nurse of the Year and local hero Lisa Moore was a nurse for about 34 years before a tragic accident ended her career.

Now, several years later, an autoimmune disease is destroying her life and there is no known cure for this rare disease. She is asking the community for help after serving our community for so many years.

Lisa Moore began her career as a nurse in 1989 at Bulloch Memorial Hospital. She loved working with the elderly and making patients feel at home. Until an accident forced Lisa to take off her surgical clothing forever.

“On March 20, 2017, I was hit by an 18-wheeler on the way to work on the Veterans Parkway bypass. They treated me really badly. I didn’t even get enough to pay all my medical bills. One of the jurors slept for me during the trial,” Moore said. “Every time I saw a nurse in uniform, I got emotional because I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. My body was telling me it was over. My mind was telling me it was over.”

On the day of the accident, social security declared her unfit for work. The semi-trailer dragged her two football fields in the small Kia she was driving.

From there, Lisa took her 401k pension to make ends meet while she recovered from back and shoulder surgery following the accident.

“I loved it. It was my passion. And when I lost that, I lost a part of myself,” Moore said.

After that, Lisa continued to be involved in the community, especially with the elderly, baking cookies, giving them away for free, and giving the proceeds she earned to those in need.

“Well, I was just named a Hometown Hero. Before I got sick, I wanted to bake for the elderly. So I baked fruitcake and started baking again to take my mind off of nursing,” Moore said.

Four years later, in May 2022, Lisa was diagnosed with an extremely rare autoimmune disease called urticarial vasculitis.

It started with what she initially thought was a spider bite until a biopsy confirmed the finding.

She said her disease started with blisters before bursting and killing the underlying tissue, which then led to nerve pain.

Lisa says she is in constant pain and suffering, and many of the medications she is taking have only made things worse. She is still waiting to hear what the doctors recommend. In the meantime, she has been doing her own research into the disorder.

“There are five cases a year. I have not seen black pictures of people suffering from the disease like me. I have seen white pictures, Swedish studies talk about 200,000 cases worldwide. It is, to put it simply, my immune system is attacking me,” Moore said.

Numerous health problems leave her prone to illness. Since her diagnosis, she has suffered heart failure, cracked teeth and been on oxygen at times. She says every day is a struggle and now she is at the point where she has to sell her house.

“Dr. Ward told me there are no FDA-approved drugs because there aren’t enough people with it to even do studies on it. So it’s all experimental,” Moore said. “I keep my wounds as clean as possible. I’m not contagious. I’m just trying to avoid infection.”

Now Lisa has to have laboratory tests every month and sometimes even every two weeks – the financial burden is almost unbearable – and sometimes she also has to go to the food bank to buy food.

She thanks God for her strength and the great support of her family, which includes her husband Rev. Stanley Moore, wife Gloria Wilson, former police officer Anthony Gore and Tonja, to name a few.

“He’s not going to put more on you than you can handle, and I always think of that. And I always think of my mom saying, ‘Keep going, Lisa,'” Moore said. “Keep fighting. Even when I was feeling down, I always got back up and could hear the voice of Jesus saying, ‘Keep fighting.'”

As someone who has given to the community for decades, she says any monetary donations would help her tremendously in her medical journey. The GoFundMe campaign can be found here.

Her Cash App is also available for those who wish to donate, $Mercille2007

For Lisa, every day is a blessing and she hopes to continue on this path and beat the disease. Lisa’s doctors say that from now on they will continue to work on a cure for her condition.

All rights reserved.