Cover expenses while unable to work

Last week our family was turned upside down when we found out my sister Heather has a blood clot in her brain. Heather was having very intense migraines for a couple days and pain in her right arm and jaw. She actually had a heart attack

in April of this year and her pain was mimicking that attack. We called 911 on Friday the 14th when Heather started having a seizure. She had another seizure in the ambulance and again later that evening at the hospital. Her seizure at the hospital was a blessing in disguise because after the hospital read the CT scan incorrectly and missed that she had a brain hemorrhage, they were planning on releasing Heather to go home. Because of the massive seizure the Dr. decided to go ahead and do an MRI and it revealed the blood clot in her brain. The Dr told her she needed to be life flighted to OHSU as soon as possible because she wouldn’t survive at Bay Area Hospital where they didn’t have a neuro team on hand. It wasn’t until the team at OHSU read the CT scan that her hemorrhage was seen. Once at OHSU Heather spent 3 days in the neuro ICU unit and then another 2 days in the regular neuro unit. Heather’s 5 kids including one step son and 3 grand babies were anxiously waiting at home for their mom and memaw to return back to them while our parents and her husband stayed by her side at the hospital. She wouldn’t be returning though before getting an angiogram to rule out an aneurysm and an ultrasound on her left leg that had also been eliciting pain. They found 5 more blood clots in her leg. Heather has a blood clotting disorder which she has had since her first pregnancy 24 years ago and has been on a few different blood thinners for the past 24 years. She has never experienced anything like this before though and the Drs. at OHSU increased her dose quite a bit in hopes of dissolving her now 6 blood clots.

Heather was released from the hospital a few days ago on Friday the 21st and has a long road of recovery ahead of her. The pressure of the 3 plus inch long blood clot in her brain is causing not only a lot of pain but also quite a lot of cognition issues. We are praying for a full recovery and are hopeful that after the 3-6 months they say it will take for the blood clot to be reabsorbed into her body, that Heather will be able to return to her work of running her float business and esthetics at her place of business, Young Wellness. I know all of her clients are concerned for her and patiently awaiting her return.

Although Heather isn’t one who likes hand outs and this makes me uncomfortable to ask for financial support even when it’s not for me, I truly believe the support for families in need when these type of emergencies arise, is far from a hand out. I’m hoping that her not having a two income household for a few months won’t cause more stress on her in an already stressful situation. Heather is a very giving person and I know when she is able she will continue to give back as well and return the generosity.