Disabled Nurse in need

Meet Ericka Steele RN. Ericka is one of the strongest women I know. I met her in 2003 while during our prerequisites for the nursing program. We were two strangers who decided after a chance meeting in biology that we would partner up and take this journey of becoming RN’s together. I was surprised to learn that she was pursuing her RN degree with 5 small children at home, with the youngest being a set of twin boys 18 months old. She said that she was going to become a nurse to better the life of others and her family. Towards the end of our journey Ericka began having asthma like symptoms, becoming short of breath. After going to the hospital several times with no real answers, our instructor suggested that she be tested for Lupus. After speaking with her doctor, test done, Ericka was diagnosed with Lupus. She refused to give in to this diagnosis, we graduated and Ericka began her career as a registered nurse. She took advantage of every treatment her specialist suggested, including methotrexate (a chemo agent), which left her weak; Ericka continued to persevere. One day while working she fell breaking her wrist because her bones were very brittle. While off work and trying to recover, one of Ericka’s twins (Micah) was diagnosed with cancer ( osteosarcoma); this devastated her and her family. She still went back to work but even weaker than before, because the worst thing for Lupus is stress. After much effort and determination Ericka could no longer function as a nurse because Lupus had ravaged her joints; she was given more news that she also had rheumatoid arthritis. But Ericka refused to focus on her illness but gave every ounce of herself trying to get her son through his illness. Micah lost his battle with cancer in 2013, dying almost some 5 years after his diagnosis. During those 5 years fighting for her sons life, Lupus was ravaging her’s. Ericka was hospitalized herself throughout this period with a fractured ankle, infections, and several fractures in her back. She was left resigned to move about on crutches and a wheel chair. Death of a child can wreck a marriage, and despite 30 years of marriage, her husband left her. Ericka has been left with nothing. She needs to find a place to live as she and her boys will be evicted. PLEASE LETS HELP HER, no donation is too small.