Aid Brittany Bunnell's Bills Medical Expenses Recovery Care

Update 1/24/2025@8:15pm

Jewish has proven to be an absolute disappointment when it’s come to Brittany’s care. I’m frustrated. I rushed up there today to voice my frustrations and although I got zero satisfaction and zero answers I did get some private time with my sister. I put lotion on her foot and leg and on her hand and arm. I shaved her legs with her electric razor (I guess there is a first time for everything even though I’ve been her sister for 36 years.) I decided today that I needed to start doing the things that have crossed my mind the last several days. I massaged the foot that’s been completely crippled from spasms. I done the same on the arm. I helped PT get her to the side of the bed and as much as it hurt her I tried to talk her thru moving this and that no matter how little she was able to move. I got ahold of her right leg and tried to move it as much as possible within reasonable pain kind of like bicycle movements and just getting some action in those joints- hip, bending the knee, manually moving toes etc. things that staff should be doing just to keep her joints from not getting any movement. Even if I’m doing it I hope it helped with circulation. Most things hurt her but certain levels of pain may lead to getting her better too. Idk. I’m helpless. I’m struggling not being able to be the big sister and fix things for her. There hasn’t been any progress as far as her being able to use her right side. This is her dominant side. It worries me because if it doesn’t get better how does she drive, bathe herself, walk, do basic house stuff, work, etc. I’ll be glad when she’s either in a rehab facility here or transferred to Vandy, or whatever it takes to get her back close to home so I can be there and help her more. A new doctor came to see her today and he is the head of his department and he is at least ordering Vascular Testing in her neck. Her angioedema has been flaring up extremely bad- this is what has caused episodes of her gasping for breath and has scared the absolute crap out of us. The meds for this have to come from a specialty pharmacy and although I thought the hospital should be supplying these meds they are using her personal stock. Luckily she was overnighted some from the specialty pharmacy she normally gets it from. She doesn’t usually need it this often. Just keep praying for her and lifting her up.

Update 1/21/2025 @8:30

I’m sitting here in Brittany’s room with her. She’s talking and messing with her phone a little with the one hand she’s got that works. She’s got an eye patch on the right eye. Right leg still isn’t working. Still can’t feel her bladder to know when she needs to use the bathroom. They got her up to see if she could put weight on her leg, she made it to the side of the bed with a two person assist and went into spasms again. They had to give her diastat it got so bad. She was supposed to have the full spine MRI with contrast but someone dropped the ball and didn’t give her the allergy meds she’s suppose to have because she’s allergic to the contrast so it had to be rescheduled for tomorrow around 4pm. Still no answers, still no getting better. Yesterday was a bad day for pain and getting the pain meds she needed but today has been better with that and the nurse tonight seems pretty awesome. Makenzie is going to stay the night with her in her room since Andrew had to go back to work. We are all just kind of taking it day by day. Hopefully all our moods will improve with some answers. It’s hard not knowing what life is going to look like once she can leave. Tonight makes a week in a hospital for her. Keep her in your prayers. Just want to say we all appreciate every single person that’s donated and prayers and checked in. We appreciate our friends and family, our work families, moms business family, everybody- thank yall so much.

Update 1/21/2025 @ 11:00

I didn’t get to go see Britt yesterday or Sunday but will make the trip to Louisville today to see her and get a better update together. I talked to her a little while ago and they are doing an MRI of her full spine. I’ll do a better update once I get up there.

Update- 1/19/2025@5:30pm

Saw one of the Neuro Surgeons this evening and he did in-depth physical examination. They will most likely be redoing all her scans here to make sure they are able to have the best quality to go over them with a fine tooth comb with the Neuro and neurosurgery team tomorrow.

So they are pretty sure they will start that process sometime tonight.

They pieced together a couple things from her medical history that may give us a tiny bit of insight on what could potentially be going on, but nothing is for sure or certain yet. She is still deaf in her left ear and still pretty much paralyzed on the right side.

update as of 1/19/2025 @9:20

The first doctor just came in. She was going to put in some orders for medicine and have the nurse bring them in and she was ordering speech therapy to try to do a swallow study.

Update- 1/19/2025@3:02qm

Just got an update. She is finally on her way to Louisville. Hopefully today and Monday will be days full of answers and more information as to what we are looking at to fix as much damage as can be fixed and to get a better idea of recovery and what life is going to look like going forward.

Thanks so much to those that have donated and shared and sent prayers and positivity so far. It’s helping. The doctors approved a different pain med in between the stronger pain med rotation, They increased her Gabapentin, and switched some other things around and it’s helped with the spasms and level of comfort. Thanks to Andrew who has been there almost constantly. Thanks to Rob and Makenzie and Cole for holding down the kids thru this so far. Thanks to everybody who’s visited and given opinions and talked to nurses and doctors. Her moving to Louisville will make visitation harder and we appreciate everybody who will make that journey so she feels supported and taken care of and loved. If you can’t visit, FaceTime. Even with what she has going on just hearing a voice saying “It’s going to be ok” is encouragement she needs right now.

Update- 1/18/2025@1:55pm

Although Jewish has accepted her they are still waiting on a bed to transfer her so she is still at BG. After getting to talk to everybody I’ve gotten an update on what they do know right now. She’s got three degenerated and bulging disc in her neck and a degenerated disc in her back, and then she has a slap tear with tendinopathy in the bicep tendon and the supraspinatous tendon, no use of right side and dystonia, which has now started to show up in her left foot, and the hearing in her left ear has started to go this morning as they tried to move her. Things are bad. The doctors have done all they can and the hope is that Jewish will have more specialized doctors that will be able to decipher what’s going on and make a decision on what to do to try to fix the discs and then figure out the paralysis. I’ll update again when she’s being transported.

My name is Amanda Akin. I am going to be attempting to raise money for my sister Brittany Bunnell.

On Tuesday at a routine Physical therapy Appointment something (and we have very few answers at this point) happened to Brittany and she was paralyzed on her right side. After a huge spike in her blood pressure and the therapy staff laying her down and trying to help her, her best friend who is a nurse took her from therapy to Medical Center Hospital in Bowling Green. She has been there since Tuesday. At this moment (1/18/2025 @9:00am) they are getting ready to transport her to Jewish Hospital in Louisville which is 2 hours away. Finally last night after spending 2 full days at MC Bowing Green, they finally decided they have no answers, and they don't have the facilities to help her or get answers. She has had a scan of her spine, and we do know there is a disk out of place, but the doctors do not feel like this would be causing all the symptoms. Stroke has also been ruled out at this point. At the moment she cannot open her right eye. Her doctors opened the eye manually and it will not track movement, and it will not dilate. Brittany says all vision in that eye is double and blurry. She is drooling some out of the right corner of her mouth because she cannot control it enough to close it property. Her right arm and hand she cannot feel. Her right hand is clinched, and she is unable to move it or relax it. She cannot move or feel her right leg. Her neck has now drawn to the right side. She is having major muscles spasms that is shooting pain all over her body. Last night I raced to the hospital after her airway spasmed and clamped down. During this episode her young daughter who has epilepsy was outside her door and went into a seizure. She has no PTO or Vacation at her work as she has been a Cheer and Basketball mom and has used her time to make sure her children get to do all the things they want to do. She will get one paycheck this week and that will be it and she has just purchased a new home and she has a car and insurance payments along with some other personal bills. Regardless of her medical need after she recovers, she lost her Medicaid a few months back and even with insurance the medical bills will be outstanding. Although her family will help as much as possible, I am afraid her monthly bills, medical bills, and future medical care specially if she remains paralyzed will be outstanding. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Any share or words of prayer and positive vibes will be greatly appreciated.

As I was driving 80 on the backroads from Scottsville KY to Bowling Green KY yesterday afternoon knowing that she had had a spell of not being able to breath and talking to my mom while she told me Brittany wasn't able to talk at that point and she was spasming and in pain I honestly thought I would make it there and we would be making last decisions for her. I am the big sister, the protector, and I imagined a life where she was no longer in it. It terrified me. She has two little boys and a teenage daughter. She is a single mom. I couldn't imagine them not having their mom and I couldn't imagine my ex-brother-in-law needing to raise those kids without her. We do not ask for a lot of help. We have always rallied together and managed hard ships as a family, but this is more than any of us can mentally or financially bear.

I am sorry if this chaotic to read. On the inside that is what I am feeling, chaotic, desperate, and helpless. I will update as soon as I get to her in a few hours. I will also update with pictures so everyone can see how volatile this situation is.