Help Kim Thru Grief and Nathaniel's Stroke Costs

 

 

 

 

UPDATED 10/4

Cut the target to $20K (it was previously $50k) because (so far) N’s medical expenses are being well covered by his insurance. So just need to cover our past due rent (almost $6k), and current rent & utilities for ideally 6 months ($10k) with a little cushion for a ton of expenses I already covered out of pocket and other miscellaneous needs as I regroup and reorganize my life around this unexpected future. Thank you deeply for your support, I hope y’all know it will be paid forward.

UPDATE 9/26/2021

On September 25, 2021 at 1:44pm, Nathaniel's brave battle to recover from his stroke ended. He is now at peace.  

This fundraiser will now cover medical expenses and supplies not covered by Nathaniel's insurance, cremation and memorial service expenses, and supporting Nathaniel's partner Kim as she recovers financially from this medical emergency on top of COVID shuttering their events business and navigates her deep grief over her loss.  

Thank you, community, for loving this amazing human who inspired so many with his joy, openness and love. 7777777

The Bullet Points

 

The Longer Version

 

 

On July 21, 2021, my partner Nathaniel Pinzon suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke in his right thalamus. The next day he had a craniotomy to remove a large piece of his skull (what they call a bone flap), to allow his brain room to swell and heal without the cranial pressure killing him. He was in a coma for 25 days in the neuro CCU before moving to the medical floor for two weeks, and then up to the acute rehabilitation unit. The docs are not exactly sure why Nathaniel had such a massive and devastating stroke at such a young age. The working theory is that there was an existing arterial malformation that combined with some undiagnosed high blood pressure to cause the hemorrhage. It could happen to anyone. It just happened to happen to him.

 

Up until a few days ago he had been doing really well, working hard in acute rehabilitation, talking to me, even singing with me. He started to grow less communicative over the past several days, and was having increased swelling on the right side (the side with the craniotomy, where currently he doesn’t have a skull / bone flap). September 19 they determined that he had hydrocephalus (too much cerebral fluid, and it was shifting the midline of his brain and causing pressure build-up, which in turn was causing decreased cognition, nausea/vomiting and wonky blood pressure. He had emergency surgery and is currently back in the Neuro CCU. Currently the plan is to perform another surgery this week to place a shunt which we hope will alleviate his hydrocephalus, and that after he heals from that for a couple weeks he will be ready to re-admit to Acute Rehab and continue progressing to get home.

 

 

When Nathaniel comes home, he will still have a very long recovery journey. Currently I am anticipating 1-2 years, maybe more, of ongoing rehabilitation in the form of physical, occupational, speech and cognitive therapies. He is currently weak/immobile on his left side and will be coming home in a “tilt in space” wheelchair that can be sat upright or reclined. He will be coming home under full medical care, meaning he will have RN/NAC support for a lot of his routine care, and therapists coming into our home to do his PT, OT and speech therapies here. He'll be in a hospital bed and he'll be coming home needing to use a mechanical lift/sling for transferring him from bed to wheelchair as he is not currently able to stand or to assist much with moving him or with his own care. This is what we are facing.

 

While it’s going to take a community to bring our boy back, I will be doing a lot of heavy lifting with his care, at least for the next year and quite likely longer. I’ve had to step back from my role in the startup we were just building after our former company WonderTek Labs (a VR events company) was wiped out by COVID to focus on Nathaniel’s care. For 62 days, I have been by his side every day from 8AM until 5PM or later, and I will continue to be there for him until we bring him home. And I am committed to bringing him home when he discharges and not sending him to a skilled nursing facility.

 

Fortunately his insurance will cover home medical care quite extensively so I am working to understand what resources I will have and for how long and where to get further resources. I have a personal history as a caregiver and a patient with long-term medical care, head injury rehabilitation, seizure disorder and neuroplasticity, as well as a degree in education. So, I fortunately have an unusually solid layperson skill set to both augment his scheduled therapies with cognitive therapies myself, and to know how to build a schedule for him that will give him the best care, with the goal of him regaining as much of his independence as possible.

 

Nathaniel and I are not wealthy folks, we are artists who have been working in the tech startup space in “starving artist startup mode,” and what savings we had was wiped out during COVID. Once we get him home and into a routine of care, I'll have a better read on how / how much I'll be able to work, even from home. Currently, I am leaning into my professional writing and editing skills and moving back into freelance writing in the film and tech industries.

 

Nathaniel has never been much about material things. He is rich in friends and chosen family, in his love for music and in his creative work. He has given so much energy and support to Seattle’s various nightlife communities over the past couple decades; as one of his good friends said in a video he sent him recently, “...it’s hard to imagine the past 20+ years of Seattle nightlife without Nathaniel in it.” Now we ask our community’s support to help lift us through this crisis moment.

 

Fortunately most of his medical expenses overall will be covered by his insurance, but there are a good many incidental things that have already had to be covered and that will be ongoing. Because I (Kim) am going to need to focus heavily on caring for him for at least the next year, I am asking for support to cover 12 months of rent, utilities and basic living expenses so that I know we have a roof over our heads for at least a while and I can focus on balancing his care needs with figuring out my own work situation around that.

 

Thank you deeply from both of us for your support. When we get to the other side of this, you can count on us to pay it forward.