Help Linda Laughlin Overcome Health Challenges

Let me tell you about my mother.

Her name is Linda Laughlin. She is a 52-year-old Registered Nurse who lives in Washington, and she happens to be a medical miracle.

My mom is no stranger to the Emergency Room. I can remember countless times of her being admitted for medical treatments, but one terrifying day in 2017, she had a stroke that sent her to the hospital, and that is when we learned she had a dissected vertebral artery, an embolism and stroke in the basilar artery, bilateral embolism of the cerebral artery, and a sclerosed or hardened clot. In simple terms, a majority of the major arteries that lead to her brain were either damaged or clotted. Somehow, where most people would have died from a single failed artery in their neck, my mom had survived with several. Unfortunately, her survival didn't mean everything was fine.

Over the next 6 years, her mental abilities deteriorated due to the lack of blood making it to her brain, and the side effects of this required more and more doctor and hospital visits. Thankfully, she was able to manage this thanks to her job as a nurse. Bills were high and constant, but when my mom could work, she did. She doesn't understand the meaning of the word "rest." She is a highly work-oriented individual who would spend 12-hour shifts on her feet battling constant, unending pain, and she got by.

Earlier this year, after 6 hard years of surviving, she finally got the much-needed surgery that basically rerouted blood from the blocked arteries back to her brain, and the difference in her mental state was incredible. It was the first time in years I could see the glory that used to be my mom, and it was amazing.

Sadly, around the same time she got this surgery, my mom had also started a new job. She had to take weeks off to recover from the brain surgery. Then she had to take some more time off for other tests, and more time off for doctor's appointments, and even more time for the occasional hospital visit. Eventually, my mom's work decided they weren't going to accommodate my mom's health any longer, and as of Wednesday, November 13th, my mom was fired. A few days later, by random chance, I also lost my job, and this is why this campaign exists.

My mom has already worked out insurance and other health needs once the new year starts, but we need a little help getting there. We're asking for $2500 to pay for my mom's current insurance plan until the end of the year as well as paying a $500 penalty that her work has imposed on her after firing her. Normally, we would handle this quietly as a family, but our family has finally reached a point where we need to ask for help. Please help me take care of my mother.