Help Lisa Karlan Recover From Her Stroke

When our mom, Lisa Karlan, suddenly suffered a massive stroke in April, her neurosurgeon warned us that she had a small chance of surviving the coming 30 days. What he said next was more disturbing: If she manages to make it beyond a month, she would likely face a bleak future in which she may not be able to eat food, speak, walk, sit in a chair or breathe on her own.

 

Our mom not only survived those 30 days but she has miraculously made gradual progress in her recovery. She is breathing on her own. She is able to eat. She is speaking more coherently every day. She is able to sit upright in a chair. And most significantly, she took her first steps last week, raising hopes that she will be able to be on her feet again soon.

 

Now, she is slated to be discharged on October 21 and will require an around-the-clock caregiver, additional physical, occupational and speech therapy and specialized equipment in order to have a chance at regaining her independence and achieving a decent quality of life. 

 

 

Over the last six months, our mom has been unable to earn a living. Unfortunately health insurance only pays for so many days of care. She deserves more therapy, care, and equipment so she can continue to recover. 

 

We hope as our mom makes steps toward becoming independent again, she will not require a full-time caregiver or additional therapy. But the doctors at the rehab facility — where she is currently residing — have been clear that they believe she will need a caregiver in the coming term and will benefit immensely from extra therapy over the next year. They have expressed optimism that she will continue to make improvements and ultimately recover her ability to support herself.

 

Our mom’s parents died when she was young and she is an only child. It is incredibly discomforting for us to turn to friends and family for financial assistance for her but we want to do everything we can to give her an opportunity to live the best life possible. 

 

Throughout her life, our mom has gone above and beyond for her friends and family, often making sacrifices that few other people would be willing to make. She has never asked for anything in return, taking satisfaction in the feeling that she was able to help the people she cares about most. 

 

We are grateful for anything anyone can provide and we believe every donation will make a tangible difference for our mom and enable her to become her old self again.

 

 

More Details On Our Mom’s Story:

 

In April, our mom was rushed to the hospital after she suffered a massive stroke. Surgeons quickly performed a procedure to drain the accumulation of blood in her brain. The operation successfully extracted much of the blood, but rising pressure in her skull compelled the surgeons to carry out a second procedure in a matter of a few hours. In the following days, our mom contracted two hospital-acquired infections.

 

Still in a coma, her shoulder was dislocated when a nurse hastily tried to reposition her. For a third time in less than a month, she returned to the operating room where doctors popped her shoulder back into place.

 

Despite these setbacks, glimmers of hope started emerging. She began breathing on her own, freeing herself from the ventilator that had kept her lungs working for more than a month. She subsequently made subtle movements with her left hand and leg followed by more significant movements. 

 

But just as our mom appeared to make strides in the healing process, she encountered more obstacles. After being discharged from the hospital, she was transferred to a rehab facility where she was neglected most of the day, receiving little therapy. She would frequently be ushered into a hall where fellow patients would play bingo while she would be fast asleep -- an activity that the facility’s staff told us was therapy. Still, our mom continued to show signs of recovery, increasingly moving her left leg and arm and commanding greater alertness.

 

 

Witnessing the facility leave our mom to languish, we were convinced we had no choice but to find a way to relocate her to a better place. The only solution was to switch our mom’s health insurance in hopes that she could be admitted to one of the best rehab institutes in California. Following hours of long phone calls and filling out a copious number of documents, we succeeded in changing her insurance and receiving approval to transfer her to a new rehab facility where several hours of intensive therapy are offered daily. 

 

Following her arrival at the new center, she quickly made progress. She not only began to eat food but to speak. But she still has a long way to go in order to speak fluently because she suffers from a condition called aphasia which means she often jumbles her words. 

 

More recently, she regained the ability to move her right arm and leg and is now working tirelessly to walk again. With assistance, she took her first steps last week! 

 

But some parts of her experience since moving to the new facility have not been a walk in the park. While examining our mom last month, a doctor noticed her shoulder had been dislocated. She was immediately taken to the hospital where another doctor used too much force trying to pop it back into place, breaking her arm. Yes, a doctor broke her arm! The break was so significant that she had to undergo surgery to fix it. A few weeks later, she underwent yet another surgery to restore the part of her skull that had been removed shortly after she suffered the stroke. 

 

Despite it all, our mom has continued to make progress. The road to her recovery has been undoubtedly bumpy but her doctors remain confident that she will continue to heal and hopefully lead an independent life in the future. 

 

We have witnessed our mom surmount hurdle after hurdle with so much strength and grace. She has proven time and time again that she has the will to make it through this storm — a will to live, to heal and to return to our lives.

 

 

Feel free to contact us with any questions.

Thank you for your support in helping our mom!

Taryn, Adam & Michael