Help Gracie Get the Mental Health Care She Needs

Hi, my names Jessica and my husband is Travis and we have 5 amazing daughters in total; in this picture is our middle child Miss Gracie Bug. She just got finished with 5th grade and is prepared to move to 6th grade, turned 11 in December. Gracie struggles with mental health issues such as: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), Attention deficit disorder (ADHD), post traumatic disorder (PTSD), as well as generalized anxiety disorder, general depression, and insomnia to name a few. All of us in the family also struggle with mental health issues except the youngest. Wednesday night our deepest fear came to life. Gracie has been on medications for the past 2.5 years due to mental health issues and trauma she went through 2 and a half years ago and we've been trying to get into a rhythm with medication management and crisis and trauma counseling.

On Wednesday evening May 28th, Gracie was acting very strange, sleepy, just not our Gracie. I soon then after arriving at my moms house in Chadron just knew something was wrong and off so right away I called our pediatrician and waited for a call back, (which they didn't call me back until the next day). Gracie had a rash the day before and I took her to the Dr and was told to give her benadryl and prednisone for the rash. At 1st I thought her sleepiness was a reaction to those medications. I impatiently awaited for the peidiatric dr to call us back. I kept asking Gracie what was wrong and finally, I asked the question, did you take something and she woke up enough to answer and she nodded yes, then passed out and started to go into a seizure. I rushed her to the ER not knowing what she took. The lab drew her blood and in a blood panel it showed that it was a benzodiazepine overdose. Our little girl just didn't want to be here anymore and she attempted to commit suicide. You know you hear horror stories like this, but never in a million years think that it is going to be your own child. I thought we took every precaution to eliminate all risks but i learned that any medicine can litterally be toxic, including Tylenol.

Today is the 1st time we've been able to get Gracie up walking some, talking more, eating, drinking but she still needs quite a bit of assistance as she is week, blood pressure is still low and she's still pretty confused and vision is impaired and speech is slurred. The doctors are working to get her stabilized. She had severe NYSTAGMUS in her eyes and has been experiencing delirium and hallucinating. Thanks be to God, the Catscan of the brain showed no damage. This has been the scariest biggest nightmare we have ever endured in our lives. We almost lost our sweet baby girl.

Once she becomes 100% stable it is highly recommended that our daughter go to a behavioral institute in Wyoming which is about 5 and a half hours from home. My car broke down Tuesday so we really need to get that fixed so we can make the trips to go back and forth in order to get Gracie the mental health help that she needs. We are asking for your generosity to take care of normal household bills, travel costs, such as gas and feeding our other 4 girls, rent, utilities, possible hotel stays, due to the loss of income as I myself am not working and we rely on a a 1 person income for a family of 7 and to say we've been struggling is an understatement. Travis takes care of us and works his hands to the bone to provide for us 6 girls. Now with Travis needing to miss work, we will have no income coming in at all whatsoever. I am asking for anything you can help with a dollar, $5, $20 or even if it's praying for our baby girl to get the mental health help that she needs to live an amazing prosperous life and become the scientist she one day hopes to become. I want her to look to the future with hope, love, courage, support, and the presence of God in her life. Suicide attempts are not something to take lightly especially let alone a child so young. This is a detrimental family crisis that we are going through and we need all the support we can get.

I just want to get Gracie the help she needs, the support she needs and hopefully raise suicide awareness that mental health can drastically effect anyone at any age.

We live in the middle of nowhere and there isn't near the resources here that there are in other more populated areas. DHHS said they'd help with some gas vouchers but at this point with it being a weekend, I can't get ahold of anyone. She was thankfully accepted at her age at this behavioral facility which is wonderful news, but when the Dr releases her from this hospital, we need to drive straight to the facility. Please consider donating even $5 helps or a share and definitely a prayer!