Help with assistance for Shaina and Pat

Hi, my name is Cynthia Howard and I am raising money as a way to help my dear friends Shaina and Patrick Ditch. Many of you will agree when I say that Shaina is the strongest person I know!

Shaina, Pat, Emma and Avery and their families have been on a long and hard journey that began on December 7th, 2015. This was Shaina's first documented seizure, which helped diagnose her brain tumor.

Shaina had her first brain surgery in January 2016.

She had her second brain surgery (awake Craniotomy) in September 2018 and it was followed by chemo and radiation.

Her 3rd surgery was on April 5th, 2023. She stayed in the ICU for several days and then was in rehab for about 2 weeks. Since her 3rd surgery, Shaina is not able to move her right arm or leg so she is using a wheelchair. Her speech has also been impacted and she has difficulty with her words. Therapy (physical, occupational and speech) is continuing and they go to her house several times a week. She has chemotherapy every two weeks. Since Shaina cannot use her right side, she does need to have someone with her at all times to assist her. Shaina returned to the hospital on May 18, due to blood clots developing in her leg and lungs. They did an Inferior Vena Cava (IFC) procedure to put a filter in to stop the blood clots from going to her lungs. She was in the NTICU for several days and returned home on Sunday, May 21st.

Many of you want to know how we can continue to help support Pat and Shaina during this time. Through her Facebook support page and the meal train, many of you have graciously helped with meals over the last months. It is appreciated so much and has been a tremendous help. As Pat and Shaina navigate the next few months, something else that would help them is the ability to hire a cleaning service to come to the house twice a month. This will relieve some of the burdens on Pat and their families, so they can focus on spending time with Shaina. Pat is also balancing work, home health visits, and doctor appointments as well as Emma and Avery's activities. He does not want to burden friends with this sort of thing. This fundraiser is to pay for these cleaning services.