Help the Dreyfuss Family Through Medical Crises

Our friends in the Dreyfuss family have been going through a series of horrific medical crises in recent months and urgently need your help.

It all started last June when Raymond, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor with limited mobility, contracted COVID-19. His health began to rapidly decline and the family had to make the heart-wrenching decision to place him in a nursing home. Navigating public health bureaucracy to secure long-term care fell entirely on his daughter Nicole, and for two months she endured the grueling process of securing Medi-Cal in order to get him insured and accepted into a quality nursing home.

Just when they thought they could catch their breath, disaster struck again. Nicole’s mom, Zoia, who had previously been self-sufficient, was rushed to the hospital on New Year’s Eve with pneumonia compounded by a series of chronic and complex long-term health issues: Type 2 Diabetes, Atrial Fibrillation, and a rare form of blood cancer called Myelofibrosis.

Tragically, due to potential hospital error, Zoia developed a life-threatening blood clot in her leg that went unnoticed until it was too late. Nicole faced an arduous and complicated process to remove her mother from the facility and access competent medical care at Cedars-Sinai. Unfortunately her leg was beyond saving. After a traumatic two-week wait, Zoia underwent amputation surgery. Her life was saved, but the emotional and physical toll on Zoia—and the family—has been overwhelming. The loss of limb means that Zoia can no longer live alone and will need permanent nursing home care.

During that same period, Raymond’s physical and cognitive health declined. The day after Zoia was admitted to Raymond’s nursing home, Nicole was devastated to find that her father could no longer really speak and barely reacted to being reunited with his wife. Doctors quickly determined that Raymond’s kidneys were failing, causing septic shock. Raymond has been in and out of the hospital since then, with ongoing severe medical issues.

Nicole has been the sole person managing both her parents' medical care, dealing with social workers, doctors, and insurance agencies, making countless appointments, and left in charge of medical decisions for her father in the hospital. She has taken a significant financial hit from the time spent caring for her parents, with months of lost income.

The Dreyfuss family desperately needs your support. Any contribution, no matter the amount, will directly help them navigate this incredibly difficult time.

Funds will go directly toward covering vital expenses, including: uncovered medical costs, moving services to help empty Raymond and Zoia’s apartment by April 1st, apartment cleaning and repair costs, the cost of a storage unit, and Nicole’s ongoing loss of income due to the significant time investment to advocate for her parents and facilitate all of this.

Every donation helps – thank you for showing up for the Dreyfuss family in their time of need.