Help with Alyssa's Journey of Recovery

Alyssa is a healthy, happy & successful 40-year-old mum of two, wife, sister, aunty, & friend. On 27th May 2021 the life of Alyssa and her family dramatically changed…

Alyssa was eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine as she recently overcame thyroid cancer.  In May, Alyssa received her first AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. She developed headaches which was a known symptom after receiving the vaccine. These remained over the next 10 days, and on 27th May, Alyssa suffered her first seizure while attending a work conference. Her amazing colleagues reacted urgently and Alyssa was taken to Cessnock Hospital Emergency, where she proceeded to have another 4 seizures. 

Due to the severity of Alyssa’s condition, she was transferred within hours to John Hunter Hospital, where she lost consciousness and was found to have a venous thrombosis and subsequent bleed in her brain due to the pressure - there were numerous other clots, mainly in her jugular & portal veins and also a large clot in her lung! Alyssa was placed in a medically induced coma for the next 14 days to allow her brain the time to help recover. During the days spent in the induced coma, Alyssa endured 3 brain surgeries, over 15 CT scans and 3 MRIs. She also developed an aspirate pneumonia that required multiple rounds of very heavy antibiotics. Upon her first attempt at discharge from the ICU, she unfortunately had a sepsis infection requiring her to be readmitted to the ICU for further medical management and treatment. However with all this care and attention she was able to moved to the Neurology ward and eventual transfer back to a Melbourne hospital.

 During the 3 weeks that Alyssa was in the ICU it was an extremely difficult time and her family had to make end of life choices 3 times over. We were all saying goodbye and wondering how on earth we were going to tell her two little girls that mummy wasn't coming home. Fortunately, we never had to do this.

 Alyssa fought and her determination saw her wake up from the coma.  Since then she has displayed signs of good recovery from the brain damage suffered. So far, she has had to teach herself how to talk and eat again. Alyssa has now been accepted into a rehabilitation facility in Melbourne, where she might be living for a year, or more – the rehabilitation journey ahead is a long road.  Thankfully her husband and daughters do not live too far away, and whilst they can resume a ‘normal’ life, things are far from their normal.

The days, weeks, months and possibly years ahead will be a very long and difficult process to get Alyssa back to the healthy, happy, successful woman that she was before all this happened.  But that is the goal for everyone involved – to get Alyssa back to who she was, and still is.  And this is where we need help…

 The future for Alyssa remains very uncertain and there are many unknowns as we do not know how compromised she is from the brain damage suffered – how successful her rehabilitation will be is a day to day progression.  How close we will get to having Alyssa back to the way we knew her prior to this, is very much unknown.  With 2 young daughters, and Alyssa living in the rehabilitation facility, her husband has now become sole carer of the girls and can no longer work.  This family has gone from having two income earners, to being faced with a very uncertain financial future ahead.

The funds raised here will contribute towards:

·       the everyday living expenses of the family,

·       the possible relocation into a single-story home (if Alyssa can not handle stairs when she finally comes home),

·       required modifications to that home if Alyssa needs a wheelchair or easier access to bathrooms, etc,

·       the possible need for a car suitable for Alyssa to be passenger, or even drive! (how great will that be!),

·       further medical treatment that Alyssa may require whilst in rehab and after she leaves the rehab facility,

·       and basic life needs that the family require so they can have their lives return to that of which they lived before 27th May 2021.

Your donation is greatly appreciated by Alyssa and her family and friends, who all care for her dearly and want to provide the best life for her and her family.  This unfortunate situation was not foreseeable by anyone and should never have happened to Alyssa.  We thank you!

If you are a business (small or otherwise), and would also like to help out in another way, please go to Instagram and find 'Auction for Alyssa' (@auctionforverdebaby).  Alyssa and her sister, Tamara, co-own Verde Baby and a wonderful supplier of theirs is running this Auction. Thank you again from all of our hearts! X