Help Hannah Droege buy an ADA van
Donation protected
Hi my name is Tara Rynders and I have an incredible sister Hannah Droege who lives in Reno, Nv. Hannah is in need of an ADA accessible van and we would love your help in raising funds for one. Her current van is constantly breaking down, not reliable and over heats. This limits where she can go and limits her from participating in activities. In addition to this campaign we will be hosting a You & Me at our home in Denver, CO. All proceeds from this performance will go directly to the purchase of an ADA van for Hannah. For more information about attending this performance please visit:
www.tararyndershouse.com
and now for Hannahs story, thank you for listening:
On the morning of August 15th, 2009 my sister called me in Denver to tell me she wasn’t feeling well, she had a headache and her body was shaking. I told her to go to the ER immediately. I called a few hours later and all she could do was moan into the phone and was unable to speak. I caught the next flight that same day to Nevada to see her and by the time I arrived she couldn’t move and could barely keep her eyes open. I remember seeing such fear in her eyes as she fought to keep her eyes open for just one more moment. I wanted to take all her fear away, I wanted her to know it was all going to be ok and that we would figure it all out and to not worry because I had this, I was going to figure it all out and take care of it and she was going to be back in no time. I wanted to be our mother to her and I knew my mom would have said this to her and it would have been true. However all I could do in that moment was cry and hold her face and whisper to her that I loved her and I was so sorry that this was happening. I was scared and I had never seen or heard of anything like this and I could see the fear in the eyes of everyone around us even the doctors and nurses knew this was beyond their understanding. All I wanted was for my mom to be alive and to take charge and make everyone figure this out but she passed away 3 years earlier and as much as I wanted my mom there I could only imagine what my sister was needing from her.
In a few weeks I was about to return to grad school, I was in my second year getting my MFA in dance. I decided to take the semester off and be with Hannah as we all fought to figure out what caused this and help her regain her life back. They flew Hannah to UCSF for more testing and they diagnosed her with Acute Disseminating Encephalomyelitis, or ADEM for short. She was flown back to Nevada and after 1 month she opened her eyes yet could not speak or move. She was then transferred to Roseville, CA for acute rehabilitation. I went with her and moved into her hospital room and spent everyday with her for 2 months working to bring my sister back to life. It was during this time I bathed her, spoke for her, fought for her, and worked daily to understand why this was happening. What kind of disease process takes a healthy 26 year- old woman and destroys her from head to toe? What kind of disease does ALL of this in 12 hours? Although the SF doctors called it ADEM her diagnosis would continue to change and morph depending on which city she was in and what doctors were caring for her. After 2 months at Roseville Rehab she was still unable to speak and move her body but I could see my sister returning. She would watch movies and laugh uncontrollably; I have seen School of Rock more times than I can count. I also spent the evenings dancing in her room before she went to bed because she would laugh and laugh at me. I felt her paralyzed body when I moved mine and I hoped through my movement she would also feel some freedom. It was these intimate moments when it was just the two of us I cherished. It was only a few days after we made it to Roseville and they were having a reunion where past rehab patients came back and had dinner together. It was the first time my sister was going to be around other people and I was really nervous that she was going to have a hard time with it. She was in a wheelchair and I remember pushing her outside and finding a place near the grass to sit. It didn’t take long before Hannah began to cry. When she cried they were deep deep inconsolable moans from the very pit of her being. They were loud and I remember struggling to get her back inside with the new wheelchair and everyone stopped everything and they all stared and no one knew how to help us or what to do. We all felt completely helpless. Hannah and I returned to her room and she continued to cry and I held her head as she cried and I cried and I didn’t know how we were going to get through all of this.
After her time in Roseville I knew that we needed to move Hannah closer to where Tim and I lived so we could be together and I could have some help. We found out about an amazing rehabilitation center in Denver called Craig Hospital they were known for taking young adults with brain injuries and helping them recover and find all the support that they could. Although Hannah did not have a traumatic brain injury she did have a non -traumatic brain injury that caused lesions to form on her brain with no known cause. I spoke with Craig Hospital and they refused her because she was out of state and very complicated and they couldn’t do a proper evaluation of her. So. . . I knew Craig hospital was the best place for my sister. I spoke with my husband Tim and he asked his band mates if he could borrow the “band van” and take Hannah by van from California to Denver. Hannah was still not moving and was on tube feedings. Together we made it happen, a friend of mine Jane flew out from Denver and drove back with us and we drove Hannah from California to Denver with out stopping over a two-day period. We were able to get her into an acute care rehab center near our house where she was evaluated and two weeks later was transferred to Craig hospital.
Hannah has a daughter named Hailey who was 8 at the time all of this happened. I remember at first we didn’t want to tell Hailey what happened because we thought maybe Hannah just needed a few days and then she was going to be ok. We held off as long as we could but after a week we knew we needed to tell Hailey. It is one of the many moments that still truly breaks my heart when I think about it. It is the moment I saw such intense pain in such an undeserving child. It was the moment I hated the world and hated God and hated to bring such pain to this little being who was finding out way to early how hard life could be. Hailey began to cry as soon as we began speaking because of course she knew that something was really wrong. My sister Sarah and I sat with Hailey and cried and did our best to help her understand all that we did. Hailey moved in with her dad and Sarah spent a lot of time traveling to the rehab center with Hailey to be with Hannah both in Roseville and Denver. Hailey is why it was our goal to get Hannah back to Nevada as soon as possible so that they could be close to each other.
Hannah spent 4 months in Craig Hospital and transformed during her time there. Mentally she is now 100% my sister only a little slower and is unable to speak so she uses an IPad to communicate. She is in a wheelchair and needs assistance to move and transfer but she is able to use her hands to type on her IPad and to feed herself with assistance. She is back in Nevada and just moved out of a nursing home into her own apartment with around the clock care. My Aunt Patty, sister Sarah, Caroline, and Jess are her main support in Nevada. I am looking forward to spending some time again with everyone during the holidays. Hannah continues to struggle and have complications but everyday she surprises us daily with new things she is learning to do on her own. She is in speech therapy again and it is so good to hear my sister try to speak.
Moments that I shared with my sister became the basis for what You & Me is ultimately all about, intimate or close encounters with another that remind you of who you are, why you matter, why we need one another and how beautiful the world really is even in the face of tragedy.
Here is a short video showing a little look into our time at Craig hospital. It is to the song Hannah wanted to hear over and over again. =)
https://vimeo.com/16383403
www.tararyndershouse.com
and now for Hannahs story, thank you for listening:
On the morning of August 15th, 2009 my sister called me in Denver to tell me she wasn’t feeling well, she had a headache and her body was shaking. I told her to go to the ER immediately. I called a few hours later and all she could do was moan into the phone and was unable to speak. I caught the next flight that same day to Nevada to see her and by the time I arrived she couldn’t move and could barely keep her eyes open. I remember seeing such fear in her eyes as she fought to keep her eyes open for just one more moment. I wanted to take all her fear away, I wanted her to know it was all going to be ok and that we would figure it all out and to not worry because I had this, I was going to figure it all out and take care of it and she was going to be back in no time. I wanted to be our mother to her and I knew my mom would have said this to her and it would have been true. However all I could do in that moment was cry and hold her face and whisper to her that I loved her and I was so sorry that this was happening. I was scared and I had never seen or heard of anything like this and I could see the fear in the eyes of everyone around us even the doctors and nurses knew this was beyond their understanding. All I wanted was for my mom to be alive and to take charge and make everyone figure this out but she passed away 3 years earlier and as much as I wanted my mom there I could only imagine what my sister was needing from her.
In a few weeks I was about to return to grad school, I was in my second year getting my MFA in dance. I decided to take the semester off and be with Hannah as we all fought to figure out what caused this and help her regain her life back. They flew Hannah to UCSF for more testing and they diagnosed her with Acute Disseminating Encephalomyelitis, or ADEM for short. She was flown back to Nevada and after 1 month she opened her eyes yet could not speak or move. She was then transferred to Roseville, CA for acute rehabilitation. I went with her and moved into her hospital room and spent everyday with her for 2 months working to bring my sister back to life. It was during this time I bathed her, spoke for her, fought for her, and worked daily to understand why this was happening. What kind of disease process takes a healthy 26 year- old woman and destroys her from head to toe? What kind of disease does ALL of this in 12 hours? Although the SF doctors called it ADEM her diagnosis would continue to change and morph depending on which city she was in and what doctors were caring for her. After 2 months at Roseville Rehab she was still unable to speak and move her body but I could see my sister returning. She would watch movies and laugh uncontrollably; I have seen School of Rock more times than I can count. I also spent the evenings dancing in her room before she went to bed because she would laugh and laugh at me. I felt her paralyzed body when I moved mine and I hoped through my movement she would also feel some freedom. It was these intimate moments when it was just the two of us I cherished. It was only a few days after we made it to Roseville and they were having a reunion where past rehab patients came back and had dinner together. It was the first time my sister was going to be around other people and I was really nervous that she was going to have a hard time with it. She was in a wheelchair and I remember pushing her outside and finding a place near the grass to sit. It didn’t take long before Hannah began to cry. When she cried they were deep deep inconsolable moans from the very pit of her being. They were loud and I remember struggling to get her back inside with the new wheelchair and everyone stopped everything and they all stared and no one knew how to help us or what to do. We all felt completely helpless. Hannah and I returned to her room and she continued to cry and I held her head as she cried and I cried and I didn’t know how we were going to get through all of this.
After her time in Roseville I knew that we needed to move Hannah closer to where Tim and I lived so we could be together and I could have some help. We found out about an amazing rehabilitation center in Denver called Craig Hospital they were known for taking young adults with brain injuries and helping them recover and find all the support that they could. Although Hannah did not have a traumatic brain injury she did have a non -traumatic brain injury that caused lesions to form on her brain with no known cause. I spoke with Craig Hospital and they refused her because she was out of state and very complicated and they couldn’t do a proper evaluation of her. So. . . I knew Craig hospital was the best place for my sister. I spoke with my husband Tim and he asked his band mates if he could borrow the “band van” and take Hannah by van from California to Denver. Hannah was still not moving and was on tube feedings. Together we made it happen, a friend of mine Jane flew out from Denver and drove back with us and we drove Hannah from California to Denver with out stopping over a two-day period. We were able to get her into an acute care rehab center near our house where she was evaluated and two weeks later was transferred to Craig hospital.
Hannah has a daughter named Hailey who was 8 at the time all of this happened. I remember at first we didn’t want to tell Hailey what happened because we thought maybe Hannah just needed a few days and then she was going to be ok. We held off as long as we could but after a week we knew we needed to tell Hailey. It is one of the many moments that still truly breaks my heart when I think about it. It is the moment I saw such intense pain in such an undeserving child. It was the moment I hated the world and hated God and hated to bring such pain to this little being who was finding out way to early how hard life could be. Hailey began to cry as soon as we began speaking because of course she knew that something was really wrong. My sister Sarah and I sat with Hailey and cried and did our best to help her understand all that we did. Hailey moved in with her dad and Sarah spent a lot of time traveling to the rehab center with Hailey to be with Hannah both in Roseville and Denver. Hailey is why it was our goal to get Hannah back to Nevada as soon as possible so that they could be close to each other.
Hannah spent 4 months in Craig Hospital and transformed during her time there. Mentally she is now 100% my sister only a little slower and is unable to speak so she uses an IPad to communicate. She is in a wheelchair and needs assistance to move and transfer but she is able to use her hands to type on her IPad and to feed herself with assistance. She is back in Nevada and just moved out of a nursing home into her own apartment with around the clock care. My Aunt Patty, sister Sarah, Caroline, and Jess are her main support in Nevada. I am looking forward to spending some time again with everyone during the holidays. Hannah continues to struggle and have complications but everyday she surprises us daily with new things she is learning to do on her own. She is in speech therapy again and it is so good to hear my sister try to speak.
Moments that I shared with my sister became the basis for what You & Me is ultimately all about, intimate or close encounters with another that remind you of who you are, why you matter, why we need one another and how beautiful the world really is even in the face of tragedy.
Here is a short video showing a little look into our time at Craig hospital. It is to the song Hannah wanted to hear over and over again. =)
https://vimeo.com/16383403
Organizer
Tara Rynders
Organizer
Denver, CO