Help a Stroke Survivor Walk Again

Hi everyone, this is Kalilah coming to you... my mother suffered a stroke and we have exhausted our resources for the medical bills and I am moving her to LA with me by the end of August. The summary of this ask is that my mother becoming paralyzed from a stroke set off a lot of financial deficits that have now grown beyond my ability as her health care proxy and power of attorney to maintain. My mother's health needs drained the resources that were available and now I want to urgently move her across country so she can have better rehabilitation then she's receiving now. California has a better healthcare set up for disabled and/or senior people. She needs daily PT and better facilities and she doesn't have that same access on The Bronx. For those who like specifics, below is a more detailed summary of all that happened that got us to this point:

Many of you know already -but for those of you who don't- on April 29, 2022 my mother had a stroke which took the use of the left side of her body. She became partially paralyzed. She could no longer walk, use the bathroom, and be physically independent enough to cook for herself and other everyday tasks you need basic mobility to complete. The stroke also affected her brain in ways that led to me taking over all of her affairs. I'm now her health proxy and power of attorney. The good news is, her neurologist said there is hope for her walking IF she has daily PT. We can't afford the co-pays of Daily PT. In addition to my own life, I am now responsible for her in ways that feel like she's my child. I'm responsible for her medical, emotional, physical, spiritual, and basic needs now. Acting as her caregiver for the past two years have been equal parts challenging as rewarding. I'm so grateful that she is still with us. I'm grateful that she has the ability to heal and I'm grateful that she has the will to heal. But this has been an extremely HARD journey. It's like having a child with the life of a 60 year old. So many things to address. This go- fund me is for assistance with medical bills and moving her across country from my childhood home/apartment in The Bronx, NY to a new place with me and a home health aid in Los Angeles, CA.

Even though the stroke took away her motor skills - eliminating her ability to do almost everything alone. My mom's health insurance initially only approved her for 20 hours of care a week (4 hours for 5 days ). So for the rest of the waking hours - we hired additional help. From 1/6/2023 to 6/4/2023 we paid for 40 hours a week privately. This was an average of $2000 extra each week. My mother and I spent a total of $27,456 in Home health services alone. They approved her for additional hours in June and they even said it was outrageous that she was only given 20 hours to begin with. But when I attempted to get reimbursed by her insurance after they granted her the hours, they denied me saying that we didn't appeal the decision in enough time. I talked to a lawyer about it and she said that it would cost more in legal fees than the bill and that it was an unfortunate loss and par for the course. She told me things like this happen all the time and it's tragic and unfortunate. It feels so unfair and outrageous because my mom worked for nearly 30 years and retired with insurance that I expected to be there for us. This is still not addressing her copays for each appointment. I'm trying to only include important information so if you need more details on how the insurance let us down, please follow up with me.

Now during the same time we're paying over $2000 a week for NECESSARY medical care, I'm simultaneously in the middle a long standing legal back and forth with her apartment complex because my mom took money out of her IRA the year prior and it affected her gross income for that year. So they assessed additional fees to her monthly rent. A total of $13,742 worth of additional fees accrued during the 2 year period. we've been able to pay back $5,000 while also paying her rent and addressing additional needs but we're still under water.

With the costs of packing up her three bedroom apartment and moving her across the country, plus the other logistics that come with moving someone with high medical needs, we could really use support.

Her income will be able to sustain her here in LA without the debt. But we just have to get out of this hole and het her to better healthcare. After we get through with this transition of moving her, I am eager to have an in house handle of her healing journey-we will have beach days, in home pt (which we couldn't get in The Bronx) and many more.

I realize that I love managing and caring for my mom. Her relocation will remove the strain on me from managing two households on opposite sides of the country. We will have integrated life schedules that will not only support her wellbeing but also our mother/daughter relationship as a whole. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions and if you can not support, consider sharing. I've included a video that explains how she feels about moving to California as well as gives this information in video form