Homecare for Svetlana

On February 14, Diana's mother had a stroke. She spent a month in the hospital, then several weeks in a rehab facility, trying to regain her ability to speak, swallow, and perform basic self-care functions like getting dressed and bathing.

She is now back at home with Diana (my aunt), who has taken a Family Medical Leave to care for her mother full-time.

But next week, Diana will have to return to work, and the cost of providing the level of care that her mother needs to be safe, and to continue her recovery, is an enormous burden—one that my lovely aunt never complains about, but that practically-speaking, has put her into financial and emotional crisis.

Diana is one of the kindest, most patient and loving people I know—and she would never ask for help herself, so I wanted to start this campaign to help her get through this challenging time.

When we spoke the other day, she told me that her mother (Svetlana), who is in the U.S. on a Green Card, is not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid or any of the other government benefits that are available to seniors in this situation—until December of this year, at which point she'll have had her Green Card for five years, and be eligible to apply for aid.

In the meantime, Diana is paying out of pocket for all of the medical supplies required to care for Svetlana: fixtures for the home to keep her safe when she's bathing; adult diapers; formula (as she cannot swallow and must be fed through a feeding tube); and starting this week, adult daycare, which enables Diana to go to work, but will cost her almost her entire salary each month.

And that doesn't even cover the amount of emotional strain, exhaustion etc it is costing Diana to be the primary caretaker, all by herself.

I'm hoping that as a community of caring, kind people, we can come together to help Diana afford to provide the care that her mother requires (ie she cannot swallow so requires a feeding tube and a liquid diet; she cannot bathe/walk/use the bathroom/change her clothes, etc without assistance; she can't speak at all).

I can't stand the thought of my sweet, lovely aunt falling into debt an despair, because the American healthcare system is once again failing an innocent person.

Please donate any amount that you can -- every dollar will help! And if you could, please share this page so that others may also contribute to helping support my lovely aunt and her elderly mother.

Thank you so much!

Marta