Kindness for Kylie
Donation protected
Hello to all,
My name is Loren and for the past 6 years I have watched my beautiful big sister fight the hardest fight of her life.
"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got".... SO I am going against everything my sister believes in and ASKING FOR HELP.
Those of you who are close to our family will know the heartbreaking story of Kylies spine injury and for those of you who don’t, i will try to give up a quick breakdown.
6 and a bit years ago my sister, at just 25 years of age had an accident at work and sustained severe back and spinal injuries and without going into the legalities of it, she did not receive the support from her employee as one would hope in such circumstances.
In the past 6 years she has had more operations and procedures than I can count on both hands and feet and has spent so much time in the hospitals that she is now known by name.
My memory may not be too crash hot and I’m confident i have forgotten a lot of the procedures but in the last few years alone Kylie has been through
1 Spinal Fusion (MASSIVE surgery)
3 Discectomies
1 surgically implanted Neuro-Modulation Simulation machine placed inside her back
15 (at least) sessions of pain reliever needles directly into the spine
Lots of Radiofrequency Facet Denervation sessions
All in all, the above procedures have financially cost an arm and a leg... actually lets be honest, a couple of arms and legs and with minimal assistance from work cover / employer this has been a massive strain on kylies life and as mentioned above she is NOT ONE TO ASK FOR HELP.
I remember vividly standing in the hospital room 6 years ago as my sister was told she may never walk again, well Kylie being the fighter she is wasn’t going to accept that as an answer and within the next few weeks she got herself up on her feet and proved the doctors wrong.
When the accident happened Kylie was 25 and a mother of a gorgeous 4 year old boy and a beautiful 3 year old girl, well the day of the accident was also the last day she ever got to pick up her kids properly. (I'm not a mum myself, but have a think how it would feel to be told you could never pick up your kids again, no matter how many tears and begging for mum - you could never pick them up because of your back injury)
There are so many stories I could mention that would break your heart, so many of her birthdays that she missed, so many special occasions, so many moments that Kylie never got to see because she was in a hospital somewhere around Melbourne (Its a shame hospitals don’t have loyalty cards, Kylie would be a gold member). Its actually hard to write, and harder to comprehend how much of their little lives that Kylie has missed out.
One year Kylies pain was so bad, that midway through one of the kids parties she got taken away in an ambulance - not ideal for a kids birthday party. Thankfully the kids are so resilient and incredibly humble and have a great understanding of their mums injuries and are absolute superstar helpers at home.
Kylie has been discharged from hospital a number of times sporting some very interesting looking devices and never once complained (Including have a machine surgically implanted in her back which needs to be remotely charged every few days)
Fast Forward to yesterday, March 1st 2016, my sister recently received some not-so-great news from her neurologist and was in her car on the way to get a second opinion from a new Neurologist / Neurosurgeon when she was stopped at the traffic lights and was smashed into by another car, the car which hit her car was travelling at 70-80kms and hour and had hit directly into the back of my sisters car, absolutely crushing the entire back of the car.
(Um.... I dont think the back wheels should be behind the drivers seat?)
Heres a photo of the car before it became a mini...
Somehow, incredibly Kylies life was saved and she survived the crash, needless to say her car was completely written off, as were a number of other cars at the scene as it would appear the man who caused the crash managed to crash into other cars as well, I would love to truly write what i think of the man who caused the crash but i will save you from my potty mouth and I’m sure you can imagine how you'd describe this person if he did this to your sister.
Given her existing back and spine injuries, Kylie was stuck in the vehicle in excruciating pain until she could be cut out and transferred to the Alfred Hospital. She is still undergoing a number of scans as she is still in absolute agony and so far they have found a cracked Sacrum bone.
We are SO grateful that Kylie survived the accident, and even more grateful that there were no passengers in the back seat, as without a doubt they would not have survived the crash.
Kylies car was a very loved member of our family, a lovely green 98 Toyota Rav4, which has needed to be replaced for years, but given all the medical bills it has taken a back seat on the list of priorities - however, that now means that the car is only valued at around the $4500 mark (at best).... which isn’t exactly ideal in terms of replacing it.
If you've made if this far into the story, thank you, from the absolute bottom of my heart.
The reason I set up this page is due to the overwhelming number of friends and family who have asked how they can best help Kylie, and whilst the emotional support you provide is priceless, i know that you are wanting to assist in other ways.
My sister deserves a bit of happiness, a light at the end of the tunnel, a moment to forget the ever growing pile of medical bills, a special weekend away to spend with her kids, hence me asking if you can spare any small amount towards giving kylie a break and hopefully helping forget these stressful times even if just for a moment.
Even if you cant spare any coins, that is okay, i fully understand - please feel free to send through some words of encouragement as i really want to show my sister that we are all behind her and that she is not fighting this fight alone.
My sister is the most selfless person you will ever come across and I will do EVERYTHING in my power to provide her with some good stress free times.
It has been a VERY long road for my sister and unfortunatly she has a very long way until feeling better or "normal" as she would say.
Thank You so much for reading this far, and mine, and my entire families heartfelt thanks for your support on this journey. xx
******************UPDATE 4/3/2016*******************
YOU ARE AMAZING!!
WOW! Where do I even begin, when I started this page, not even 2 days ago I never in my wildest dreams thought it would attract the attention it has, to say we have been blown away by your generosity is an absolute understatement.
There has been tears of gratitude all over the place, I don't think there has been a dry eye amongst us all.
Please accept our sincerest thanks.
This was never about a dollar figure, it was about proving to my sister that we are here by her side cheering her on, for those really bad days when the "why me" question start setting in, she can reflect and know we are here fighting with you her. Kylie, you have been a rock to so many of us, and here united we stand - WE ARE YOUR ROCK!
In the coming weeks I will share with you just how life changing these donations will be for Kylies life.
We got some good news today that Kylie is being discharged from hospital this week, the not-so-good news is that the crack in Sacrum is in an awkward position and can not be operated on to strengthen it, which in turn means Kylie is on bed rest for the next 8 weeks (To kylies' friends on facebook, be prepared for an abundance of recipes being shared or pinterest related posts filling your news feed - we all know what she is like when she is on bed rest.... don't say I didn't warn you) .
The fact that Kylie is being discharged is also AMAZING news, because it means that no additional damage was done to her existing spinal injuries.
Thank You again for all of your incredibly heartfelt kind works, and you exceptionally generous donations.
P.S I have been asked a few times why I haven't mentioned how wonderful Kylies immediately family and friends have been throughout this spinal injury journey - quite simply, there is not enough space within the ENTIRE world wide web to express, my personal gratitude, let alone Kylies, to the people who have rallied together and got her to where she is today, its not a word of a lie to say that if Kylie didn't have us by her side, she wouldn't be where she is today - but this page isn't the place to express those thanks. Here I go, see I knew if I started I wouldn't be able to stop, I'll try to make this quick, all of us who have been there on the sidelines watching her fight this have been through a range of emotions (generally multiple emotions daily), from heartache to joy and everything in between - there have been times when we have cried side by side with Kylie and there have been times when we have ALL wanted to slap her tell her to come back to reality... then in a league of their own are the emotions we have all felt when we receive those un-readable messages of a random bunch of letters which generally means she is in the back of an ambulance with some high potency pain medication setting in, these messages then turn into the "I don't know what i'd do without you" messages as the pain meds start to wear off - regardless of the emotions, we have all been through this together and can ALL take great pride in knowing we are helping Kylie through this. Truth is, as her sister I feel as though I can never repay her immediate family and friends for sticking by her side.
My sister is my world, and nothing is going to stop me for striving for the best for her.
My name is Loren and for the past 6 years I have watched my beautiful big sister fight the hardest fight of her life.
"If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got".... SO I am going against everything my sister believes in and ASKING FOR HELP.
Those of you who are close to our family will know the heartbreaking story of Kylies spine injury and for those of you who don’t, i will try to give up a quick breakdown.
6 and a bit years ago my sister, at just 25 years of age had an accident at work and sustained severe back and spinal injuries and without going into the legalities of it, she did not receive the support from her employee as one would hope in such circumstances.
In the past 6 years she has had more operations and procedures than I can count on both hands and feet and has spent so much time in the hospitals that she is now known by name.
My memory may not be too crash hot and I’m confident i have forgotten a lot of the procedures but in the last few years alone Kylie has been through
1 Spinal Fusion (MASSIVE surgery)
3 Discectomies
1 surgically implanted Neuro-Modulation Simulation machine placed inside her back
15 (at least) sessions of pain reliever needles directly into the spine
Lots of Radiofrequency Facet Denervation sessions
All in all, the above procedures have financially cost an arm and a leg... actually lets be honest, a couple of arms and legs and with minimal assistance from work cover / employer this has been a massive strain on kylies life and as mentioned above she is NOT ONE TO ASK FOR HELP.
I remember vividly standing in the hospital room 6 years ago as my sister was told she may never walk again, well Kylie being the fighter she is wasn’t going to accept that as an answer and within the next few weeks she got herself up on her feet and proved the doctors wrong.
When the accident happened Kylie was 25 and a mother of a gorgeous 4 year old boy and a beautiful 3 year old girl, well the day of the accident was also the last day she ever got to pick up her kids properly. (I'm not a mum myself, but have a think how it would feel to be told you could never pick up your kids again, no matter how many tears and begging for mum - you could never pick them up because of your back injury)
There are so many stories I could mention that would break your heart, so many of her birthdays that she missed, so many special occasions, so many moments that Kylie never got to see because she was in a hospital somewhere around Melbourne (Its a shame hospitals don’t have loyalty cards, Kylie would be a gold member). Its actually hard to write, and harder to comprehend how much of their little lives that Kylie has missed out.One year Kylies pain was so bad, that midway through one of the kids parties she got taken away in an ambulance - not ideal for a kids birthday party. Thankfully the kids are so resilient and incredibly humble and have a great understanding of their mums injuries and are absolute superstar helpers at home.
Kylie has been discharged from hospital a number of times sporting some very interesting looking devices and never once complained (Including have a machine surgically implanted in her back which needs to be remotely charged every few days)
Fast Forward to yesterday, March 1st 2016, my sister recently received some not-so-great news from her neurologist and was in her car on the way to get a second opinion from a new Neurologist / Neurosurgeon when she was stopped at the traffic lights and was smashed into by another car, the car which hit her car was travelling at 70-80kms and hour and had hit directly into the back of my sisters car, absolutely crushing the entire back of the car.
(Um.... I dont think the back wheels should be behind the drivers seat?)
Heres a photo of the car before it became a mini...
Somehow, incredibly Kylies life was saved and she survived the crash, needless to say her car was completely written off, as were a number of other cars at the scene as it would appear the man who caused the crash managed to crash into other cars as well, I would love to truly write what i think of the man who caused the crash but i will save you from my potty mouth and I’m sure you can imagine how you'd describe this person if he did this to your sister.
Given her existing back and spine injuries, Kylie was stuck in the vehicle in excruciating pain until she could be cut out and transferred to the Alfred Hospital. She is still undergoing a number of scans as she is still in absolute agony and so far they have found a cracked Sacrum bone.
We are SO grateful that Kylie survived the accident, and even more grateful that there were no passengers in the back seat, as without a doubt they would not have survived the crash.
Kylies car was a very loved member of our family, a lovely green 98 Toyota Rav4, which has needed to be replaced for years, but given all the medical bills it has taken a back seat on the list of priorities - however, that now means that the car is only valued at around the $4500 mark (at best).... which isn’t exactly ideal in terms of replacing it.
If you've made if this far into the story, thank you, from the absolute bottom of my heart.
The reason I set up this page is due to the overwhelming number of friends and family who have asked how they can best help Kylie, and whilst the emotional support you provide is priceless, i know that you are wanting to assist in other ways.
My sister deserves a bit of happiness, a light at the end of the tunnel, a moment to forget the ever growing pile of medical bills, a special weekend away to spend with her kids, hence me asking if you can spare any small amount towards giving kylie a break and hopefully helping forget these stressful times even if just for a moment.
Even if you cant spare any coins, that is okay, i fully understand - please feel free to send through some words of encouragement as i really want to show my sister that we are all behind her and that she is not fighting this fight alone.
My sister is the most selfless person you will ever come across and I will do EVERYTHING in my power to provide her with some good stress free times.
It has been a VERY long road for my sister and unfortunatly she has a very long way until feeling better or "normal" as she would say.
Thank You so much for reading this far, and mine, and my entire families heartfelt thanks for your support on this journey. xx
******************UPDATE 4/3/2016*******************
YOU ARE AMAZING!!
WOW! Where do I even begin, when I started this page, not even 2 days ago I never in my wildest dreams thought it would attract the attention it has, to say we have been blown away by your generosity is an absolute understatement.
There has been tears of gratitude all over the place, I don't think there has been a dry eye amongst us all.
Please accept our sincerest thanks.
This was never about a dollar figure, it was about proving to my sister that we are here by her side cheering her on, for those really bad days when the "why me" question start setting in, she can reflect and know we are here fighting with you her. Kylie, you have been a rock to so many of us, and here united we stand - WE ARE YOUR ROCK!
In the coming weeks I will share with you just how life changing these donations will be for Kylies life.
We got some good news today that Kylie is being discharged from hospital this week, the not-so-good news is that the crack in Sacrum is in an awkward position and can not be operated on to strengthen it, which in turn means Kylie is on bed rest for the next 8 weeks (To kylies' friends on facebook, be prepared for an abundance of recipes being shared or pinterest related posts filling your news feed - we all know what she is like when she is on bed rest.... don't say I didn't warn you) .
The fact that Kylie is being discharged is also AMAZING news, because it means that no additional damage was done to her existing spinal injuries.
Thank You again for all of your incredibly heartfelt kind works, and you exceptionally generous donations.
P.S I have been asked a few times why I haven't mentioned how wonderful Kylies immediately family and friends have been throughout this spinal injury journey - quite simply, there is not enough space within the ENTIRE world wide web to express, my personal gratitude, let alone Kylies, to the people who have rallied together and got her to where she is today, its not a word of a lie to say that if Kylie didn't have us by her side, she wouldn't be where she is today - but this page isn't the place to express those thanks. Here I go, see I knew if I started I wouldn't be able to stop, I'll try to make this quick, all of us who have been there on the sidelines watching her fight this have been through a range of emotions (generally multiple emotions daily), from heartache to joy and everything in between - there have been times when we have cried side by side with Kylie and there have been times when we have ALL wanted to slap her tell her to come back to reality... then in a league of their own are the emotions we have all felt when we receive those un-readable messages of a random bunch of letters which generally means she is in the back of an ambulance with some high potency pain medication setting in, these messages then turn into the "I don't know what i'd do without you" messages as the pain meds start to wear off - regardless of the emotions, we have all been through this together and can ALL take great pride in knowing we are helping Kylie through this. Truth is, as her sister I feel as though I can never repay her immediate family and friends for sticking by her side.
My sister is my world, and nothing is going to stop me for striving for the best for her.
Organizer
Loren Shallies
Organizer
Highett, VIC