Hi, my name is Ariella and I am Robin Smith’s daughter. My mom has been in and out of the hospital almost her whole life, but this time being so much different. She was in and out of the hospital around July 15th, but was admitted to the hospital august 6th and hasn’t left since.

My mom is the strongest and most resilient person I’ve ever met in my life.

At 14, she was diagnosed with lupus.

In 2005, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy.

In 2008, she had a stroke.

2009-2010 she went into kidney failure from her lupus attacking her body and had both kidneys removed which resulted to her going on dialysis for 7 years

2011 she had a second stroke which caused loss of strength in her index fingers and thumbs

2017 she received her kidney transplant

She also has congestive heart failure along with multiple stunts in her body from dialysis tubes.

2021: she got Covid and ended up with long term Covid which affected the decline of her lung function.

All this to say: she’s been through hell and back. Her life has been anything but fair when it has come to her health. But she ALWAYS comes back stronger and ready to fight another day.

Now currently, she got sick in July from a cold which turned into pneumonia. Because her lungs were also filled with fluid and she’s immunocompromised, she managed to get fungus in her lungs from breathing in moldy soil (this is so rare and can’t happen to a healthy person).

They are having a hard time treating the fungus because of the antirejection meds she’s on to keep her kidney. But now, her kidney is failing and she’s back on dialysis. She’s swollen from not filtering out the fluid on her own and has been intubated and sedated since Monday.

She was talking last Saturday and I haven’t heard her talk to me since, this is the longest we’ve ever gone without speaking. We talked daily even if it’s just text.

I’m posting this because she was scared before this happened and now I’m truly more scared for her than I’ve ever been in my life. It’s no secret that the hospital has become normal for me but this feels different.

I am currently asking for donations for us to help cover the costs of rent and utilities as I have spent every day in the hospital with her, anything would be appreciated.

I will continue to post updates on CaringBridge daily on her status.

love & prayers are always appreciated