Hi All,

My name is Matt Schwartz. I’m a Social Worker in Buffalo, NY. On Sunday, November 14th my mom, Fran, had a critical neurological incident.

I came into her room at 6:01 to bring her dinner…at about 6:34 when I came in to bring her some of my sides, I found her laying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn’t recognize me, didn’t remember my name, and couldn’t tell me where she was, who the president was, and then rapidly she couldn’t speak or understand me at all.

I managed to get her to the hospital, and they brought her straight back into the neurological emergency room at Buffalo, General. Two days in the Neuro E.R., and and three days on the Neuro Floor, we were told (initially) that it was a brain hemorrhage and a seizure. At today’s follow up with the Neurosurgeon, we were told that only one scan showed something that might have been a brain hemorrhage, but that the EEG definitively showed a seizure.

When my mom was aphasiac in the hospital, and disoriented, and looked right through me it was without a doubt, one of the scariest moments of my life. I wasn’t sure she was going to come home (which is why I took photos…I thought it might be the last time I got to see her).

This is all after mom had brain surgery to put in a shunt for normal pressure hydrocephalus this past September.

Right now, Mom is seeing the neurological occupational therapist twice a week, and the neurological physical therapist twice a week in order to regain functioning. This includes her ability to walk instead of shuffle, regain as much of her memory back as possible, increase her cognitive functioning, reduce hand tremors, and more.

I am on a leave of absence from work in order to help my mom recover. While I am thankful for paid family leave, it’s at 67% of my salary. Mom’s weekly copays are 160.00, more if she has to go to anything other than her OT and PT appointments. She had a CT scan before her neurosurgeon today which had a copay of $300.00, meaning that this month’s copays are hovering around $940.00…she has to get an MRI next month with a similar copay attached.

Mom is going to need a few more months of specialist visits. I am also working to secure aging-in-place grant funding to make our home a bit more accessible. Anything that you can please put toward this campaign will go toward Mom’s medical bills, household expenses, and accessibility.

We would both gratefully appreciate it, as we make it through this hard time together.