Donate to help Moises

Hi everyone, it’s Emily - the daughter of Moises and Birute Guedes and I am writing this on behalf of my parents. Many of you know my father suffered a severe right sided hemorrhagic stroke on September 30th that has left him paralyzed on his left side and dependent for mostly all of his self care. To some this diagnosis may seem grim and discouraging but Moises has come a very long way proving many doctors wrong. He was in and out of the ICU at Yale hospital for one month and at that time doctors told us to prepare for the worst on a weekly basis. He was then transferred to Gaylord hospital for intensive rehab for 3 months with many complications along the way including multiple rounds of pneumonia, poor medication management and complications related to his feeding tube. He was then discharged to a nursing home where he has been the last 2 months. We are now faced with insurance running out and his time there coming to an end. For better or worse he will be coming home and we have been frantically trying to set everything up for a safe transition home. 

Physically he is unable to stand or transfer from the bed to his wheel chair without help, he cannot sit upright and balance at the edge of the bed on his own, he needs help eating (thankfully he is not using the feeding tube anymore!) and cannot walk. 

This is probably one of the hardest and saddest things to witness as a daughter and even harder as a physical therapist daughter. I feel helpless. I know very well how challenging this new chapter of bringing my dad home will be for my mom and I. We will be dedicating our time to help him continue his recovery as much as we can but it will be impossible to do it all on our own. We need help. 

The cost of hiring a caregiver to support my father and keep him safe at home is astronomical. The cost of supplies and other things such as making the home more wheelchair accessible will be more than they can afford right now. 

I know many of you have reached out to ask how to help. Contributing to a fund to help us pay for the cost of a caregiver for the next few weeks will give us a head start (and time) to figure out our long term plan.

We know how much Moises is loved by so many brothers and sisters. He dedicated so much of his time helping others - strangers and family alike! Life has never been easy for him yet he continues to be kind, patient & humbled throughout all of this. He has always been hard-working, dedicated to his family and faith. We are beyond grateful for him and are determined to continue to fight for him and his recovery.

Thank you all so very much for your continued support and love. We couldn’t possibly do any of it without you.