MOM'S FIGHT TOWARDS A NEW START!

Let me start by saying my mother was against this but as a daughter who loves her mother I will try everything I can to help her. She truly is a Miracle and the best mom a child could ask for. She has always taken care of us, as her children we have and will do whatever it takes to care for her.

Her story:
Let me start this by introducing myself...I am Jody. I have a younger brother Matthew and an older sister Sarah. My mother whom we are doing this for is Linda.

A little insight on my mother:
Linda (my mom) has been the most hard working, independent, strong woman I know. She has worked very hard in her life as a horticulturist. She doesn't make much money, but has a green thumb like no other. She loves her work and her work loves her. My mother is one that unfortunately falls into the many that are uninsured.  About two months ago, my mother became ill and contacted my older sister with lower left quadrant pain.  My mother is very stubborn...lol. Always waiting to the last minute to take care of herself, but its understandable when you are someone who is uninsured.  On the day she went to urgent care with diagnosis of a Urinary Tract Infection..they gave her medication and sent her on her way. We could not reach our mother and she lives almost 2 hours away from my brother and I. After not being able to reach her hours after her appointment, us kids new something wasn't right. I then contacted the police and had them break into her home which they found her disoriented and not well. The ambulance was called, but they did not take her to the hospital, they just told her to take her medications the urgent care had given her and left my mother.  While the police were there, I spoke to her and knew immediately something was wrong. My brother and I left Illinois soon after speaking with her and headed to Missouri.  What we found when we arrived is nothing a child wants to see her parent go through.

We found our mother lying on the couch covered in sweat and vomit. I work in the medical field, so I immediately called 911 again and began to work on my mother. The ambulance arrived and still did not want to take my mother because they thought she was ok and new that she had been diagnosed with a UTI and said she just needed to take her mediations. I explained that there was something extremely wrong with her and she needed to go to the hospital STAT. My mother was incoherent and they still needed her permission to take her to the hospital. At this point...I was beginning to lose my mind. Seeing your parent suffering and EMT's ignoring signs of sepsis. Finally, I asked her if she thought she needed to go because they wanted her permission to go to the hospital and finally she said yes! The real journey begins here....

We arrive at the hospital and they immediately start working on our mother. The EMT finally came out and said to my brother and I, your mother has gone into sepsis. She was in and out of it. No pain..but was vomiting spontaneously and her blood pressure kept dropping. They finally did a CT and found a 9x11 kidney stone lodged in her kidney,causing hydronephrosis. They immediately sent her up to ICU where her condition declined quickly. She had a central line put in, an arterial line, her IV and a  nephrostomy tube put in her kidney to drain the urine because the infection had gone to her blood stream causing sepsis. After the nephrostomy tube was placed,they had her on a cpap machine which wasn't working so they decided to intubate her at that time. Knowing this might be the last moment and last words I say to her...I told her I loved her and to fight like she has never fought before. She smiled at me..and then we were escorted out of the room. After her intubation my mother fell into septic shock. She then went into cardiac arrest and the doctors and nurses preformed cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillation. The doctor came out and explained our mothers lactic acid was at a 13. Normal lactic acid is around 1 so on paper my mothers immortality rate was 130%. I know my mother and knew she was not ready to give up. I explained to the doctor that I understood what he was explaining to us and that her chances of survival where not good at all. I also told him that I knew it wasn't her time to go and to believe me and not to give up on her. That night....my mother coded 5 times and was brought back every time. The doctor never leaving the room. She was put on the maximum amount of pressures along with antibiotics, fluids, and meds to keep her in an induced coma. Two towers full of medications and every line getting something pumped into my mothers body. After one hell of a fight and in the ICU for 9 days...my mother is a true miracle!!!!  She lived through what doctors said was something that they had never seen before. She was one who beat the odds and it was NOT her time to be with the Lord.  Thank you to all the Hospital staff that helped my mother during her stay at St.Clare Health Center in Fenton, MO. You all were WONDERFUL!!

Since her stay at the hospital my mom had developed necrosis in her feet and hands from lack of circulation due to the amount of blood pressure meds she was on during her treatment.  The vascular surgeon believed she would have to have half her foot amputated or a few toes. They released her with her Nephrostomy tube and wanted to wait till the infection in her system was completed cleared so they could preform Lithotripsy to remove the stone.

Since her stay at home, it has been trying...good news, her feet are healing nicely and at this time there is no talk about amputating anything.  She does have permanent nerve damage to her feet which could impair her driving and work abilities. All of her doctors are keeping a very close eye on her and her recovery has been very slow and has taken an emotional toll on our mom . My mother is single and at this time with no income. She has not qualified for social security yet and is in need of financial assistance to help pay for medical bills, medications, rent, bills and necessities. She currently lives in a home that needs major repairs because of the mold and the roof.  We would like to raise enough money to move her into a nicer home and help her with expenses. Returning to work is up in the air right now and if she does it could possibly be limited. Her vehicle is a 97' jeep cherokee with well over 300,000 miles, which is just about ready to retire.  We would love to see our mom with a reliable vehicle to get her around were she needs to go. She still has a very long road to recovery and as a child, my family will go to all lengths to take care of our mother as she took wonderful care of us. Please help our mother, her recovery is so important and the less she has to worry about, the quicker her recovery. So please take this time to donate to a wonderful mother and a great person who needs our support!!  I also ask to keep my mother in your thoughts and prayers. Prayers work miracles! God bless!

Thank you so very much and with much love, 

Jody, Matt, Sarah, and all the grandchildren (Erin, Alyssa, Presley and Gabriel)