Help Richard’s family while he recovers.

Update 6/5/25

We have been home for a few weeks now and the whole family is adjusting to the new normal. Richard is doing really well and is settling in. He still is on 1:1 care because of the trach. Chris graciously decided that he would be the one to stay home with him. That means we are still down to one income until he starts to get compensated for taking care of him. So with one last push to help keep the bills paid for the month. 

We want to thank you so very much for all the love, support and prayers. You all are a blessing. 

Update 4-24-25

He has been improving so much!!! Learning all the skills over again is hard work!! But…. We have a tentative release date of May 8th. Thank you all so very much for all you have done for us. You all provided stress relief financially while he go better. We have been blessed beyond measure. 

Update 4-10-25

We are now at the Mary Free Bed Rehab center. He is working so hard everyday to get function back in his body. We are looking at another 4 weeks or so here. His insurance will not pay for one of us to stay at the hospitality house so, we are asking one last time for some help with that stay. We have already been here for 2 weeks. The first week we had to stay at a hotel and last week we finally got to get a room at the inn. It is $45 per night which a lot less than that hotel for sure. With one of us down here with him, we are down to one of us working now as well. So please, if you can help please do, and please share, maybe someone can help that you know. Thank you and may God bless you.

Update 3-28-25

Richard is on his way to rehab in Grand Rapids!!! Unsure how long he will be there for. The only issue we are running into his house for us. All the hospitality houses are full and we are on a wait list for them. Looking into hotels or Airbnb’s for a weekly rate that isn’t outrageous in price. 

Update 3-26-25

Richard has finally been accepted at the Mary Free Bed in Grand Rapids. We are just waiting for all the ducks to be in a row for him to move.

HUGE issue… the hospitality house is full and will be for weeks… the Ronald  McDonald house is for patients that are 18 and under. So we will most likely have a huge bill to cover with sleeping arrangements. 

So if you can help in any way, please do. We are not sure how long we will be down here and how long before a room will open up. We are on the waiting list with 1 ahead of us. 

Update 3-20-25

Mr. Richard has improved so much over the last week. He is totally off the vent and is not only cool air/oxygen. They have changed his trach tube for a smaller one so now he can push air around it and he started talking again today. It’s been 40 days since I have heard him speak. We are now waiting for a bed to open up either in TC or Petoskey for his extensive rehab. Now sure how long it will take to get a bed or how long he will be there. 

We have been so blessed with all of your help and am so grateful for you all. 

We were able to make all this bills last month and this month. We are still in a bit of a need to make sure next month’s bills are in order. We should be ok after that. So if you can help, please do. Don’t forget to share to get his progress out there. God has given us a miracle… He is so good!!

Update 3-11-25

we made it to a long term care facility about 2 1/2 hours away from home. It’s way different from the ICU.

we are working on getting him totally off any extra help with his breathing. Then to work on either removing the trach or learning how to talk and eat with it in.

he is also starting to work with PT, OT and ST to get him back in his feet. We are looking at maybe another month here.

this move has been extremely hard. It’s just him and I down here during the week. Please keep praying and sharing. I have to repost to work on 3-24. To which my husband will be talking FMLA to stay with him. This still means we will only have 1 income. So if you can help, please consider it. If you can’t, please share this. And as always don’t stop praying!!!

Update 2-26-25

The tracheotomy and feeding tube place yesterday. He has been resting comfortably since.

We have been excepted to the long-term care facility downstate. We should be moving down there in the next few days.

Huge thank you to all that have donated, shared, prayed and visited. We love you all and pray for you daily. 

Update 2-24-25

It has been a long two weeks. We are still in the ICU and some really tough decisions have had to be made. Richard’s lungs are doing better, but there is still a long road for recovery. 

His brain is healing, we need to find out what has been affected by the damage. This is gonna take time, we have to get him off the vent first to start that process. 

We are now at day 15, which means his time is pretty much up being in the vent. They are now really considering doing a tracheotomy. This will get the tube out from down him mouth, get him sitting, talking, and get them to see what kind of damage is in his brain and start working on it. 

They have also talked about a long term care facility… which would be downstate. And we don’t know how long he would be down there. 

My heart is breaking for him. But we need to take the steps to get him better. 

With that being said. If you can help by just sharing or praying, please do.

Richard is my 32 year old son. He has Down Syndrome. He is a happy, loving big guy that loves anyone that he comes in contact with and vise versa. On Monday, February 10, 2025, I found Richard unresponsive and had very labored breathing. 911 was called and we went straight to Munson in traverse City. They assume that he threw up in his sleep and he aspirated it. We are not sure how long his oxygen level was down for, but it was for a while. His brain was starved for oxygen. And due to is him inhaling so much liquid, his lungs are really sick too. The neurologist is optimist by saying that his brain will need time to start to heal itself. The ICU doctor said that there are no signs of infection in his lungs, but he still can’t maintain his airway on his own because they are still so wet.

They both said he will be in the ICU for weeks or months. This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

That’s why we are here. My husband will be going back to work tomorrow, however I will not be working again until Richard’s is home. We don’t know for how long.

please consider helping. If you can’t help please share and please pray for Richard!!!