In March of this year my aunt Celeste and her family's lives were turned upside down... After the return home from a fun family vacation and Dance Competition Celeste set down in a chair, looked at Justin and said “I don’t feel right”. 12 hours later she was having Open Heart surgery to repair a tear in the wall of her Aorta. God and the talented Surgeons saved her life. The success was short lived. 48 hours later they discovered another tear in the vascular side of the Aorta, sending her in for a 2nd emergency surgery. How thankful are we that those surgeries were successful and within a few days she was headed in a good direction! Unfortunately a series of issues and set backs including Kidney Failure, Blood Clots in her legs, and a very scary event leading into her aspirating, to intubation, and having to be put on the ECMO Machine (which is basically life support). All of this happened between March 8th and around March 20th. After coming off intubation she was given a Tracheotomy. She remained in ICU until April 28th then spent about 2 weeks in CCU before going to Rehab at Skyline until the middle of June. Celeste spent 90 days in the hospital. Since then she has been in and out of the hospital five times with a various number of issues such as a re-occuring C-diff infection which is miserable. She had to have a hysterectomy and blood transfusions among several other things. As of today, she is back in a rehab center getting full-time care and full-time PT and OT in hopes that we can get her back to our normal way of life. It’s going to take some time, patience, and a whole lot of work and courage on her part.
But how did this really affect our family…. This is Celeste-- my aunt and best friend, wife, partner and confidant, a mother to 3 amazing girls, friend to so many, social butterfly, business owner, mom at every event, always there for people in need, kind hearted, a sister, a daughter. She is so many things to so many people. She was our everything and we were faced with having to continue on during this extremely scary and confusing time, feeling lost without her, as she was the glue that held us together. We found our strength through God, each other, and our amazing family and friends. There are no words to express the gratitude to all of you who have done so much during this time. The Davidson's are forever grateful for the outpouring of cards, prayers, help, messages, calls, meals and so much more! The cost of her care and meds and equipment she needs, coupled with the loss of Celeste's income has put a major financial strain on this family. Many of you have asked how you can help. Of course your love and prayers are most important but if you feel led and have the resources we are asking for help.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider helping. Celeste loves all the cards and she texts more then talks on the phone so keep the messages coming!
Kindest Regards,
Cheyenne Johnson