Fundraiser for Jenna Stevens, Whose Brain Sabotaged Her

On Sunday morning, a little over a week before Christmas, Jenna woke me up, screaming. She was vomiting and clutching the top of her head.

I rushed her to the ER, whereupon she had a two-minute-long seizure. Twenty strangers were crammed into a little room, saving her life. CT scans then revealed a brain bleed. I was told she had a 1/3rd of a chance to live, and that our rapid action had saved her life thus far.

Within an hour, I went from asleep and dreaming about my fantasy football playoffs to fighting to keep the love of my life alive.

Early the next morning the surgeon was able to determine that Jenna had suffered two small subarachnoid aneurysms. He then performed a successful brain surgery, where they dam the bleeding with tiny coils that they send up through the groin. Those hours during the procedure, helplessly waiting for the results, were the most agonizing moments of my life.

But again, the surgery was successful, thank God. However, the next two weeks were very tenuous, with constant meds, hourly neurological tests, CT scans, brain Dopplers, etc., making sure there was no additional bleeding, fluid accumulation on the brain, cerebral salt wasting, etc.

Jenna ate a little on day four, was able to whisper-talk a little here and there by day five, and by the one-week mark tests determined that by that point there was no significant neurological impairment, other than what seems to be significant hearing loss. Throughout this entire ordeal, right up to today, Jenna has slept twenty-three-plus hours a day, and is in constant pain.

On Christmas, Jenna had a brain spasm, which was very bad. Fortunately, the spasm subsided, and no additional surgeries were needed. A few days after that, Jenna fell while going to the bathroom. I was told that the long recovery process would be wrought with ups and downs, and this was certainly proving to be true.

All of this is unrelated to--but comes in addition to--Jenna's already-devastating Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, which occurred just two years ago.

Jenna spent sixteen days in intensive care, and was just released. She was ordered by her doctors to a minimum of two months bed rest. She gets medicine every four hours, so neither of us are able to get any semblance of good sleep. She's using a walker to get to the bathroom, and last night I was able to get her to take her first shower in three weeks.

Furthermore, Jenna had been on Oxycodone for weeks for pain management, but that was just stopped, and so Jenna is in more pain than she was, and now the only pain management she is allowed is Tylenol. And to make matters worse, Jenna also had to stop her anxiety medications, during this time of the most possible anxiety.

Even more sad is the fact that we were going to set up the Christmas tree the day this happened. We ended up having no Christmas or presents, and no New Year's whatsoever, and spent the entire holiday season in ICU.

Obviously, Jenna and I have been unable to work during this time. I've spent, and will continue to spend, every moment taking care of her.

But with us not working for what will be at minimum three months, uncertainty as to when/if Jenna will be able to return to work, and with what will be an insurmountable hospital bill, we need any financial help we can get.

If you are able to donate to this "Jenna's worst Christmas ever / her brain hates her" fundraiser, please do so, and encourage anyone who knows Jenna to do so as well. But it is certainly not obligatory if you cannot.

I should state here that we had wonderful care from the entire Summa staff, and I am forever grateful for each and every person there who helped in saving Jenna's life.

Jenna is a rare person, one who's truly, inherently kind, both to humans and animals. She's so worried right now about not being able to see all of her dog friends. It's heartbreaking.

Thank you, and happy holidays to you all.

Shaun