Medical Expenses for Jory Stevens

I'm Sharon Stevens and Jory is my oldest son, this is a message from him explaining everything about his accident and where it has lead him. Please consider donating as he is very stressed and worried about his finances in the near future.

Bare with me, as this may be a little lengthy.

"In Janurary of 2021 I was in a boating accident, in which my boat capsized and I was trapped underneath it, I had gotten thrashed around like a rag doll underwater, causing multiple traumatic brain injuries, as well as hypoxia, hypothermic shock, and (needless to say) severe PTSD-C ever since.

The first few months after I thought I was okay, aside from lots of panic attacks, lack of sleep, night terrors, and the occasional dizzy spell. (Little did I know at the time that this was the start of a long evolution of what's going on now)

As months went by the dizzy spells worsened, I kept getting frequent headaches, and every time I would have a flashback I would completely relive the entire accident. This caused more anxiety and PTSD as I was trying to hide it from coworkers, friends, and family. I started having black out spells (which I thought were anxiety attacks) where I would remain conscious, but I would loose all vision and hearing. As these "Hellen Keller episodes" went on (every two to 3 hours) I started to realize I was a danger to myself and others at work, so I decided to go ahead and go out on medical leave.

I've been to now 18 or so specialists and I'm still trying to figure out what's going on. My episodes have progressed more and more since then, I have one about every 90-120 minutes. Now I feel them coming on (most of the time) and I start to feel very gross, cold sweats, flush face, and clammy. Then my vision tunnels at the same time my hearing pretty much goes out. I loose complete consciousness and start having what everyone tells me looks like seizures, twitching, tensing up, convulsions, etc...

I'll come out of it and return to normal within just a few mins.

Having these episodes every hour and a half to two hours has made me very uncomfortable with being out in public, especially around people I don't know or that don't know my situation. I gave up driving back in November and that's honestly been one of, if not the hardest part.

I really am trying to enjoy life the best I can in the midst of dealing with overwhelming medical debt, worrying about what my future holds, worrying about the progression of these spells, and especially worrying about where my next check will come from because Social Security has not approved anything yet.

Now you all know, I may seem "normal" but I'm still struggling immensely trying to figure out how to get by in this new life. I'm glad I was rescued and I'm glad to be with you all today. Please understand if you don't see me or I seem distant it's because of this. I just need y'all to keep me and Steph in y'alls thoughts and prayers please. I'm not asking for your sympathy, just your understanding and prayers. Love y'all!

Update 8/24/22: social security has denied my claim and I'm starting the appeal process which may take another 6 to 8 months.

Update 1/26/23: Arturo Garza the man who rescued me, passed away. I am very grateful for him and I will miss him dearly.

Update 3/24/23: still waiting on a determination from social security. I'm going to see a new neurologist and have another in-patient EEG study at the epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) in Dallas next month.

Update: (one year since the og post) 5/9/23

Still waiting on social security. I had a second EMU study and they confirmed the diagnosis of PNES (psycogenic non-epileptic seizures) I just started what will be a 12 to 14 week therapy treatment that might slow the frequency of the seizures. I am hopeful and optimistic. Please keep me in your prayers as this is still very stressful as we do not know how my future finances will look. These specialists are not cheap and it has almost completely drained our savings.

Update 9/21/23 disability has denied my case a second time. Going to try again."

Thanks to all of you for your support, every little bit helps.