Maritza's Stroke Recovery Support!

We are raising funds to support medical and essential bills for Maritza Villalobos, who suffered a severe stroke caused by an aneurysm rupture on June 7th. After multiple CT scans, a craniotomy and an intense recovery journey involving ICU stays, rehabilitation, and a scare with blood clots, Maritza is making progress but still has a long road ahead. This fundraiser aims to ease the financial burden on her and her family during this challenging time. Any contribution is deeply appreciated.

Thank you for your prayers and support, our full story is below:

On June 7th, my mom was having an extremely horrible headache and was able to call 911 in time. An ambulance took her to the nearest hospital from her house in Clermont, Florida and soon after she was life-flighted by helicopter to the Orlando Health Regional Medical Center.

My mom had an aneurysm rupture and a lot of blood filled the right side of her brain, which caused the stroke. From there, she had a rollercoaster of medical procedures. She had to undergo surgery to block the blood flow to the aneurysm Saturday morning. Then Sunday, she was taken for a CT scan because her oxygen levels dropped. When she came back from the CT scan, the nurse informed us that the Surgeon had put in request for a craniotomy and that he needed to prep her immediately for the surgery. The neurosurgeon came into the room amidst the chaos and explained what a craniotomy was. He told us he would need to shave her whole head. As minor as it seems, I begged him to save as much of her hair as possible. I was thinking to myself—a year from now when my mom is recovered, I want her to be able to look in the mirror and recognize herself. If you know my mom, you know how much she loves her hair. We were blessed to have a neurosurgeon who listened, and thankfully he was able to save the majority of her hair!

My mom came out of the craniotomy and was intubated for 2 days; she had a feeding tube for almost two weeks after that. From the moment she woke up she was not able to move the left side of her body. Although her feet had reflex movement, her left hand did not move at all. After a few days she began moving her left leg, from wiggling her toes to rolling her ankles. Because the movement was so foreign, she kept calling her left arm her “detachable”.

She was in the Neuro ICU from June 8th-June 20th. From there, we went to inpatient rehabilitation in Ocoee from June 20th-June 23rd. There, she woke up with a lot of pain in her chest, so my brother fought for her to be taken to the ER to check why she was having chest pain. At this point, we had seen so many procedures and were on edge anytime she felt pain. Once we got to the emergency room, we found out she had double pulmonary emboli (blood clots in her lungs). The ER doctor explained how deadly these could be and the need to administer blood thinners, but due to the stroke that had happened two weeks ago, there was huge risk her brain may re-bleed. My family fought to transfer my mom back to the hospital in Orlando where she had her previous surgeries and she stayed there from June 24th to July 1st. During that time, the staff attended my mom well and managed to thin her blood for the emboli without affecting her brain.

Finally, on June 27th, after 20 days not being able to sustain her weight standing up, she began walking again with 2 people supporting her. After a traumatic two weeks, this was wildly better improvement than anyone expected.

Once she was discharged, we found one of the best inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in Florida was in Jacksonville at Brooks. I rented a car and drove her out there since insurance would not cover the transfer from Orlando. One of my college friends was extremely kind and let my brother and I stay at her house. My mom spent 19 days at Brooks inpatient rehab, where the various therapists helped her strengthen her left side and re-taught her how to walk independently.

This entire journey has been a complete shock to my mom and our family. I was in Copenhagen, my siblings were in Texas, and the rest of my family were in other states when she called 911. We all booked the first flight out when we found out she was in the hospital.

Though this has been a crazy time, there have been so many people who have been gracious, caring, and so helpful. To the nurses at Orlando Health Regional, the neurosurgeon who allowed my mom to keep her hair, the staff at Brooks, and my college friend who opened her house to us—I can’t thank you enough for your support.

We are extremely thankful for everyone that has prayed for my mom and sent messages of support. Many of you have asked how else you can help so I have started this GoFundMe that can hopefully relieve some of the financial burden the last few months have placed on us. Any amount is appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.