Help support Amber’s recovery from a Spinal Stroke

Our beautiful sister, aunt and daughter could use your support.

On Sunday, December 3rd 2023, her life was turned upside down in a blink of an eye. That afternoon Amber was finishing up a project for work. When she got out of her chair her legs felt like they had fallen asleep. The next few hours would be life changing. She quickly realized she had lost feeling from her waist down and was unable to walk. She went to the ER where she was admitted and tests began. They started by looking for MS or Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). The loss of feeling worked its way to her chest and the Doctors started intravenous immunoglobulin infusion (IVIG), a common treatment for GBS. Monday evening severe pain and muscle spasms set in. They made the decision Tuesday to transfer her to Regions Hospital on the neurology floor so she could receive more specialized care. After some clinical diagnostic tests, the neurologist was able to rule out GBS by determining the issue to be related to the central nervous system. Diagnosis was again unknown and she was back to square one. In Wednesday Amber underwent more MRIs in a much higher resolution machine which determined she had suffered a spinal infarction (thoracic area) which is also known as spinal stroke. Spinal strokes are very rare and occur in just over 1% of all stoke cases. Treatment began immediately to reduce further clots and Amber was tested to make sure there were no others. They will continue testing to try to determine what caused the spinal stroke and rule out further neurological or cardiovascular complications. Amber will have a long road to recovery and her daily life will be greatly affected. We know she is strong and dedicated so we are very hopeful she will regain movement and strength in her lower body so she can someday walk again.

Amber has dedicated her career to helping and caring for others as a nurse. She has always understood the importance of being an advocate for her patients and even spent several years caring for veteran’s with spinal cord injuries. Now, she is the patient. She very recently moved into a nurse educator role with a new employer and, unfortunately, will not qualify for any paid leave. Amber’s husband has been caring for Amber, their home, kids, and dogs along with starting renovations to make the home accessible for Amber.

Please help relieve some of the financial burden from Amber, her husband and three children. The donated money will go towards medical bills, making their home accessible to her (which is requiring renovation for a first level bed and bathroom) and other unexpected expenses. We are learning new things each day about spinal strokes and how they are treated; Amber is going to have ups and downs in her recovery. There is a long road ahead for her and she is working hard with physical therapy everyday. We know she can handle this and fight a hard fight! Amber has all her loved ones close and prepared to help when possible but, unfortunately, we can’t do it all on our own. Your donations, love and support is greatly appreciated. The next 20 months will be the most important months of her recovery. Amber’s full focus must be her recovery and we hope the financial unknowns will not distract her from that.

As of today, (Christmas day) Amber is still hospitalized and not able to spend the holiday at home with her loved ones. Her family and kids miss her dearly and can’t wait for her to return home. The hope is that she will be home before the new year. We do request that people only reach out with love and supportive messages or letters at this time. She needs to keep her focus on the future and have her recovery in mind. Having to recall and explain what happened, or provide details about her recovery, will only take away focus from her goal at hand.

We will keep you updated.

Love,

Deb & Steve Krier (parents), Brandie Blumb & family, Heidi Huseth & family, Lacey Borsatto & family (siblings), and the Arachikavitz family (Amber, Nate, Aja, Luka & Zennin)