Over the past two months Chelsea Alvarez, or “Chelly,” as my babies call her has been experiencing a myriad of health issues that seemed to be GI related. She lost over 30 pounds in a matter of a month. Unfortunately, since our healthcare system has been slammed, she was not scheduled to get diagnostic testing done until October. Her symptoms expanded as of this week to include difficulty breathing and swallowing. The combined symptoms brought her to the hospital two times this past week.

 

The second hospital visit brought some answers. However, they are not ideal. Chelsea was diagnosed with a rare fungal pneumonia, ARDS and the rest of her organs are under a lot of distress. This is not COVID related. Within hours of being admitted to the ICU Chelsea’s condition was deteriorating. She was having extreme trouble breathing and unfortunately this resulted in her being put on a ventilator yesterday afternoon. While there aren’t improvements, her condition is remaining steady. The ventilator process is pretty traumatizing but she is a fighter and handling it like a champ.

 

Doctors still have not completely got to the bottom of the GI issues, but the sedation is allowing them to finally perform the necessary tests.

 

Chelsea is still not able to breath without the help of a ventilator and it is completely unclear as to how long she will be on the ventilator. She is strong, and we know she will come out of this, but she faces a long road ahead.

 

Chelsea essentially works paycheck to paycheck and is facing mounting medical bills, and will be out of work for the foreseeable future.  Her parents are in Atlanta supporting her, so they also cannot work right now to help her. Inevitably, this will result in mounting bills. We want Chelsea focused on her recovery, and to reduce stress as much as possible. The road ahead is going to be challenging.

 

We are kindly asking for anyone that is able, to think about donating to help Chelsea in her recovery. Anything and everything will help. MOST IMPORTANTLY, we are requesting your prayers that she continues to gain the strength to get through this.

 

Thank you for your consideration, gratitude, good vibes and prayers! Chelsea loves you all!