Help Janice Heller in Her Time of Need

Hi, my name is Shanti and I am fundraising for my mom, Janice Heller.

Janice is a loving mother to me, and a grandma to a family of four Aussies (Australian shepherds), two canaries, two beautiful parakeets, and one ancient angelfish. She is also one of the most caring friends, and a pillar of her community as an adored family care provider, since forever.

As a young woman she traveled to places they said she'd never make it to with her disabilities. Starting at age 3, and many a time there after. Then she worked in cancer research as well as in suicide prevention for years. As she grew, so did her desire to help people. She then became one of the first licensed Midwives in the state of Florida, practicing for over 50 years, delivering babies across the generations, always caring immensely for each and every client, and family.

She was also a Doctor of Acupuncture, being one of the first to practice in the state, as well. She has also been a mentor and professor in many areas over the years. Regardless of the services she was providing, she took clients of all backgrounds and financial standings. It was always about the care before anything else which, is most likely why she is so adored amongst clients and the community.

Janice has been in a wheelchair for over 28 years now. Prior to that she walked with braces and crutches due to her daunting past of being one of the first children to be affected, and tortured, by Polio. She, however, did not ever waiver or quit, as she approached this world with kindness and a relentless effort to use her disabilities as inspiration to always push forward.

My mom had to make the heartbreaking decision to retire from Midwifery as of last year but, was still practicing Acupuncture up until this March. By complete surprise, her acupuncture career halted when she fell victim to medical neglect by the dialysis staff, resulting in the paralyzation of her right arm. After many attempts, there was no recourse for their actions and she was left stuck this way. At that time she became unable to do most things, including feed herself, or push herself in her wheelchair anymore.

Around this same time, she started developing major depression and early onset dementia. I believe the combination of the injury and of the loss of dignity with losing her life long work was the ultimate recipe to start this decline. She had already suffered loss of income due to her retirement, and so her loss of income from the dialysis incident has been devastating.

Fast forward to today. Janice was just released from a week and half hospital stay for various health issues. While she was in the hospital, she was not tended to properly, creating more health issues, including everything from creating more wounds to her body, to causing her to lose the use of her other arm, while laying in the bed, unattended to by physical or occupational therapists, as prescribed. This drastic change to basically a quadriplegic and loss of quality of life has taken a major hit on her overall disposition, and has caused many dilemmas to turn into major or emergency problems.

These dilemmas, mainly financial, are caused by the lack of income, her crazy medical bills and needs, insane home and repair bills, and the cost of basics and maintenance. We are months into drowning in debt already. Being in this position will affect her care needs which includes around the clock nursing care, specialist care, and transportation, in addition to the preservation of her home, animals, and her dignity.

I am currently her sole care provider, her transportation, as well as the keeper of the home, and everything else. Currently, her wheelchair accessible van, 2016 model, is experiencing multiple issues including electrical system failure. This causes the van to be unreliable more often than not, which jeopardizes her health as well. The repairs will total in amounts I cannot even approach, however these repairs are vital to keeping the van, her only mode of transportation, running.

The first part of costs I am facing, other than the already crippling debt, will be the bare minimum to sustain life for Janice. Some of the major priorities ahead include

Additionally, there are costs that I, as the keeper, am unable to maintain the many things I have done for years. Things for her, the home, my amazing sweet pups and pets that are in the middle of this nightmare as well as, the things I personally need to sustain, and to be able to achieve all of this.

This seemingly never ending list of things that need to be done, includes basic home and pet maintenance needs always, but the rest have reached a level that I am now desperate to tend to, and am greatly fearful of what is to come if some of them are not handled soon, and god forbid and new issue arises. Some of these include

Lastly, I would like to thank you for your time, and your consideration. Every donation, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to providing my sweet mom with

the support and dignity she deserves. Your kindness and generosity mean more to us than words can express. That being said I am hoping my motto, " we are all in this together" might be right this time. Thank you again! Stay Lovely Beauts!