Support Sandy Olevsky's Healing Journey (the one in red)

My name is Sara Marks, and I am writing on behalf of my childhood friend, Sandy Olevsky. Sandy and I grew up together in the Mayfair Park area of Chicago. We met in kindergarten and remained friends all these years. Our friendship has gotten us through the awkward teen years, the search for independence in college, the quest for the perfect relationship, and the drive to find fulfillment in careers. I have been a CPS teacher for almost 40 years, and Sandy has been a respiratory therapist at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital for more than 30 years. Each of us has chosen careers where we guide, heal, and serve others.

Six months ago, Sandy fell ill and suffered a life-threatening emergency; a kidney stone sparked a bacterial infection in her bloodstream that later attached to the base of her spine and has stricken her ability to walk and function like she did before. She has been in and out of the hospital with various complications due to the infection. Her first attempt at rehab left her weaker and her spirit broken because the care was far from healing.

Sandy was able to go home to her life partner of 28 years, Mary Kosa, on June 19th and continue her recovery. She was getting stronger and more hopeful that she would recover with spinal surgery. The surgery is currently on hold again due to the infection returning and causing more havoc on her system. She was hospitalized again on 9/26/2024 and was recently released to a skilled nursing facility in Glenview, IL, to receive another round of intravenous antibiotics and physical therapy.

This facility is much nicer and equipped to address her needs, but due to the limits of her private insurance, she will not be able to stay more than 10 days. This leaves the burden of her care on her partner Mary, who is spread thin trying to maintain a full-time job as a clinical supervisor for foster care and keeping up with the expenses that were once covered by two full-time salaries. As you can imagine, Sandy and Mary are not just dealing with a catastrophic illness, but they are facing mounting medical bills due to out-of-network care for private ambulances, specialists, doctors, and rehab. They need help. I am asking for your help to raise money to assist with her care. She needs assistance to pay for transportation to and from appointments, physical and occupational therapy, and skilled nursing care to help with her IV treatments, oxygen, and home health care if she is discharged from rehab.

Thank you for any donation.