Stroke & Surgery Recovery: Do It for Denise
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It isn't often we meet friends that have had a stroke, worked 3 doubles in a row and THEN decide to get to the doctor to see if there might be something wrong. That is exactly what our friend Denise DeTrolio-Hughes did last week before heading in to work her dinner shift. The following 24 hours took her from doctor's office to scheduled emergency surgery. Let me tell you a little more below...
On Sunday, July 14th, Denise briefly lost vision in her left eye while working the evening shift of her scheduled double. She paused for a minute or two and then got back to placing her table's order, mentioning that her eyes were acting a little weird. After finishing her shift, she went home and googled what this brief loss of vision could have been but not thinking too much into it because her vision came right back. In addition to her loss of vision, her neck was aching extremely but she just thought she may have slept wrong.
On Thursday she was able to get to the doctor who immediately sent her to the ER. From the ER she was informed she had experienced a ministroke when her vision went black. The testing also revealed she had a blood clot with a 90% blockage in her carotid artery which was the culprit of the stoke. To prevent a massive stroke, the blockage needed to be removed immediately.
Denise had the blood clot removed, drastically reducing the chances of a repeat stroke and adding years back on to her life. Unfortunately, a health scare wasn't something that was planned into her schedule and days off were not chosen. She has missed over a week of work at both jobs and has at least 2 - 3 more weeks for recovery including awaiting healing on the large slice in her neck from the carotid artery surgery.
Denise has two daughters (Charlotte, 7 and Anya, 19) that have had to share this journey with her and witness their mother's hospital stay and ICU admittance after surgery. Her oldest lives over an hour away, while Charlotte had to wait at home for her mother to finally get there.
This emergency came at a time when hospitality workers earn the majority of their income for the year. The summer season at the Jersey Shore only lasts 3 months, while the money made can sustain workers for a majority of the remaining nine months. All of these weeks off have come during the peak time to bring in summer earnings.
We are coming together as her friends, coworkers, and LBI family to help her get through this difficult time financially. When you decide to give to support Denise, the funds will be used to supplement her bills that are still due all though her income has been stalled. The impact this emergency will have on her finances is not something she could have planned for nor something any of us want to see her go through.
Charlotte will be heading back to school to start 2nd grade in September and back to school shopping will be quickly approaching. Anything that you can spare will not only help Denise - it will impact her daughter as this is the time she would be saving to get her seven-year-old back to school ready.
We all love Denise. Whether you know her from being a patron, sharing a story with her at the bar or have had the opportunity to work with her, anything you can share with her financially will be greatly appreciated. She would never ask for help - and this is why we see such a great calling to come together to help her as much as we can.
You can give directly on this GoFundMe, or reach out to the admin of this account to see what else she might need to help her get back on her feet including helping with Charlotte. If you can't give right now, but still would like to show support, just sharing this fundraiser on your Facebook, Twitter or just around the island will help us get the word out. You can also easily share this GoFundMe by going to www.doitfordenise.com
The last thing a stroke survivor needs to heal after the fact is added stress. We want to help Denise right now and remove all the stress this situation has caused. Show some support on social media and use the hashtag #doitfordenise so we can keep track of everyone sending love and wishing her well.
On Sunday, July 14th, Denise briefly lost vision in her left eye while working the evening shift of her scheduled double. She paused for a minute or two and then got back to placing her table's order, mentioning that her eyes were acting a little weird. After finishing her shift, she went home and googled what this brief loss of vision could have been but not thinking too much into it because her vision came right back. In addition to her loss of vision, her neck was aching extremely but she just thought she may have slept wrong.
On Thursday she was able to get to the doctor who immediately sent her to the ER. From the ER she was informed she had experienced a ministroke when her vision went black. The testing also revealed she had a blood clot with a 90% blockage in her carotid artery which was the culprit of the stoke. To prevent a massive stroke, the blockage needed to be removed immediately.
Denise had the blood clot removed, drastically reducing the chances of a repeat stroke and adding years back on to her life. Unfortunately, a health scare wasn't something that was planned into her schedule and days off were not chosen. She has missed over a week of work at both jobs and has at least 2 - 3 more weeks for recovery including awaiting healing on the large slice in her neck from the carotid artery surgery.
Denise has two daughters (Charlotte, 7 and Anya, 19) that have had to share this journey with her and witness their mother's hospital stay and ICU admittance after surgery. Her oldest lives over an hour away, while Charlotte had to wait at home for her mother to finally get there.
This emergency came at a time when hospitality workers earn the majority of their income for the year. The summer season at the Jersey Shore only lasts 3 months, while the money made can sustain workers for a majority of the remaining nine months. All of these weeks off have come during the peak time to bring in summer earnings.
We are coming together as her friends, coworkers, and LBI family to help her get through this difficult time financially. When you decide to give to support Denise, the funds will be used to supplement her bills that are still due all though her income has been stalled. The impact this emergency will have on her finances is not something she could have planned for nor something any of us want to see her go through.
Charlotte will be heading back to school to start 2nd grade in September and back to school shopping will be quickly approaching. Anything that you can spare will not only help Denise - it will impact her daughter as this is the time she would be saving to get her seven-year-old back to school ready.
We all love Denise. Whether you know her from being a patron, sharing a story with her at the bar or have had the opportunity to work with her, anything you can share with her financially will be greatly appreciated. She would never ask for help - and this is why we see such a great calling to come together to help her as much as we can.
You can give directly on this GoFundMe, or reach out to the admin of this account to see what else she might need to help her get back on her feet including helping with Charlotte. If you can't give right now, but still would like to show support, just sharing this fundraiser on your Facebook, Twitter or just around the island will help us get the word out. You can also easily share this GoFundMe by going to www.doitfordenise.com
The last thing a stroke survivor needs to heal after the fact is added stress. We want to help Denise right now and remove all the stress this situation has caused. Show some support on social media and use the hashtag #doitfordenise so we can keep track of everyone sending love and wishing her well.
Give $100 to help get this fundraiser to its goal
Fundraising team: LBI Family (2)
Courtney Nicole Davis
Organizer
Barnegat, NJ
Amelia Jane Messec-Collins
Team member
