Katie's GoFundMe
Donation protected
Please take a moment to read my dear friend, Katie (Hurst) Stevens', story. As a community, I believe we can achieve our goal to help her get the treatment she requires. Please consider sharing her story. Every dollar counts, and she and her family would be forever grateful! Let's come together to make a difference, and make Katie's Christmas and 2016 brighter! Thank you!
**In October of 2014, I was planning on reentering the workforce after being a stay-at-home mom, and had accepted a nursing position with a surgery team at a local hospital. My husband, Craig, resigned from his job in November and was going to stay at home with our three children. In the weeks leading up to my start date, I began experiencing vision problems, sensitivity to sound and light, and loss of short-term memory. I was unable to drive, care for our children and go to work.
In this past year, we have made trips to the ER, visited with my family practitioner, two neurologists, an ENT specialist, chiropractors, a holistic health practitioner, a massage therapist, a physical therapist, and eventually made the trek to Carrick Brain Center in Irving, TX with hopes for a cure.
In January of this year, I also saw a neuro-optometrist who discovered my peripheral and central vision were not working together, and began a 10 week vision therapy program where we started to see some progress. In June, while seeing this eye doctor, a specialist from Chicago made some trips to the office in Appleton. This specialist fit me with glasses that redirected how the light was entering my eyes, and where it was received in my brain. At this point, I was seeing enough improvement that I was able to begin taking care of our kids during the day, allowing Craig to return to work.
In the first part of October, I had a follow- up visit in Chicago. For the first time in a year, we finally received some answers as to what might be causing my symptoms. Based on my symptoms and the doctor’s findings, she is very confident that the top two vertebrae in my neck are out of place, putting pressure on my brainstem. This is not allowing information to be accurately processed by my brain. The specialist has referred me on to a highly specialized chiropractor to have these vertebrae adjusted.
The cost for this is not covered by our insurance, and with both of us being out of work for several months, as well as some of the other medical costs, our resources have been diminished. We are now in a fundraising stage to help provide the resources to offset the costs of the treatments. We are in hopes of being able to schedule appointments beginning in early 2016.
Nearly 14 months later, I am still very limited in what I can do. Due to my inability to accurately percieve my environment, I'm unable to do things such as: drive, grocery shop, or work in my field as a Registered Nurse and care for my family. These are basic activities of daily living. I am unable to retrieve the grid of my city or environment in my mind, making mapping impossible, my comprehension of conversations is skewed and I am easily disoriented by my surroundings, thus, I have become relatively homebound. I have really relied on my husband, mom and extended family to meet these daily needs. This makes my role as a wife and mother nearly impossible.
We thank you and are grateful for your consideration, any donation amount, and/or prayers in supporting us in this time of need. As my children have prayed and pleaded, "We just want our fun mommy back," I yearn to deliver. Each dollar brings me closer to my goal of caring for my family again and returning to normalcy.
Thank you for blessing our family,
Katie Stevens
**In October of 2014, I was planning on reentering the workforce after being a stay-at-home mom, and had accepted a nursing position with a surgery team at a local hospital. My husband, Craig, resigned from his job in November and was going to stay at home with our three children. In the weeks leading up to my start date, I began experiencing vision problems, sensitivity to sound and light, and loss of short-term memory. I was unable to drive, care for our children and go to work.
In this past year, we have made trips to the ER, visited with my family practitioner, two neurologists, an ENT specialist, chiropractors, a holistic health practitioner, a massage therapist, a physical therapist, and eventually made the trek to Carrick Brain Center in Irving, TX with hopes for a cure.
In January of this year, I also saw a neuro-optometrist who discovered my peripheral and central vision were not working together, and began a 10 week vision therapy program where we started to see some progress. In June, while seeing this eye doctor, a specialist from Chicago made some trips to the office in Appleton. This specialist fit me with glasses that redirected how the light was entering my eyes, and where it was received in my brain. At this point, I was seeing enough improvement that I was able to begin taking care of our kids during the day, allowing Craig to return to work.
In the first part of October, I had a follow- up visit in Chicago. For the first time in a year, we finally received some answers as to what might be causing my symptoms. Based on my symptoms and the doctor’s findings, she is very confident that the top two vertebrae in my neck are out of place, putting pressure on my brainstem. This is not allowing information to be accurately processed by my brain. The specialist has referred me on to a highly specialized chiropractor to have these vertebrae adjusted.
The cost for this is not covered by our insurance, and with both of us being out of work for several months, as well as some of the other medical costs, our resources have been diminished. We are now in a fundraising stage to help provide the resources to offset the costs of the treatments. We are in hopes of being able to schedule appointments beginning in early 2016.
Nearly 14 months later, I am still very limited in what I can do. Due to my inability to accurately percieve my environment, I'm unable to do things such as: drive, grocery shop, or work in my field as a Registered Nurse and care for my family. These are basic activities of daily living. I am unable to retrieve the grid of my city or environment in my mind, making mapping impossible, my comprehension of conversations is skewed and I am easily disoriented by my surroundings, thus, I have become relatively homebound. I have really relied on my husband, mom and extended family to meet these daily needs. This makes my role as a wife and mother nearly impossible.
We thank you and are grateful for your consideration, any donation amount, and/or prayers in supporting us in this time of need. As my children have prayed and pleaded, "We just want our fun mommy back," I yearn to deliver. Each dollar brings me closer to my goal of caring for my family again and returning to normalcy.
Thank you for blessing our family,
Katie Stevens
Organizer and beneficiary
Kelly Kitch Alvar
Organizer
Duluth, MN
Katie Stevens
Beneficiary
