#DIBBLE_STRONG - Denyse's Stroke Recovery
Donation protected
Saturday, April 13th started out as a regular day for my sister, Denyse. She normally would go to the gym with her husband Travis on a weekend, but on this Saturday, she needed to take her oldest daughter to an event for school, which caused Denyse to not go to the gym. She got up and kissed Travis good-bye and off Travis went to the gym. Everything seemed normal.
Upon returning home, Travis found Denyse on the side of their bed unresponsive (nobody knows for how long). He immediately called 911. Denyse was taken via ambulance to the local hospital where they completed several tests and determined that she had a stroke.
She was immediately airlifted to Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital in Altanta, While at Grady, they completed a successful thrombectomy, which is the physical removal of the blockage in the brain. Her stroke occurred on her left side, which has caused her to have no movement on her right side (both arm and leg) and also the loss of speech. She spent 6 days in ICU while monitoring her vitals, completing blood work, daily CT scans and MRIs and administering drugs for swelling of the brain. From ICU, she spent another 4 days in the Stroke Step down unit. From the hospital, she has transferred to a rehab center where they will continue to do acute rehabilitation. Denyse has a long road to recovery ahead with a lot of medical bills.
Having an older sister, she was always there to take care of you as the younger sister. This time it was for me to be there to take care of her. I spent the first week with Denyse in the hospital, along with our mom. It was extremely scary to see her on the first night. I didn't know what to expect, but continued to pray for the best. Over the next several days, we got to see her sing her first words. Yes, even though you cannot speak, you can sing. We got to see her move her right leg a little and then her thumb a tiny bit. Every day, this strong woman, brought tears to everyone's eyes from near to far, including the hospital staff. Daily, there continues to be improvements, whether it is a smile, a special sign language shown to her husband, a tongue being stuck out or finally the words "I love you" that she worked so hard to say as my mom and I had to leave to fly home.
Denyse was a very active and healthy person. She would love to go on walks with her family and had a very busy and succesful nursing career. Why Denyse? They are continuing to search for the cause of the stroke. At this point, there is no specific cause identified. There are some potential reasons why, but it will take additional testing and evaluations to determine if they are truly the cause over the next several months.
You may or may not be aware that Travis is self-employed, which supports their family, along with Denyse's nursing career. Travis has not left Denyse's side since this happened, which means that he is providing the best support that a husband can provide their wife. Being there holding her hand and providing her therapy when the therapy teams are not there, but this doesn't come without sacrifices and lost income to the family. Their two children have been able to make several trips to see her, but this is also not in their backyard, but requires long drives there and back.
All of these medical bills are accumulating during her hospital stay and acute rehabilitation. Not only medical bills, but multiple trips to Atlanta over the next many weeks to make sure her daughters are able to visit with her will start adding up. Travis will eventually get back to work, but will continue to be there to support Denyse, especially when she comes home. The lost of income will have a huge impact on their ability to make sure the bills are able to be paid. I want to have them focus on getting Denyse back to 100%, so I appreciate any help that you can provide their family get through this tough time financially. The family is thankful for wonderful neighbors, co-workers and friends and family that have helped the entire family over the last couple of weeks. The support is overwhelming.
We all know that it is hard for anyone to ask for help. I cannot be by my sister's side all the time to hold her hand and support her, which I wish I could be. I want to be able to help my sister and her family in every way possible so that they can concentrate on her recovery and not worrying about how they will be paying these medical bills, which have already started to come in. Any donation amount would be greatly appreciated from the entire family.
We will continue to provide updates on Denyse's recovery.
Upon returning home, Travis found Denyse on the side of their bed unresponsive (nobody knows for how long). He immediately called 911. Denyse was taken via ambulance to the local hospital where they completed several tests and determined that she had a stroke.
She was immediately airlifted to Marcus Stroke & Neuroscience Center at Grady Hospital in Altanta, While at Grady, they completed a successful thrombectomy, which is the physical removal of the blockage in the brain. Her stroke occurred on her left side, which has caused her to have no movement on her right side (both arm and leg) and also the loss of speech. She spent 6 days in ICU while monitoring her vitals, completing blood work, daily CT scans and MRIs and administering drugs for swelling of the brain. From ICU, she spent another 4 days in the Stroke Step down unit. From the hospital, she has transferred to a rehab center where they will continue to do acute rehabilitation. Denyse has a long road to recovery ahead with a lot of medical bills.
Having an older sister, she was always there to take care of you as the younger sister. This time it was for me to be there to take care of her. I spent the first week with Denyse in the hospital, along with our mom. It was extremely scary to see her on the first night. I didn't know what to expect, but continued to pray for the best. Over the next several days, we got to see her sing her first words. Yes, even though you cannot speak, you can sing. We got to see her move her right leg a little and then her thumb a tiny bit. Every day, this strong woman, brought tears to everyone's eyes from near to far, including the hospital staff. Daily, there continues to be improvements, whether it is a smile, a special sign language shown to her husband, a tongue being stuck out or finally the words "I love you" that she worked so hard to say as my mom and I had to leave to fly home.
Denyse was a very active and healthy person. She would love to go on walks with her family and had a very busy and succesful nursing career. Why Denyse? They are continuing to search for the cause of the stroke. At this point, there is no specific cause identified. There are some potential reasons why, but it will take additional testing and evaluations to determine if they are truly the cause over the next several months.
You may or may not be aware that Travis is self-employed, which supports their family, along with Denyse's nursing career. Travis has not left Denyse's side since this happened, which means that he is providing the best support that a husband can provide their wife. Being there holding her hand and providing her therapy when the therapy teams are not there, but this doesn't come without sacrifices and lost income to the family. Their two children have been able to make several trips to see her, but this is also not in their backyard, but requires long drives there and back.
All of these medical bills are accumulating during her hospital stay and acute rehabilitation. Not only medical bills, but multiple trips to Atlanta over the next many weeks to make sure her daughters are able to visit with her will start adding up. Travis will eventually get back to work, but will continue to be there to support Denyse, especially when she comes home. The lost of income will have a huge impact on their ability to make sure the bills are able to be paid. I want to have them focus on getting Denyse back to 100%, so I appreciate any help that you can provide their family get through this tough time financially. The family is thankful for wonderful neighbors, co-workers and friends and family that have helped the entire family over the last couple of weeks. The support is overwhelming.
We all know that it is hard for anyone to ask for help. I cannot be by my sister's side all the time to hold her hand and support her, which I wish I could be. I want to be able to help my sister and her family in every way possible so that they can concentrate on her recovery and not worrying about how they will be paying these medical bills, which have already started to come in. Any donation amount would be greatly appreciated from the entire family.
We will continue to provide updates on Denyse's recovery.
Organizer and beneficiary
Darcie Schwalenberg-Kesler
Organizer
Cumming, GA
Travis Harding
Beneficiary
