Pay off a Van for a wonderful family!

Hello! I am fundraising for an Incredible family that has experienced real hardship. We are looking to raise 50,000 for Nicole who is paralyzed from the chest down. They have recently purchased a vehicle that is allowing Nicole to drive for the first time in 7 years. This is an incredible family that really could use some support after making such a large purchase! Thank you so much for your generosity, please check the website below for updates!

This is Nicole and Brian and they have a wild story! This is from Nicole's website

https://minihan6.wixsite.com/beautifullybroken?fbclid=IwAR311R3oSteE75TiD3o-9Ozyx2IWp-DDOHvnJaBDrvZoDoUu1Wk0xEtk5rQ

Nicole: It’s hard to know where to begin when you share your story/testimony. Do I start at the very beginning and move forward or maybe I start where I am now and move backwards? Maybe I just jump on in and start somewhere in between and see how it goes?!?! The more you get to know me, the more you will see that, the jump right in and see where it goes is kinda my jam.

So here goes.... In 2016, I had a major “event” that would forever change my world, and my family’s world in every single way. April 22 2016 started out like a regular day, except for the fact that I woke up with a pretty significant backache. With 6 kids, ages 2-17 at home, I didn’t have much time to think about back pain so I went about the morning like usual. 4 kids off to school with my two littlest, 5 and 2, staying home with mama. A good friend came over for some coffee and a chat. It was a short but good visit with much needed “mom time”. During our visit, I remember commenting to my friend about how much my back hurt. At this point it was REALLY starting to hurt and radiate around the front of my body. I thought to myself that this was because I had been sick recently and then ran 5 miles the day before, and just overdid it. Sounds legit right?!? I thought it was weird though because it was my upper back and not my lower back that hurt ‍♀️

My friend left and that’s when things started to really ramp up. I’m one of those people who NEVER pukes, like EVER!! I try to sometimes when I’m sick just to get it out but, my body just won’t let me. All of a sudden, I had such a stabbing pain in my back that it dropped me to my knees and I threw up. At this point, I started texting my husband, best friend and my sister who was an RN at the time. My new concern was that this was not a backache but a potential heart attack. I was in my mid 30’s and a woman, so it made sense. After talking with my sister and going through some “test questions” she didn’t think it was a heart attack. Whew I got some relief just hearing that. She suggested that I lay down and alternate heat and ice. During this time, another friend had just dropped off her two sons for the weekend so her and her hubby could escape for a bit. So I had a full house, which is how I always like it. Once you get to know me, you will know that for me, a full house = a happy house and a happy mama☺️

I took my sisters advice and laid down on the couch with my heating pad. Probably 15 minutes later, my 2 year old was going upstairs and wouldn’t come back when I called. So much for resting. I went to get up and all of a sudden, my legs wouldn’t support me and I had to sit back down. I was shocked and confused and it was at this point I started to get really scared. I was able to stand and walk upstairs but my legs felt like Jelly. I decided to call my oldest at school, she was in her senior year and just riding out the clock. I asked her to come home so I could go to the urgent care and she came straight home. She wanted to take me in but I am stubborn and I said I could go alone. Plus who wants to take 4 littles to urgent care??

Once at urgent care, I noticed when I got out of the car, I had to walk slowly and carefully into the building. At this point I could still walk, it’s important to remember that. This was probably noon(ish) The urgent care doctors were stumped and had ZERO idea of what was going on. They did verify that it was not a heart issue. Then what the heck is it, I wanted to know, as my fear ramped up and my prayers started flowing non stop. They gave me a shot of a pain med in the booty which didn’t help at all. Next they sent me over to radiology for an X-ray. To this day, I’m not sure what they were hoping to find. I, of course, drove myself over there, but at this point, I told my husband I needed him. I remember the nurse had to help me undress and by the time Brian got there, they had to wheel me out to him. Back to the urgent care we went with our results, that really weren’t results and showed nothing.

At this point the drs, yes a few got involved, were at a completely loss. This was probably 1:30-2pm. I told them that I walked in there myself and by the time I came back, Brian had to support me walking back in!! Then they suggested I go home and rest and if it got worse, head into the ER Ummmm.... No!! We headed straight for the ER. Once we got there, I almost fell out of the car getting out and Brian ran in to get a wheelchair. Little did I know that this would be my life going forward. We checked in and waited, and waited and waited. They triaged me fairly quickly, did an EKG and asked me to describe my symptoms. After hours of waiting, I had Brian take me over to the bathroom. He had to open the door but I said I could wheel in and handle my business without help. I was WRONG. I fell in between the chair and the toilet and called out to Brian. Because the doors were so thick, it took him a few minutes to hear me. I was so scared. Once Brian got me up he went directly to talk to the nurses at the front desk while I frantically texted my best friends and my aunt. Brian came back and told me they said “yeah we are worried about her and will take her back in a minute” ummm... you are worried about me but I’m still sitting out here? Ok

Once I finally got to the back, things really started to happen. They gave me pain meds which helped a bit and allowed me to relax. It was at this point I noticed I could no longer wiggle my toes on my left foot. I think for me, that was when reality really set in. This was NOT a backache, but what was it? I remember texting my aunt and best friend and I could tell by the tone of their responses, they were worried too. I had to have a catheter because I couldn’t use the bathroom on my own, that function was already gone. The doctors preformed not one but TWO spinal taps on me. I did not feel a single thing. I was sent for an MRI. I’d never had one but I’m pretty brave when it comes to medical procedures. Let me just tell you, that was the single most traumatizing part of this experience up to that point. The lady was maybe having an off night or something because she was absolutely rude and cold hearted to me. She was irritated I couldn’t stand and walk to the bed. Hey lady, I’m irritated too!! Not to mention scared out of my mind. The MRI lasted an hour. She offered no music and did not talk to me at all except to tell me when to breath. I honestly don’t know how I made it through that hour except with lots of prayer and singing some of my favorite worship songs.

Back in my ER room, I heard the two words that would change my life as I knew it, for the very first time. We think you have Transverse Myelitis. Do you know what TM is? Because I sure did not. They explained that there was no obvious trigger for TM but what happens is that your body, instead of attacking a virus or other foreign substance in your body, it attacks the myelin sheath around your spinal cord and inflames it. I was JUST sick, this had to be “it” I said, OK so now we know what it is, let’s do what we have to do to get me out of here. One of the docs nodded his head liking my enthusiasm and drive. The other doc looked right at me and I knew before he said a word. He said, I’m sorry but this is not just something you get over quickly and move on. It could take weeks, months or years, some people never recover I think I heard the words but I just couldn’t process them. He wanted me to do another MRI but I refused. No way was I going through that hell again. He assured me someone else would do it, it would be quicker and he gave me something for anxiety and it was MUCH easier. That’s honestly the last thing I remember in the ER.

The next thing I remember was waking up in the cardiac care unit with my family there. I didn’t fully realize at this point that I was completely paralyzed from my chest down with no function or feeling. I knew instinctively this was going to be my biggest fight ever...