Eva's Healing & Recovery Fund
Eva is a young mother of 3 small children. She is also deaf, as are 2 of the kids. On New Year's Day, after experiencing numbness and weakness in her limbs, she was admitted to the hospital. She then lost all feeling and was unable to move. After the first week in the hospital, she began having difficulty breathing and her heart rate dropped. She was then put on a ventilator. After various tests, she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). (It is a rare syndrome, affecting 1 in 100,000 people. It affects/damages the protective sheath of the nerves throughout the body.) She is in the Intensive Care Unit at a hospital near where she lives in Florida. She is paralyzed from the neck down, is on a ventilator to help her breath and on a feeding tube. She has also had some seizures. Although GBS is not curable, she can recover. But, it is going to be a long, slow process and will take a lot of work.
During this time, the children are being taken care of by their Dad, Dan (who is my son). He is also deaf. He visits Eva everyday for a couple of hours. At the moment, Eva communicates by blinking...Dan signs the letters of the alphabet to her and she blinks for each letter to spell out words. At certain times, there is also a hospital provided interpreter there to help communicate between the staff and Eva and Dan. A friend is nice enough to babysit for a couple of hours so Dan can visit Eva, as the kids are not allowed in ICU to visit. They miss their mother terribly, and she misses them. We hope to help keep Eva's spirits up so that her body will fight to recover. If her recovery begins to progress, she will go to a different facility where she will begin some intensive rehabilitation and therapy. When she goes there, her children will be allowed to visit with her, and I think that will do miracles for her spirits, which will, in turn, do miracles for her body. Her doctor said her recovery could take up to 4 years, depending on how her body reacts. Right now, we are just focused on any little movement her body can give her. She is able to shrug her shoulders a tiny bit...that is a good sign!
I am hoping this will help alleviate some of the financial burdens this young family is facing, as they are on a fixed budget. Any amount at all will help toward the cost of food, gas, diapers, personal supplies for Eva, maybe a special treat for the kids - to name a few. Some supplies are being given to them, but they are going to be travelling a very long road to recovery. They don't yet know whether they will incur any of the medical expenses.
I am also so worried about the emotional side affects on all of them and any assistance at all that can be given to them I think would make a huge difference and would be appreciated more than you know. Any amount at all will help...if you are unable to give, thoughts & prayers are very valuable, too. Anything to help Eva be able to hug her children again...