Fighting for her life and her child
Donation protected
Fighting for her life and her child
Meet Brianne – A sister, daughter, teacher but more importantly a mother of Nate. We began our campaign, #becauseofbri, for the reason that, throughout her life, she has been THE example, THE go-to person for anyone and everyone in need.
Now she needs the help of others. As her brothers and sister, we wanted to tell her story and ask for assistance as Bri continues to heal from a massive brain tumor, subsequent divorce, and an immense custody battle for her little Nate.
A beautiful life changed forever
On September 21st, 2016, Brianne’s life changed forever. Throughout that summer she had increasing headaches, trouble with her balance, and experienced temporary paralysis. Our parent's concern increased as they saw her symptoms progress. Then in Sept., she began to have seizures that forced an MRI which revealed a 4 in. x 3 in. x 2 in. tumor in the middle of her brain. Her surgeon called it a “one in a million” tumor.
After a long 10-hours of surgery, (which was estimated for only 3hours), the neurosurgeon felt optimistic. However, as time passed, Bri remained unresponsive (coma) for most of the week. When days turned into weeks she finally opened her eyes and moved a couple of fingers. Doctors and others lost hope. Our mother quit her job and spent 24/7 in the ICU, talking to her, exercising her feet so she could walk again, exercising her hands so she would not have loss of dexterity when she could move again, using oils and treating her as the precious daughter she was, knowing full well that Bri understood what was going on around her but she could not communicate back. Even as many saw no hope, we saw small miracles starting to happen.
Others said they were involuntary movements and they weren’t going to grasp at straws, but for those who knew her, we knew she was fighting to come back.
“We knew we could keep her alive but weren’t sure what else we could do.” – An ICU Nurse
Brianne fought hard. Having to learn how to eat, speak, and walk all over again. During this difficult time, she desperately needed her little boy next to her, to give her additional hope, but he was kept away. With almost one month in the Neuro ICU, she was moved to another ICU for nearly another month, and then another 3 weeks in a rehab hospital, she struggled to do even the simplest things, but every gain, no matter how small was celebrated by those who loved her.
After 1 1/2 months, she saw her little boy, this just increased her desire to heal.
She had many wonderful, loving friends and family who believed in her and many would stick by her side no matter what the outcome. Others, unfortunately, did not. This journey was hard, really hard. Speaking wasn’t easy, but when she did, we could tell that the old Bri was there. Her short-term memory seemed to be the most affected. Although she still couldn’t walk without assistance and had many months of different types of therapies,
she was finally able to come to our parents’ home to continue her recovery. Her husband filed for divorce and issues regarding custody of their son arose. For anyone who has recovered from a massive brain injury, avoiding stress especially in the first year is critical. Divorce, especially one so horrific was not the answer to a non-stress environment.
Amazing recovery but more is still to come
Fast forward to a year and a half later, Bri’s recovery is anything but miraculous. Doctors who had stated that she would never walk or talk again, are themselves speechless at the progress she has made.
Having a brain tumor did not minimize her ability to love, play, interact, and be a mother. Bri and her little boy love spending every minute together that they can get.
This is where we hope to enlist your kindness and help. Legal bills for the divorce and to fight for her son have more than taken a toll our her and our parents. Medical not covered by her insurance has been very expensive. She has seen improvement far exceeding even her doctor’s expectations through traditional medical therapy, horse therapy, cranial sacral, Qigong, hyperbaric chamber therapy, infrared light therapy, amongst others.
Originally our Aunt started a go-fund-me but was forced to shut it down. Many of you were so kind in your donations then, but half of it was given up in the divorce. The other half had to go mostly to lawyers instead of medical. She has just her clothes and a few personal items from her home and when the time comes she will need to start over. What is left will be used to help others with brain tumors and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs).
We knew we couldn’t do this alone and are asking on her behalf for help. If you are unable, but know of someone who can, please forward this on to them. Our hope is to raise enough to pay off her debt of medical and legal and to pay for some additional unique medical we know will help her as she regains her short-term memory.
Please help if you can. Enlist others if you can. You are in our prayers and thoughts and we love you all! (#becauseofbri will be the place to go for future information about TBI’s, inspiration from Bri because of her experiences, ways to help your loved ones that may be experiencing a TBI or similar situation, inspiration and for now, you are able to see Bri’s journey move forward from the beginning) You can join us on FB: #becauseofbri Facebook link
Cameron, Devon, and Marissa
Meet Brianne – A sister, daughter, teacher but more importantly a mother of Nate. We began our campaign, #becauseofbri, for the reason that, throughout her life, she has been THE example, THE go-to person for anyone and everyone in need.
Now she needs the help of others. As her brothers and sister, we wanted to tell her story and ask for assistance as Bri continues to heal from a massive brain tumor, subsequent divorce, and an immense custody battle for her little Nate.
A beautiful life changed forever
On September 21st, 2016, Brianne’s life changed forever. Throughout that summer she had increasing headaches, trouble with her balance, and experienced temporary paralysis. Our parent's concern increased as they saw her symptoms progress. Then in Sept., she began to have seizures that forced an MRI which revealed a 4 in. x 3 in. x 2 in. tumor in the middle of her brain. Her surgeon called it a “one in a million” tumor.
After a long 10-hours of surgery, (which was estimated for only 3hours), the neurosurgeon felt optimistic. However, as time passed, Bri remained unresponsive (coma) for most of the week. When days turned into weeks she finally opened her eyes and moved a couple of fingers. Doctors and others lost hope. Our mother quit her job and spent 24/7 in the ICU, talking to her, exercising her feet so she could walk again, exercising her hands so she would not have loss of dexterity when she could move again, using oils and treating her as the precious daughter she was, knowing full well that Bri understood what was going on around her but she could not communicate back. Even as many saw no hope, we saw small miracles starting to happen.
Others said they were involuntary movements and they weren’t going to grasp at straws, but for those who knew her, we knew she was fighting to come back.
“We knew we could keep her alive but weren’t sure what else we could do.” – An ICU Nurse
Brianne fought hard. Having to learn how to eat, speak, and walk all over again. During this difficult time, she desperately needed her little boy next to her, to give her additional hope, but he was kept away. With almost one month in the Neuro ICU, she was moved to another ICU for nearly another month, and then another 3 weeks in a rehab hospital, she struggled to do even the simplest things, but every gain, no matter how small was celebrated by those who loved her.
After 1 1/2 months, she saw her little boy, this just increased her desire to heal.
She had many wonderful, loving friends and family who believed in her and many would stick by her side no matter what the outcome. Others, unfortunately, did not. This journey was hard, really hard. Speaking wasn’t easy, but when she did, we could tell that the old Bri was there. Her short-term memory seemed to be the most affected. Although she still couldn’t walk without assistance and had many months of different types of therapies,
she was finally able to come to our parents’ home to continue her recovery. Her husband filed for divorce and issues regarding custody of their son arose. For anyone who has recovered from a massive brain injury, avoiding stress especially in the first year is critical. Divorce, especially one so horrific was not the answer to a non-stress environment.
Amazing recovery but more is still to come
Fast forward to a year and a half later, Bri’s recovery is anything but miraculous. Doctors who had stated that she would never walk or talk again, are themselves speechless at the progress she has made.
Having a brain tumor did not minimize her ability to love, play, interact, and be a mother. Bri and her little boy love spending every minute together that they can get.
This is where we hope to enlist your kindness and help. Legal bills for the divorce and to fight for her son have more than taken a toll our her and our parents. Medical not covered by her insurance has been very expensive. She has seen improvement far exceeding even her doctor’s expectations through traditional medical therapy, horse therapy, cranial sacral, Qigong, hyperbaric chamber therapy, infrared light therapy, amongst others.
Originally our Aunt started a go-fund-me but was forced to shut it down. Many of you were so kind in your donations then, but half of it was given up in the divorce. The other half had to go mostly to lawyers instead of medical. She has just her clothes and a few personal items from her home and when the time comes she will need to start over. What is left will be used to help others with brain tumors and Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs).
We knew we couldn’t do this alone and are asking on her behalf for help. If you are unable, but know of someone who can, please forward this on to them. Our hope is to raise enough to pay off her debt of medical and legal and to pay for some additional unique medical we know will help her as she regains her short-term memory.
Please help if you can. Enlist others if you can. You are in our prayers and thoughts and we love you all! (#becauseofbri will be the place to go for future information about TBI’s, inspiration from Bri because of her experiences, ways to help your loved ones that may be experiencing a TBI or similar situation, inspiration and for now, you are able to see Bri’s journey move forward from the beginning) You can join us on FB: #becauseofbri Facebook link
Cameron, Devon, and Marissa
Organizer
Dale Bartlett
Organizer
Lehi, UT