Help my mom recover after a medical emergency

Lainie (Elainia Bynorth)

Wife, Mother, Grandmother and friend to everyone.

Lainie went to work as normal on Monday December 18th , 2023. My mom had a medical emergency without any warning. She was on her way to her office when she collapsed. A nurse was at the bank that day and recognized what happened and started CPR immediately. My mother had suffered a severe heart attack that had caused her to collapse and go into cardiac arrest. 911 was notified and the Ambulance was on scene quickly to continue her care. The Ambulance crew was able to get my moms heart to begin beating again. My mom was taken to a local hospital where she was taken directly to the cardiac cath lab. While in the Cath lab my mother went into Cardiac arrest two more times. While in the cath lab my mom had heart stents placed and was put on a cardiac balloon pump to assist her heart. My mom was then transported by a mobile ICU team to a specialty cardiac hospital for further treatment. After she arrived at the specialty hospital the balloon pump that was placed was moved from her left groin / leg to her right groin / leg. The balloon pump was moved because it was causing decreased blood flow to her left leg. My mother later developed compartment syndrome in her left leg causing the muscle tissue to die. Her left leg had to be amputated above the knee. Her right leg has nerve damage as well from the balloon pump that was placed. While at the specialty hospital she was fighting COVID-19 on top of everything else. COVID-19 made it difficult to keep her Oxygen up while she was on the ventilator. She was in the ICU for 7 days. When she finally came off the ventilator she was confused and disoriented. She was barely able to speak. After some time she began to understand what had happened. She made huge improvements in the ICU. She was then moved out of the ICU and placed in a normal room but with cardiac specialty still available. She spent a few days there trying to deal with the pain from her amputation and start some rehab but still progressing forwards. She was then moved from the specialty hospital back to the local hospital near her home on a rehabilitation floor. She has now been in rehab for one week and made great improvements. The rehab center is helping her heart, mind, muscles, and helping her get used to moving around without her leg. They want to keep her in rehab for another week to make sure she gets the care she needs and continues to improve. This will be a long road to recovery and a prosthetic leg will help her get back to her normal daily life. Our goal with this GoFundMe is to take any stress off her and my father in regards to medical bills, regular bills, making their home wheelchair friendly and anything needed to improve her mobility around her home so she can focus on getting better.

A little about my mom. Everybody that knows her has a story to share about her generosity and kind heartedness. For people that may not know her. My mom has done so much for me and everybody she come in contact with. My mom helped plan my wedding and did all the decorations herself. She helped plan my brothers wedding as well. She loves to do crafts and make something out of nothing. My mom can make a scrapbook come to life and really bring meaning to the quote "a picture is worth a thousand words". My mom can make flower arrangements that are on par with any florist. My mom can find a way to brighten your day and make you smile. She is always looking out for everyone else and always trying to make people smile and laugh. She has a knack for finding something you would think impossible to find. She loves to go to thrift stores and yards sales. My mom holds multiple types of awards at her bank branch. She works full time at her bank but also has a booth at a craft store where she creates works of art. All of her friends and family have something she has created and made at their house that she given to them. My mother is a talented baker and chef. She makes meals and desserts that are 5 star quality and you'll never leave her home hungry. Her home is like a living thing because it is always changing with the seasons inside and out. If you called my mom and asked to hangout you wouldn't be turned down. She is a people person at heart. My mom has helped and changed so many lives and is loved by so many. Please help us take the stress of everything off her shoulders so she can focus on getting better and go back to spreading her happiness to family, friends, and strangers. Thank you.

If you want to share your story of how my mom has help you or changed your life you are more than welcome to share.

*UPDATE*

Hello everyone, I just wanted to post an update about how my mom is doing (01/13/2024). Since my mom has been on the Rehab floor at our local hospital she has made huge improvements! She has been in great spirits and has had some friends and family come and visit her. She has been able to stand on her own for a little bit and been able to move herself from her bed to a wheelchair. She's even been able to take a couple steps with handrails. After being able to tolerate sitting in a wheelchair she's been wheeling all over the place. I told everybody how my mom loves to do crafts. Well she's been doing crafts to occupy her time while in the hospital. We even got to play some UNO while we visited. She is still having pain due to her leg amputation that comes and goes but it hasn’t slowed her down. The rehab facility wants to keep her for 1 more week to help her get even stronger. She is speechless by all the support we have received from everyone as well. Even after everything she has been through she is smiling and laughing again and we are so thankful for that.

*UPDATE*

Hello Everyone! Just wanted to put out another update on how my mom is doing. Today (01/15/2024) we went up for a visit. When we arrived mom was doing physical therapy. She was learning how to pivot on her foot without losing her balance. She was also being shown how to use her walker to help her get around easier. She was able to stand up and hop about 10 feet today before needing to take a break! She has made some huge improvements in such a short time. She’s not feeling exhausted after physical therapy which is good too. She had some important visitors today as well. The cardiac Cath lab team that initially took care of her at the local hospital came up and visited with her for a little. They were ecstatic to see how far she has come and how much she has improved. Our family extends our gratitude to the entire cardiac Cath lab team for the work they did and continue to do on a daily basis. You all did such a great job taking care of somebody that is so special to so many people. A true heartfelt thank you.

We also want to extend our gratitude to the individuals that took care of our mom at the specialty hospital where mom was in the ICU. They took care of her like she was their own. I won’t forget on Christmas day the doctor was so happy to see mom up and talking that he cried. Everybody there began to form a bond with her even without talking with her. The surgeons did an excellent job as well making sure she was taken care of and coming out to talk to us in person about what they did.

The generosity of everyone has been so overwhelming it's hard to put into words how truly thankful we are for everybody. Mom is such a strong person and we love her dearly. It makes me unbelievably happy to see so many people love her as we do. It's been a true blessing to have all the people in our lives that we do. I can’t say this enough to everyone. Thank you. With all the gratitude and tears of joy.

*UPDATE*