Carole Stauder Medical Care

In February of this year, Carole Stauder suffered a stroke and then a seizure, spending 16 days in the hospital. Even though she is improving with current therapy at a rehab facility, she does not qualify for the 21-100 days covered by Medicare because she still needs too much assistance. 

After only 20 days in rehab, Carole will be discharged. Her options for further care are:
1) Home care, which is only partially covered by Medicare and requires a hospital bed, 24 hour care, and more expensive medical equipment.
2) Private pay at her current rehab center, which is very expensive, and not fully equipped for her long-term care.
3) Finding a long-term care facility that will accept her while her Medicaid application is still pending and pay each day she remains in rehab out of pocket (private pay).
The family feels that moving her home and then to another facility is impractical and too much for her. And since the current facility is not equipped for her long-term needs, Carole will need to transfer to a long-term facility and pay out of pocket for each day she remains in rehab. 

Carole has always been a helper - always ready to lend a hand to her family, her church, and her coworkers.  The oldest of 4 siblings, she never misses family events, and is always showing up with a "bag" of something for the kids or even the dog! She has been completely independent, a single mom for close to 40 years, and continued working even after retirement. Carole is arguably one of the most active and involved members of her Parish (St. Fabian in Bridgeview), where she taught CCD, headed up their St. Vincent DePaul Society, and set up and ran the food pantry every month. With no prior major health issues at 75 years old, this has been a complete shock to her - going from complete independence to the exact opposite.

The reason for GO FUND ME, would be to help Carole pay for the time between rehab and her transfer to a long-term, full care facility, as well as some other medical payments and a few bills that will be difficult for her to pay now that she can no longer work her part-time jobs. She only has her social security, which will all go to a long-term facility once her Medicaid application is accepted. The current rehab's private pay option charges anywhere from $300-$600 per day, based on her level of care. The family is optimistic that with the help of rehab center resources they will find a long-term facility soon, but any donation would be appreciated in helping Carole.