The Road to Recovery

My name is Stephanie Rice. As most of you know on January 19th of this year I was admitted to the emergency room at St. Joseph's Hospital suffering from multiple organ failure. From there I was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital where I spent 3 days on life support, 9 days in the ICU, another 9 days in the kidney care unit, and two weeks in the physical rehabilitation unit relearning how to walk, rebuilding my strength, and repairing the damage done to my memory and problem solving skills- never my strong suit to begin with! haha :)  

Never in my life did I imagine that I would literally be on my deathbed at the tender age of 32. The hospital staff didn't think I would make it through the first night, or the first week, or survive 3 months; they told my sister she should go ahead and start drafting my obituary. Even if I survived the initial stages of this illness they expected me to suffer from brain damage, kidney disease, and eventually total liver failure. I would lose decades off of my life expectancy and the few years that I would have remaining would be of greatly diminished quality.

Somehow, though, I beat the odds and I am slowly heading down the road to (full!) recovery- the only word anyone involved with my care could use to describe this was "miracle."

I believe it was all because of my loving Mother (who passed away in 2012), the rest of my awesome family, friends and strangers that were praying for me from the time I stepped into the hospital until now. I can never thank all of them (you) enough!

I primarily intend to put any donations towards nutritious groceries, transportation to/from appointments with my doctors and therapists, and prescription medication. Anything beyond that will go towards helping my Dad with bills and living expenses while I get back on my feet. Finally, whatever is left will help me take care of Jaxson (the best emotional support dog a girl could ask for!) and allow me to start making payments on my hospital bills. I'm keeping my head above water (for now) and any little bit you could help would mean the world to me. 

Thank you for reading my story. I never would have made it if it wasn't for all the care and support I've received in the last 5+ months from every single person. I felt the prayers that everyone had sent as well.
Please continue keeping me in your thoughts and  Prayers! Xoxo


I Love you all so much!!!

-Stephanie