Our world was turned upside down a week ago Friday, January 12th. We got a message that Michael, our son-in-law, was taking Jacey to the ER for blurred vision in her left eye and tingling and numbness in her left arm and leg after being adjusted by a chiropractor. They went to The Village at Pelham and called stating that she had a vertebral artery dissection. Immediately I Googled it, I realize that that may not be the best idea but I wanted to know what was going on with my daughter. I was heartbroken at the terminology that followed a cervical arterial tear: words such as stroke, aneurysm, blood clots even death. Jacey said the doctors were on the phone with MUSC to determine the best course of action and would call me back. I was on the phone with Gene when she returned the call; connecting the two together, Jacey’s words were “I need y’all to not freak out” as she was already freaking out. She said the doctor said she had had a stroke due to a blood clot from the tear and they were giving her some medicine to dissolve the clot and sending her to Prisma for surgery. We remained pretty calm while on the phone with Jacey in hopes to be her strength. Gene was headed back to his work and I was also at work just minutes from him, so I left to meet him to go on to Prisma. I prayed all the way there! Jacey is 27 years young, married with two beautiful children; Kayden (10) and Saylor (6), to say we were terrified was an understatement! Michael met us at Prisma as the ambulance wheeled Jacey straight back to surgery. We sat there with Michael and other family members for several hours waiting. I don’t know what’s worse: the waiting or the recovery. The doctor finally met us and said the surgery had gone well, he repaired the tear with a stent. She, however, didn’t have one stroke but multiple mini strokes. Michael and I were finally able to see Jacey about 6pm or 6:30pm that night. She doesn’t do well with anesthesia: she gets terribly sick and her bladder doesn’t seem to wake up. Sure enough, she had a terrible headache and was very nauseous. Thankfully, Michael was able to stay with her in the Neuro ICU. The progression of her recovery has been difficult! They started her on Plavix immediately following the surgery which the 48 hour test showed that her body was rejecting it, switching her to Brilinta. Her blood pressure remained fairly low and when attempting to sit up or even stand, it would bottom out, she would get very dizzy and nauseous. Her bladder still hasn’t completely woken up. They felt she was stable enough to move her out of the ICU to the stroke unit so physical therapy could work with her. However, they encountered the same problem when trying to get her to sit up or stand, her blood pressure would bottom out again, she would get real dizzy and nauseous. After discussions with the Neuro team, they did another MRI that showed the stent was clogged and torn again sometime between the Plavix not working and the Brilinta kicking in and there was swelling on her spine. The MRI also showed that there was swelling on her spine. They moved her back to the Neuro ICU, they did a procedure for arterial pressure monitoring and started her on meds to increase her blood pressure. From my understanding, this will help the swelling on her spine so that she can begin to heal. So far, her blood pressure has been able to maintain that sweet spot. She was able to get up yesterday (1/21) and sit in a chair. Yay! We will celebrate and thank God for the victories no matter how big or small. Today (1/22) PT was able to get Jacey up, take a few steps and sit in a chair. Again, we are celebrating and thanking God for the victories!

We don’t know much at this point, a lot of this is Greek to us. Again, we are taking this day by day. While Michael is with her in the hospital, we are blessed with family that will jump in at a moment’s notice to help with the kids. Me and Karen, Michael’s mom, are getting them to and from school. The kids are struggling. Again, mine and Gene’s hearts have been completely broken over all this, imagine what their little hearts are going through. Saylor says her mom is her best friend, she has had many meltdowns being away from her. Jacey is supposed to be moved to a rehab facility in the next few days. The problem with that along with this extensive hospital visit is that she doesn’t have any health insurance. The rehab facility is $6000 per day. She and Michael has filled out various forms for financial aid and such. However, that takes time. Michael is also self-employed and while he has plenty of work, he has spent a majority of the time by his wife’s side. We couldn’t have asked for a better son-in-law! So the financial bind that this has caused is huge. We thank God that she is alive but they need help, financially. And while I’m sure most of you are like us, too proud to ask, so are they. Some of the expenses they have endured since this has happened: Michael hasn’t been able to work much, he has been grabbing fast food or cafeteria food so he could be with her as much as possible, he has been driving back and forth to check on the kids, shower, pick up clothes and so forth which is a huge cost in gas. Again, she’s at Prisma, a good 45 minutes from home. We don’t know what’s going to be required to pay the rehab center. From our understanding, they don’t typically take a patient without insurance. They are checking in on bringing her home and having a private PT and OT nurse come in. It’s cheaper but also something they would have to pay upfront for which could be anywhere from $1000 to $1500 a week. This doesn’t include the Brilinta that she will now be on for the rest of her life. It’s about $450 a month. I’m not sure what other medications she will be on and for how long. I’m extremely grateful for what God has done, Jehovah Rapha. I also know He will provide, Jehovah Jireh! I believe God uses people to do His work, the doctors, the nurses and possibly you. I’m humbling myself to ask: if you are financially able, $5…$10…$100, whatever you are able, if you will so kindly give to help their family. We certainly appreciate anything you are able to give!