Fun-loving mum to three, grandma to four, sister to six and aunt and cousin to many more.
Pauline loves music and is always singing, dancing, hosting - she is always the life of the party and is well known for her cooking (especially her stew peas and carrot cakes!) - she’s a feeder and so it’s impossible to go hungry around her. She adores her family and is very much family oriented which makes it even harder for her to be away from us for so long.
Pauline is incredibly hard-working, strong, inspirational and spiritual. She’s always willing to lend a hand to others and nothing was ever too much trouble. Her laughter is one of a kind and if anyone is feeling down, hearing her laughter truly picks you up.
Pauline, to the shock of her family, had three strokes whilst in Jamaica. She suffered a fall from the bed and was found by her partner on 7th June but due to the lack of awareness on the signs of a stroke, wasn’t admitted to hospital until 11th June when she became completely unresponsive. This has had a massive influence on the impact of the strokes and has resulted in Pauline becoming completely reliant on 24 hour care as she is unable to walk or wash, feed or clothe herself, which has also resulted in her becoming depressed as she is used to her own independence.
The impact of the stroke has resulted in a loss of speech - it has taken 3 months to be able to have a conversation with Pauline and although she is improving, there is a lot more work to do. Pauline suffered complete paralysis to her right (dominant) side and is unable to walk. Physiotherapy is helping with this and the end goal is to get Pauline up and walking again.
Pauline still has multiple blood clots and is on blood thinners for life. One of the reasons for the stroke was undetected Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure - although Pauline was taking high blood pressure tablets for years, she was on the wrong dosage and so we also want to highlight the importance of having frequent medication checks and having diabetic checks if over 60 or if diabetes runs in your family - which it does for us.
Whilst at the hospital, Pauline went under numerous assessments and in addition to being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the doctors suspected that Pauline also has a possible heart defect which is one of the reasons we want to get her to the UK to have this checked properly.
As an avid food lover, it’s been quite difficult for Pauline to adjust to eating different foods now she has diabetes, due to this and a swollen throat gland, she has been reliant on meal replacement shakes which are £42 a week.
The initial hospitalisation was for a period of five weeks at a cost of £4.5k (including tests, bed, medication and food supplements) due to no health insurance. During this time she regained consciousness and went on a number of different medications to stabilise her condition. Whilst at the hospital, she embarked on a rehabilitation program, even though she was unable to communicate verbally, which did have an emotional impact on her; however it shows the amount of fight she had and continues to have. On the 5th week, the medical examiner stated that mum was unable to progress any further in the hospital and as there was no government funded placement available at the time, we had to source a private rehabilitation centre clinic in Kingston at an initial cost of £10k for 4 weeks. Due to medical experts not being able to discharge Pauline after the advised period of one month due to an infection, there was an additional cost of £3k for an additional week.
Given the fact that Pauline suffered three strokes and there was such a large period of time between her last stroke and her hospital admission, her level of disability due to the stroke is a lot higher than it should be and recovery has been slower than anticipated. As a family, we want our mum and sister in the UK with us so we can care for her as a family, lift her from her depression and also, get tests for her here so we can be sure that she is receiving the correct medication and treatment for her conditions. The costs in Jamaica aren’t sustainable and we’re struggling to pay for nursing, physio therapy and the final bill from the rehabilitation centre. Up until this stage, we have been unable to bring her home as the medical experts at the rehabilitation centre said she is unable to fly for 4 months following discharge - which was in July.
Over the past few months, Pauline has continued to have physiotherapy with daily extensive 24 hour care; she is also emotionally and mentally distressed as she also wants to come home.
…What do we need?
Enough money to pay for care in Jamaica and flight costs to fly back to the UK. Pauline will require medical assistance to travel with her and an ambulance to drop her to the airport and collect her once she has reached the UK.
We also need prayers, donations and sharing of this Go Fund Me so we can raise awareness of strokes and the importance of regular health checks and medical insurance so that others do not go through the same situation.