Hi, my name is Cedrica Dean, and I’m creating this GoFundMe with my siblings on behalf of our mom, Wanda Underwood-Connor.
Our mom is a devoted mother of six, grandmother of three, and a hardworking customer service specialist with Carnival Cruise Lines, helping guests with disabilities have a comfortable and safe experience taking cruises. She has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry.
She’s always been a beautiful, steadfast, and loving spirit; the kind of woman who gives everything she has to care for those around her, even if it puts her in a difficult position. No matter what life throws her way, she always finds a way to figure it out, just like any great parent does.
Earlier this year, around February 2025, our world started to shift. Our mom began experiencing severe stomach pain and difficulty keeping food and water down. Her condition worsened over time. Doctors initially believed a small esophageal hernia was the cause, but it was deemed too minor for surgery. Despite this, her health kept deteriorating, and she was rapidly losing weight and couldn’t keep anything down.
It wasn’t until the end of April 2025, after countless negative tests and repeated claims that her symptoms were “behavioral,” that our mom decided to switch GI doctors. That decision may have saved her life. The new doctor discovered a possible real issue: sludge in her gallbladder.
(P.S. Today is September 18th. We are still unsure if that is 100% the reason, but as she continues to heal, we will see if that continues. So far, all of these symptoms have stopped.)
Furthermore, the GI doctor explained to us it was the reason causing months of pain, weakness, and extreme weight loss. She finally underwent gallbladder removal surgery on June 5.
Even after the surgery, our mom didn’t bounce back as we had hoped. She was transferred to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas for a few weeks. My sister and I noticed a change in our mom that we have only experienced once, the year before when our mom had her first TIA stroke. We requested multiple tests be done to see if she did have another stroke. According to the staff, nothing was wrong, and our mom was just having “behavioral issues.”
We know our mom, and our mom would never do anything like this on purpose. After the tests and seeking advice from our community (since this was the first time we had to make a decision on behalf of our mom), with everything combined and her health continuing to decline.
On June 25, our mom was rushed to the emergency room at a nearby hospital. By July 4, she suffered a serious medical complication following a spinal tap procedure. After the tap, she was laid flat too soon and began to choke on her throw-up from her NG tube feeding formula that had been keeping her fed, as she hadn’t eaten solid food in over a month.
The hospital had only paused her NG tube feeding 30 minutes to an hour before the spinal tap — far less than the recommended time.
Unfortunately, since our mom’s formula feeding wasn't stopped 6-8 hours prior to her spinal tap procedure as usually recommended, we believe this terrible oversight highly contributed to her developing pneumonia, which required her to be sedated, intubated, and placed in the ICU for the next three weeks on life support.
During this time, our neurologist found swelling in our mom's brain which has caused memory loss and required steroids to treat the swelling. It was a grueling waiting game. Around this time, our family had to come to the devastating possibility of losing our mom. We cried, argued with each other out of frustration, then we prayed over her as a family and put the friction we had together aside. Our grandmother led us in prayer, and with the support of our close and distant family, we prayed hard.
Although it was up to her to fight, to come back to us, we talked to her, we rubbed her feet and hands, ran our hands through her hair — anything to help make her feel less alone and afraid while breathing life into her.
Eventually, on July 26, once she was no longer critical, she was moved to a different hospital with an acute care unit in downtown San Antonio. Through speech therapy and various care protocols, she slowly regained her ability to talk, eat, and digest food again.
Since August 26, our mom was receiving occupational and physical therapy at an amazing rehab center in San Antonio for 2 weeks. While she’s made some progress, she still struggles severely with memory loss and limited mobility throughout her whole body.
As of the beginning of September, Mom is home, still with very limited mobility and bed-bound. Her memory is getting a bit better, but we do have to consistently remind her of events that have happened over the last 10 years. Currently, my sister and I are acting as her caregivers.
This year has taken a tremendous toll on all of us. All the complications have not only left our mother in a fragile physical state, but they’ve also caused overwhelming financial stress. My younger sister and I have been doing everything we can to support her. Even our grandmother and older brother temporarily moved from Columbus, Georgia to San Antonio to assist.
Right now, our mom’s job is at risk because of her extended hospitalization and ongoing health challenges with her health insurance. She’s worked so hard her entire life to provide for her family. She’s been strong, dependable, and an inspiration to everyone around her, but now she needs help.
We’re asking for donations to help with her recovery, medical bills/personal bills, therapy, accessibility needs, and travel expenses for her care. Any contribution will directly support her journey back to health and ease the burden on our family.
My mom has always been the one holding us up. Now, we’re doing everything we can to hold her up; and with your support, we know she can keep fighting and make it through this long road to recovery.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, and may God bless us all and help guide all of us on this journey.
Organizer
Cedrica Dean
Organizer
Converse, TX