Cindi's Road to Recovery Fund

This is my mom, Cindi.  She has been the inspiration of my life.  She has a husband, two sons, and three grandchildren ages 6,4, and 6 months.  She loves Snoopy, getting dressed up, and spending time with her friends and family.  For over 50 years now she has battled epilepsy.  She is a beautiful person that has gone above and beyond in her church and the community to help others.

She has been hospitalized so many times from falls her entire life.  She has fallen in every room in the house, and hit every hard surface you can imagine.  She always finds a way to fight back and inspire us all.

Mom had a surgery close to 2 years ago that was designed to go in and remove the parts of the brain that cause the seizures.  They informed her of the risks that could happen from the surgery, and she decided it was worth the risk to be able to live a life without seizures.  

Coming out of the surgery, she was unable to move the entire left side of her body.  We knew it was going to be a long shot for her to ever walk again.  The good news was that the seizures were gone.  So for 12 months, she battled rehab centers and insurance companies as she started climbing her way back.  Day by day, there was progress being made.  God was performing another miracle for us to see and be inspired by.

She went 12 months without any seizures.  She got all the way to walking with a walker, but still never could move her left arm.  She told my step father, "I'm gonna do this without a wheelchair!"

The unexpected part is that her brain somehow regenerated the seizures and they came back earlier this year.  She was still determined to get her body back to functioning despite the negative news of the seizures coming back.

In early July, she fell and hit her head on her weak side resulting in emergency surgery and leaving her in a coma.  She was unresponsive in that coma for about 3 weeks.  Immediately after surgery, the surgeon gave us a grim prognosis and told us to prepare for hospice.

I flew up there the day after her surgery to see how she was doing.  She was out cold.  She remained in a vegatative state for around 2.5 weeks.  Everything the doctors were telling us was that she didn't have a positive outlook.  But they don't know how stubborn and tough that woman is!  I spent hours with our family crying over the possibility of losing her.  We also knew that she deserved to go to heaven if it was her time.  If anyone deserved some peace, it is her.  

I flew back up the second week after her accident, and the doctors informed us she could be in this state for an undetermined amount of time.  The only thing that would give them hope is if she would move her hand or something on command.  We decided to abide by her wishes and not put her on long term life support while she battled this.  

The day I got back up to Kentucky to be with her, we moved her to hospice.  It was time for me to say goodbye a second time.  With all my strength, I told her I loved her, and she needed to let go if it was time.  The breathing assistance, food, and water were all removed and it was up to her to decide the next steps.  

4 days after entering hospice, we got to witness another miracle.  My stepfather, Michael, sent me a video of my mother moving her foot as he told her to move it.  She did it several times on command!  The feet come back first is what the doctors always told us.  My stepfather immediately moved her out of hospice and into the University of Cincinnati hospital.  It was time to see what was about to happen.

Slowly over the next couple of weeks, small bits of progress started happening.  She opened her eyes.  She was drinking off a sponge stick.  She started moving her right hand.  She started responding to questions and speaking.  She even started taking water off of a straw and eating on her own.  

This was the mom that I have always known.  She was not about to give up.  I got to fly back up there and feel my mom kiss me on the cheek again.  It was an unbelievable feeling.  She was pretty groggy, and was still sleeping the majority of the day, but she could say I love you, and that was a miracle to me.

We moved her out of the hospital after 2 weeks into a rehab center.  Oh, by the way, did you know that when you put someone in hospice, the medical insurance cuts off of all future expenses?  We had no clue.  They were not going to cover the 2 weeks in the hospital.

In the rehab center, she has been making some progress, but not nearly fast enough.  One of the things that has been uncovered is that the fluid has returned on her brain causing her some serious setbacks.  She is becoming disoriented and regressing dramatically.  This same thing happened last year, and that's when they place a shunt to drain it.  It was like an overnight success last time.  When they adjust it to drain it again, I'm hoping for another overnight success that starts her back on the road to recovery. 

It has been close to 4 months since her fall.  She has finally been able to get the green light to go home.  She is in a wheel chair, she cannot do anything without the assistance of someone.  What we have seen in the past couple of weeks is progress once more.  She is now holding her head up, and she is lifting her hand about 8 inches off the chair...with a little coaching from her best friend Mike.

Mike has been through a tremendous amount of pain, uncertainty, juggling, and everything else with this accident.  He has remained a devout Christian and kept his faith throughout this process.  It's very easy to ask why God would let this happen, but we know there is a reason behind this.  All of us that have been touched by Cindi have had our faith in God strengthened just watching this miracle occur.

Mike has hired an in home living assistant to help mom during the day.  He goes to work, comes home to get her out of bed, then waits for the assisted living to show up so he can go back to work.  When he gets home he spends the evenings doing therapy with her and feeding her before a few quiet minutes watching some television together.

All of this comes with an emotional price tag.  It has changed all of our lives around her to see just what miracles can occur.  Unfortunately, it has come with a monetary price tag too.  The health insurance is very quick to shut things off when someone isn't progessing according to their charts.  BS!  We can see the progress like we have in the past.

I'm asking for any donation to give directly to Mike for Christmas.  Whatever your heart says to give will help.  Even if you can just share this site via social media, that will reach people that might be looking for a great cause to donate to this holiday season.  Mom needs a few things, and they have spent so much money out of pocket already.  She needs an EZStand and a ceiling lift.  He plans on looking on EBay or something for the cheapest he can find.  They total around $5,000.  On top of that, he has been paying weekly for help each day with her while he goes to work.  I'd like to raise some money to help out with the EZStand and to cover the caregiver for 6 months.  It will take longer than that to get her back, but anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for reading our story, and God Bless.  Here is Mike and Cindi just last year as she was proving she could get out of that hospital and walk.  We know she'll do it again!