Pray for Alexandra (Tita)

Hello everyone, My name is Jessi Lagos and I've started this GoFundme campaign for my dearest childhood family friend, Melba Pena’s  21 year-old daughter, Alexandra (a.k.a Tita), her only child and pride and joy. Tita is currently fighting for her life and we’re requesting your support; no amount is too small. Alexandra has always been such a kind, loving, old-soul, full of life, has such a great sense of humor and a smile that lights up a room.   Tita has been diagnosed with pulmonary embolism ( a blood clot to the lung) resulting from a diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKT). Tita is a young army wife living with her active duty soldier husband, Nikko in New York.  Alexandra and Nikko have been married for just a little over a year, both just starting their lives as one until they began living this nightmare 8 months ago. The following is detailed and will be updated as information comes in. Tita's story begins like this:  In October of 2017, she began to notice changes in her physical well-being, and suffering from frequent UTIs. During this time Nikko was on a 9-month deployment and she was left to handle the household responsibilities she wasn't able to miss work so she just kept trotting through. Nikko returned home from his deployment and her health began to worsen. but she continued to work and push through. On the night of December 13th, up all night due to the excruciating pain she was experiencing. She had a small fever and immediately contacted the nurse hotline and told them her history with UTIs, they advised she go to the ER within 3 hours of ending the call. However, this was at 4 am and was expected into work by 6am. She went into work, stayed for an hour, but the pain became too much to bear so Nikko dropped her off at the ER and he returned to work. Around 10am the ER doctor came in and told her she has diabetes. Her blood sugar was 689 and was the cause of all her pain and discomfort she had been feeling. She spoke to a diabetes consultant learned how to test her sugars levels and measure her insulin. Over the next few months the doctors were unsuccessful in regulating her blood sugar levels. The ranges were averaging 400 and above every day, which meant she had to be seen weekly or more. It eventually became too much for her to coordinate between work and doctor appointments and was left with the decision to quit her job and take care of her health because her symptoms were getting worse by the day. As the weeks went on she continued to get worse and felt as though her body was shutting down. Her doctors continued to monitor her blood sugar levels but withconstant rises of 500+ she had to be admitted and was diagnosed with Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA). DKA is where the blood in your body begins to turn acidic and your body starts to break down proteins called ketones, which are a secondary form of energy for a body in distress, as it's the main source of energy. The testing process for DKA is just as painful. The ph balance of your blood needs to be confirmed and to get a reading of said balance, it requires a 5-inch needle being inserted into your arterial vein for the blood draw. For those who don't know where that is, it's where you check a pulse on your wrist. Alexandra has had the test done 5 times in the span of 6 months, once even twice in one visit. Her insulin dosages kept being adjusted, but her blood sugar was still in the 300s. She was hospitalized again in February for 6 days for DKA once again and again in March initially for DKA. After the hospitalization in February,  she began to experience shortness of breath coupled with chest pains and some strange loss of sensations on her right side. They performed a CT Scan of her chest and discovered she had multiple blood clots in her lungs (pulmonary embolisms) which was the cause of her inability to breathe. Since March, she has had 5 other hospitalizations each lasting a week or more at a time, with the exception of one overnight stay for "observation".  She has been diagnosed with DKA 4 times in a 7 month period and had 16 emergency room visits due to complications of both her uncontrolled diabetes and her pulmonary embolisms. One of the blood clots is the size of a golf ball that’s lodged in the artery of her right lung. This blood clot has not reduced in size even after being on 3 separate blood thinners and has caused extensive damage to her right lung. Right now, her heart is essentially beating against a brick wall and Alexandra has been advised that the only real option she has is to have open heart surgery to remove the blood clot. The surgery will be performed at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. Alexandra, Nikko and Nani, their 1.5 yr. old black Labrador, will need to travel by train from Upstate NY because she’s unable to fly due to the blood clots. Alexandra and Nikko will need financial support while she recovers. Nikko will have to take leave from being an active duty Army Specialist, to help during her surgery and recovery. Once she arrives in Jacksonville, she will undergo additional tests. She is expected to be in the hospital for at least 3 weeks. Cardiac ICU and then transferred to the Cardiac floor.The money being raised will be used for their transport from New York to Florida, temporary housing,  pet deposit, loss of Nikkos salary (due to the unpaid family leave), food, monthly bills for 2 months, including their rent and car payment back in New York, and additional costs associated with her recovery and care. Alexandra will be unable to work for at least the remaining 6 months of 2018. If they should be so lucky and blessed to raise more than $15,000 they need for Alexandra’s extensive care in Florida, each and every single dollar above that amount will be used to transport them back to New York, unforeseen medical costs, and expenses.  Please consider giving today. Please share Alexandra’s story with your friends, family and work colleagues. We have faith Alexandra will recover from this nightmare and live a long, healthy life.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Love,  Alexandra and Nikko ... and Alexandra’s mom, Melba; Alexandra's entire family and their Cali friend, Jessi