That's truly awful that they didn't tell her for all that time. This being the United States, she might be able to sue them for damages to cover medical costs. Particularly the fact that this was happening over 5 years and they didn't tell her. Maybe it's not something that could have been reversible, but she might have been able to stop any further damage or have gotten on a transplant list.

Maybe someone else could set up a GoFundMe for her and cover the fees on it? You're correct that disability can take a long time--even if she gets approved quickly (I imagine she might in this situation), it could take a few months for the payments to start (from my understanding).