Jenn's Rough Road to Recovery

Helping others has always been important to me and sometimes even the most amazing people we know can need a champion. I’m from a small town where I have witnessed amazing community support and lately I’ve seen the online community pull together to help soo many, which is why I’m reaching out.

I have an amazing friend named Jennifer Bjornstad (Jenn) who is always helping others before helping herself. Jenn and her Mom have owned and operated Tastebuds, a small Lunch/Catering Company in Whitecourt, AB for the past 17 years. Her Mom suffers with a disabling spine disease and requires assistance to get around, Jenn does what she can to assist her, including a large portion of the daily tasks in their business as well as assisting her at home. Jenn is the proudest mom of two little boys, Carter who is three and loves to play at the park, as well as Cooper who is 7 months and such an angel!

Things took an unfortunate turn for the worse on January 12, 2019 when she was found barely conscious in the bathroom of their home. She was unable to speak and had no feeling from her shoulders down. EMS arrived to find her brother performing First Aid while on the phone with 911, at the Whitecourt Hospital they could clearly see her condition was serious as she had no feeling, no reflexes and was unable to respond to pain. Despite her efforts, nobody could understand what she was trying to say, and she could only respond by blinking. Jenn had no way to tell them about the horrible pain in her head and lower back or that she was terrified that she was never going to hold or tell her Babies she loved them again.

Jenn was Air Lifted By STARS to the U of A in Edmonton. After hours of tests and studying her stroke like symptoms, they were left confused and with no answers they decided to send her back to Whitecourt under the primary Care of there Family Doctor. It has been a month and although she is back at home and is able to move slowly with crutches, she has still not regained feeling on her left side and must go to physio every week to help strengthen the muscles and her balance. Her speech is constantly improving when she hasn't exhausted herself (I know that's an easy task as a Mom). Doctors are hopeful she will recover but have no idea just how long the pain and paralysis will last.

Without answers she has been unable to return to work and caring for her boys as been nearly impossible without help from her Mom and Boyfriend. This has also left her Mom unable to return to work in over a month as she has taken on the primary caretaker of Jenn, her two boys and the household duties (which most parents to tiny tots will tell you can sometimes require a cape). Her mom is trying to find an aid to help Jenn and the boys at home while she returns to their business with the help of family.

Jenn’s heart aches for the normal chaos and blessing her two boys bring but her recovery has been slow. Everyone knows what having no money coming in would put anyone under a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety adding it to an already stressful situation. With her health putting work on hold, taking care of her family has become a financial burden and she is desperate for help before she loses everything. She is a proud woman and has never asked for help but even she can see she is backed into an impossible situation. With her blessing I’m trying to collect enough funds so she can focus on recovering the amazing warm-hearted Momma she is and get the assistance she requires to do so!