Help Helaine's Family During Her Health Crisis

Hello friends, family, and kind strangers.

My sister is currently in the hospital for what we believed was constant fainting and also delayed/slurred speech with disorientation.

After 2 days of testing and monitoring so far, they’ve been able to rule out a number of things including strokes and we’ve been told it could potentially be:

• atypical absence seizures

• narcolepsy or

• an autonomic dysfunction

They are still unsure because she hasn’t been seen by the neurologist yet but her vitals and heart monitors have not been unusual other than very low blood pressure. Helaine and her husband are still at the hospital and awaiting an MRI, EEG, and echo to further assess her heart and brain function.

She is not a drug user, is not taking any prescription medication, and only drinks once every 4 to 5 months. There haven’t been any recent changes in her diet or lives other than having a baby 8 months ago so we don’t know what’s suddenly caused this.

I’ve made this GoFundMe to raise money to help with upcoming bills and childcare. Helaine and her husband had to take unpaid time off due to her only being part time (15 hrs a week) and him being a barber to care for her and their son while she’s admitted at the hospital too.

She is the primary care person for their son and was told that this could take months to diagnose so she’ll be unable to work or take care of their son until she receives a diagnosis and treatment. They also can’t pay for childcare if they can’t go to work. Our parents and their friend Alicia watch him on their days off, but they’re very limited on help because his family is from California and her other close friends have families too or live very far.

She is no longer allowed to drive, cook, bathe alone, use the bathroom alone, care for their son alone, or pretty much do anything unattended because she is repeatedly losing consciousness unexpectedly then collapsing and is deemed a risk to herself and others.

This has been really hard for our family because if you know Helaine, you know she’s very independent and now she’s not even allowed to stand up, walk, or hold her baby alone!

Any amount you can donate or sharing this page will help her family. She loves and appreciates everyone who has reached out or kept her in their thoughts so much!

• TIMELINE •

The week of 10/28: Helaine began losing consciousness once every 2 to 3 days. She thought she was just hungry waking up and started eating earlier in the morning.

Sun 11/03: Helaine lost consciousness 9 times during the day. Symptoms subsided by 11AM. We thought she was fine and potentially had an iron deficiency.

Mon 11/04: Helaine lost consciousness 2 times by 10AM and was feeling unwell. Their cat had kittens the same morning, so she decided to stay home from work to take care of her and see a doctor.

At 3PM: their friend Alicia drove Helaine to her PCP. She lost consciousness twice while walking into the building, then six more times while at her 2 hour appointment. Helaine had mentioned that her head felt “funny” and like it was trying to “shut off” even while sitting down. Her PCP referred her to a neurologist and cardiologist, but the nurse suggested they also go straight to an ER.

At 5:00PM: they started heading home because both of their phones were dead and they needed to contact her husband about which hospital to meet them at. During this drive, Helaine began losing consciousness repeatedly back to back and her body began to tingle and go numb from her lips down to her toes. Her body went limp and she couldn’t move.

Around 5:15PM: their friend Singen dialed 911 and carried Helaine inside their house. The fire department came to take her vitals. She repeatedly lost consciousness and was rushed to a hospital in an ambulance. They did not allow her husband to drive her to the hospital because of her visible symptoms.

From 6PM - Midnight: they were at Ocotillo Banner Hospital and they couldn’t find an explanation for her “fainting spells” with her vitals or cat scan so they discharged her but while there, she lost consciousness over 40 times and was unable to form sentences. They said she would need an EEG and heart monitor but they don’t have a neurology wing and referred her to an outpatient clinic that doesn’t have availability until Jan 2025. Their cardiologist was unavailable until late Dec 2024.

Tue 11/05 at 9AM: Her symptoms decreased but were still occurring regularly. Her friend Satya suggested she go to the ER at HonorHealth in Scottsdale and they arrived around 11:30AM. They said she should have been immediately transferred to a hospital with a neurologist and cardiologist on-site and not discharged from Ocotillo Banner Health.

At 3:30PM: The cardiologist saw her symptoms and vitals and was very concerned, she had a heart monitor placed on Helaine for 1 week in case she was discharged.

At 4PM: Helaine was admitted to the hospital. We discovered that her loss of consciousness was also triggered by bright lights but still occurs randomly too. They are waiting to see the neurologist in the morning and to do further testing for her heart.

Wed 11/06 7AM: Helaine woke up and was feeling more clearheaded. Around 9AM, she told her husband and the nurse that she was feeling lightheaded. Shortly after, she began to lose consciousness again, her speech became delayed, and she was unable to lift her left leg. The hospital physician came in and said she appears to be having seizures followed by stroke like symptoms (Todd’s paralysis).

12PM: The EEG was performed, the tech was able to record a few of her episodes and they are now awaiting the results from their neurologist.