Help Cathy get the care and support she needs as she transitions from hospice to an in-home rehabilitation program! Switching to a rehab program gives my mom a fighting chance of regaining the basic skills she lost after her brain hemorrhage. However, the process will result in gaps in care and possible loss of necessary medical equipment all of which are an enormous financial burden on my family to pay for out of pocket for the foreseeable future. Cathy needs help and she deserves the best possible chance at recovering from this horrific event. Help Cathy get back to her old self, live free of pain and with dignity.   

On January 28th my mom, Catherine Pelkey, suffered a brain hemorrhage. Earlier that day she checked into the emergency room with a broken foot. You may be wondering how these things add up... They don't. Cathy woke up from light anesthesia complaining of a headache and a few hours later a surgeon was draining blood from her brain. The hemorrhage was too deep to operate on.


After Cathy spent a month regaining consciousness and battling pneumonia on a ventilator in the ICU, and then a month in a nursing home, the country retreated into their homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Cathy was relearning how to live. She was learning how to talk again, how to sit up, what year it was, and she was progressing. 

My mom was not done rehabilitating when COVID-19 hit America. She still has a long way to go. She cannot walk. She has what the doctors and social workers call "profound aphasia". She needs oxygen and a feeding tube. 

My mom requires constant care. This is no job for one person, much less my 75-year-old father with arthritis. Medicare provides ONE HOUR of in-home care five times a week and will provide less when she transitions out of hospice. In order to ensure my mom can continue recovering and regain her physical independence as well as have an adequate quality of life in the process, we are going to have to pay for extensive home health services out of pocket. 

Here are the expenses we are looking at: 

- Home Health Aid - $105/week - $5,460/year 
- Oxygenator - Ranges from $700-$1000 depending on quality
- Semi-Electric Hospital Bed with Side Rails for home - $800-$1000
- Nutrition for Feeding Tube - $58/case - $1,764 for a year's worth of nutrition
- Miscellaneous Necessary Health Expenses - $80/month - $960/year

To cover home health services, equipment replacement, and specific adaptive living costs for just one year could cost up to $10, 000. 

You may know my mom. She’s incredibly kind, compassionate, perceptive, goofy, generous, honest, welcoming, wise, and will kick your ass at scrabble. She worked over thirty years as an occupational therapist at Jackson Memorial Hospital, dedicated to helping others rebuild their lives and recover from extreme hardship. I miss her. And I don’t want her to suffer because of a broken and inhumane system that doesn’t care if my mom can get out of bed or eat or hold a conversation with her family. 

Any amount you are able to donate will help my mother recover with dignity. It will help relieve the enormous financial burden on me and my father who are both grieving and overwhelmed. Help Cathy stay safe from the pandemic and regain her health and independence from home. We are so grateful for your kindness and support in this extremely difficult time. 

Thank you, 
Kaitlin, Joel, & Cathy