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 I'm putting this together for a friend of mine, Brice, and his wife, Cassandra Lynn Clark, or "Cass" as Brice calls her.
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 Their family has had their entire world turned upside down in a matter of days, and they could really use some help.
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 Brice served honorably in the United States Marine Corps from 2011 to 2015. He spent two years stationed in Okinawa before going to Camp Lejeune in 2013. If you ask him about his service, he'll tell you he doesn't feel like he "did too much." That's Brice. He's not the type of guy who is going to make a big deal about himself or ask people to pat him on the back for serving.
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 Right now, though, he and his family need people in their corner.
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 What Happened to Cass
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 Friday morning, Cass had a slight migraine. She took two Excedrin and shortly afterward went into anaphylactic shock. They discovered in the worst possible way that she is highly allergic.
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 Things got bad very quickly.
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 Cass had to be intubated and paralyzed in the ambulance and was taken to their local hospital. They were able to stabilize her, but by Saturday morning it was clear that she needed care they weren't equipped to provide.
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 She was transferred to Wesley Medical Center.
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 By around 6:00 Saturday evening, Cass had been placed on VV ECMO along with the ventilator. For anyone who isn't familiar with ECMO, it's basically doing the work her lungs weren't able to do on their own so they could have a chance to recover.
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 For the next couple of days, there wasn't much Brice could do except sit beside his wife and wait.
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 On Monday, they finally started waking Cass up slowly. She didn't tolerate being awake on the ventilator very well, but thankfully her lungs had improved enough that they were able to remove it and leave her on ECMO.
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 Since then, she has continued making progress.
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 As of the latest update, Cass is receiving no support from the ECMO machine and is down to oxygen through her nose.
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 That's incredible considering where she was just a few days ago, and everyone is extremely thankful.
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 But she still has a long road ahead of her.
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 Cass Is the Rock of This Family
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 Brice and Cass have three kids — two daughters, ages 12 and 8, and a five-year-old son.
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 If you ask Brice about Cass, it doesn't take long to figure out that their kids are her world.
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 She's outgoing and will talk to just about anybody. She works at a bank, loves watching Seahawks football with Brice, and apparently reads more books than most of us knew it was physically possible to read. She had already read somewhere around 150 books this year before this happened.
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 But the biggest part of her life is being a mom.
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 Their daughters are involved in sports, and Cass is the mom who is there cheering, advocating, helping coach when she's needed and doing whatever she can for her kids.
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 Their youngest son is autistic and nonverbal, and Cass is one of his primary caregivers and biggest advocates.
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 That's one part of this that really got to me.
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 He's only five. He doesn't fully understand why Mom isn't home or what has happened to her.
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 But he knows she's missing.
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 Brice told me that he's gone looking for his mom several times this week. Eventually he'll get distracted and move on to something else, but he's still looking for her.
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 He may not have the words to ask where his mom is, but he knows she isn't where she's supposed to be.
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 His routine is different. His caretaker isn't there. And one of the people who understands him and advocates for him better than anyone in the world is lying in a hospital bed.
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 Their daughters understand more of what is happening, but that doesn't make it easier for them. They haven't really been able to talk to their mom, and Brice is trying his best to play both roles while also being there for Cass.
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 Thankfully, Brice's mom has been staying with the kids and helping take care of them through all of this.
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 Now Comes the Recovery
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 The hope is that the worst is behind them.
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 But Cass was paralyzed and intubated for three days, and her body has been through hell.
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 Now she has to regain the strength she lost while continuing to let her lungs heal. Brice has been told this could take weeks. They're hoping she'll eventually be able to recover at home rather than needing to go to a rehabilitation hospital, but right now they just have to take things one day at a time.
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 And while they're doing that, normal life doesn't stop.
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 Cass has been out of work since Friday and is expected to miss at least a month. She doesn't qualify for FMLA, although thankfully her employer is protecting her job for now.
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 Brice has also been away from work so he can be with Cass and take care of their family. He may miss next week as well depending on how things go.
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 Then there are the medical bills.
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 There are meals every day at the hospital because Brice doesn't qualify for a hospital meal tray. There is gas, food, regular household bills and all of the other little expenses that don't seem like much until you're suddenly living at a hospital and neither you nor your spouse is working normally.
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 Those expenses are starting to build, and they're going to continue building while Cass recovers.
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 That's why I'm asking for some help for them.
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 The money raised here will go toward Cass's medical expenses and helping Brice keep up with the additional expenses that come with being at the hospital and taking care of their family while Cass is unable to work.
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 I'm not going to pretend to know exactly what the next month is going to look like for them because, frankly, neither do they.
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 What I do know is that Brice needs to be able to concentrate on his wife and their kids right now instead of worrying about how much another day at the hospital is costing them.
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 And Cass needs to concentrate on getting stronger.
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 This is a Marine who served his country honorably and is now sitting beside his wife while she fights her way back to their children.
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 This is a mom who has spent her life advocating for her kids who suddenly needs some people willing to advocate for her.
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 Two girls want their mom back on the sidelines.
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 A five-year-old little boy who can't tell us what he's feeling is looking for his mom.
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 And Brice just wants his wife back.
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 If you can afford to give them something, even if it isn't much, please consider doing it. A lot of people giving a little can take a tremendous amount of weight off this family's shoulders.
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 If you can't donate, that's completely understandable. Please consider sharing this instead. Getting their story in front of more people helps too.
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 Let's give Brice one less thing to worry about and help Cass get back where she belongs:
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 Home with her family.
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Stormie Bickers

Cass Has Always Been Their Strength. Now She Needs Ours.

Cass Has Always Been Their Strength. Now She Needs Ours.

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