Raise Money For Kim's Medical Expenses
Donation protected
To Everyone: Please consider donating money to this worthwhile cause. Richard & Kim are dear friends of mine and when I found out Kim had a severe stroke, my first thought was "What can I do to help?" Setting up a Go Fund Me Account was one of those ideas. I have never known a more deserving, self-less & caring couple that can use some financial assistance. The money donated won't make Kim's medical event go away but what it will do is lessen the financial stress & optimize the environment for a full recovery.
This is Richard & Kim's Story:
My wife has been dealing with multiple sclerosis for 25 years. She has relapsing remitting form which means that gradually overtime she has declined in mobility and health related to the MS. The MS has affected mostly her left side resulting in weakness in her arm and leg and she has lost 40% of her vision in her left eye due to damage from optic neuritis from the MS. Kim has adapted well and learned her limitations with all this.
Then tragically on December 22 at 8 PM, Kim suffered a major stroke that resulted in her losing her speech and all of her right side. The stroke was in her left medial cerebral artery (the main blood supply left side of brain) and the doctors had to go in and retrieve the clot as she was not a candidate for TPA. She had an ischemic stroke caused by vasculitis that the neurologist believes was caused by the MS medicines Kim was on. Kim Spent seven days in the ICU and then a step down unit.
On New Year’s Day, she was then transferred to an acute rehab hospital. By this time Kim was speaking a few words, but it was obvious she had cognitive as well as short term memory issues related to the stroke besides the loss of her right side which, is also her dominant side. Kim was there for three weeks where she did extensive rehab to learn how to use her left side as much as possible. Kim came home on January 24 and to be perfectly honest, I was scared to death how I was going to take care of her. Mind you, due to COVID, I only got to see Kim once the whole time before she came home. Kim still needs extensive rehab as we have a nurse that comes once a week. Occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy come twice a week for the next month and reevaluate her each month. Kim has been improving baby steps and so thankful for that, but she has a long road ahead of her yet.
Currently, Kim is in a wheelchair and is sleeping in a hospital bed in our living room that is on the first floor and I sleep on an air mattress next to her so I can be close to her. Our house is a two-story house and my ultimate goal is to be able to get her to sleep in her own bed upstairs and to be able to take a shower as there are no showers on the main level and all I can do is give her sponge baths. There are many things I am grateful for, the support of family and friends, family that is taking care of Kim so I can go to work. But I am really surprised what insurance doesn't cover: Mobility devices, stairlift systems, rehab equipment, etc. Some of which is just astronomical priced.
Thank you very much for reading this and considering to donate for my wife so I can try and give her a life as close to normal as I can.
Richard Christensen
This is Richard & Kim's Story:
My wife has been dealing with multiple sclerosis for 25 years. She has relapsing remitting form which means that gradually overtime she has declined in mobility and health related to the MS. The MS has affected mostly her left side resulting in weakness in her arm and leg and she has lost 40% of her vision in her left eye due to damage from optic neuritis from the MS. Kim has adapted well and learned her limitations with all this.
Then tragically on December 22 at 8 PM, Kim suffered a major stroke that resulted in her losing her speech and all of her right side. The stroke was in her left medial cerebral artery (the main blood supply left side of brain) and the doctors had to go in and retrieve the clot as she was not a candidate for TPA. She had an ischemic stroke caused by vasculitis that the neurologist believes was caused by the MS medicines Kim was on. Kim Spent seven days in the ICU and then a step down unit.
On New Year’s Day, she was then transferred to an acute rehab hospital. By this time Kim was speaking a few words, but it was obvious she had cognitive as well as short term memory issues related to the stroke besides the loss of her right side which, is also her dominant side. Kim was there for three weeks where she did extensive rehab to learn how to use her left side as much as possible. Kim came home on January 24 and to be perfectly honest, I was scared to death how I was going to take care of her. Mind you, due to COVID, I only got to see Kim once the whole time before she came home. Kim still needs extensive rehab as we have a nurse that comes once a week. Occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy come twice a week for the next month and reevaluate her each month. Kim has been improving baby steps and so thankful for that, but she has a long road ahead of her yet.
Currently, Kim is in a wheelchair and is sleeping in a hospital bed in our living room that is on the first floor and I sleep on an air mattress next to her so I can be close to her. Our house is a two-story house and my ultimate goal is to be able to get her to sleep in her own bed upstairs and to be able to take a shower as there are no showers on the main level and all I can do is give her sponge baths. There are many things I am grateful for, the support of family and friends, family that is taking care of Kim so I can go to work. But I am really surprised what insurance doesn't cover: Mobility devices, stairlift systems, rehab equipment, etc. Some of which is just astronomical priced.
Thank you very much for reading this and considering to donate for my wife so I can try and give her a life as close to normal as I can.
Richard Christensen
Organiser and beneficiary
Mark Nabielec
Organiser
Crystal Lake, IL
Richard Christensen
Beneficiary
