Hello everyone,

My name is Chase, Michelle’s son, and I’m reaching out to share my mom’s story and ask for help during difficult time for her. My mom, Michelle Anderson, has always been strong, independent, and full of life, so watching her go through this has been difficult for my brother and I.

To give some backstory of what has transpired:

What started as a routine annual checkup quickly turned into something concerning when her doctor discovered a heart murmur. Further testing revealed a severely prolapsed mitral valve, which meant her heart was working much harder just to do what most of ours do without effort. Surgery was necessary, and she was scheduled for open-heart surgery in hopes of preventing things from becoming even more serious.

After the surgery, the surgeon told my brother and I that the valve repair itself was successful, which brought us a sense of relief. Unfortunately, as they attempted to wake her from sedation, things took a turn for the worse. Mom suffered seizures and went into cardiac arrest. After about a minute, her pulse was restored, but we later learned that she had experienced multiple strokes either during or immediately after surgery. We were explained by the neurologist the strokes she suffered affected parts of her brain that control speech, her ability to walk, her vision, and caused weakness on the right side of her body. In the days that followed, she continued to have seizures, leaving her sedated and on a ventilator for nearly two weeks. Mom spent 30 long days in the CVICU at Mercy STL before she was strong enough to transfer to an acute rehabilitation hospital. After two more weeks there, we were finally able to bring her home. Although our mom has returned home from the hospital, she still requires ongoing supervision and daily assistance. My brother is currently living with her to help with tasks such as preparing meals, doing laundry, managing medications, grocery shopping, bathing, driving her to and from therapy and follow-up appointments, and assisting with other daily needs. She has now begun outpatient therapy and is working incredibly hard every day to regain her independence.

If you know my mom, you know she has one of the kindest hearts. She loves all animals, no matter how big or small, and has always gone out of her way to care for them. She adopted her two rescue dogs, Ellie and Ginger, after fostering them, and they are such a huge part of her life. She also volunteers with several rescue organizations, fostering kittens until they are healthy and strong enough to be adopted into loving homes. She loves hiking with her dogs, riding her gravel bike with friends on local trails, getting lost in a good book, playing Scrabble with my brother, and winding down with a good crime documentary. She is the kind of person who gives so much of herself to others without ever asking for anything in return. Beyond her kindness, our mom has shown incredible strength and determination; Qualities she has demonstrated time and time again during her long days in a hospital bed. She went from being unable to speak and barely able to move her arms and legs, especially on her right side, to relearning how to sit upright, then stand, and eventually take her first steps again. She continues to regain her voice, working every day to overcome vocal cord paralysis. Her latest victory is being able to eat and drink again after spending the last six weeks on a liquid tube diet.

I created this GoFundMe to help ease the overwhelming burden of unexpected medical expenses, medications, daily living expenses, and the loss of income while my mom focuses on healing and regaining her strength before returning to work. This journey has been physically, emotionally, and financially challenging, and any support whether through a donation or simply sharing this page means more than we can put into words. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for helping our mom continue her journey back to the independent life she loves so much.

A daily log was kept by us during her stay in the CVICU and acute rehabilitation hospital. If you’d like to read more about our mom’s journey in the hospital after surgery you’re more than welcome to follow the link below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-_Hha4iUmW28VqTPuJ96nGak9QfUHkHVJjIKFVoEkc8/edit?usp=drivesdk