Alicia Wendel Recovery Fund

Hi there! I'm Chenowa and I'm fundraising for my mom, Alicia. My mom has had a rough time of it health-wise the last few years, first in 2019 when she had open-heart surgery to repair an aneurysm and her aortic valve. Then she had to have surgeries on both wrists (at different times). THEN she fell and broke both of her arms!

But Mom has been tough and optimistic. She's recovered from each of these incidents with good humor and strength, but her most recent health issue is a doozy.

Alicia was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 13 after a nasty fall the week prior. She had pain in her leg and could barely walk on it. Doctors found that she had a very bad infection in her leg and had poor liver and kidney functions. We didn't know at the time, but she was in sepsis. On Friday, Nov. 19, she went into septic shock. This was more terrifying than the heart surgery, wrist surgeries, and broken arms combined. The doctors and nurses worked round the clock to get her organs functioning properly again.

Mom came finally woke up a couple days later, to all of our relief. They removed the feeding tube she'd had in and she was able to eat on her own. Since the infection has died down, doctors have been working on her leg. So far, she's had 6 surgeries on her leg, with the most recent being yesterday. Because of the extent of the infection, they had to excise a lot of skin and soft tissue and she now needs skin grafts.

It's been very hard not having my mom home for Thanksgiving and now Christmas (her favorite holidays). It's been even harder not being able to visit her. My dad, Dave, has been at the hospital every single day from 10am to 8pm (visiting hours), but he is the only person allowed to be with her. She is only allowed one visitor for her stay and he tries to be there as much as possible so she's not alone. Unfortunately, this means that both of them are out of work and bills are piling up. Their savings are dwindling quickly and they could really use some help this holiday season.

So, please, we humbly ask that if you can, please donate to this fund to help my family. When my mom finally comes home, she will need a nurse to come in every day and will need a sterile environment that is more accessible to her. We are hoping to raise enough so we can make sure that when she comes home, she won't have to worry about anything but getting better.

Thank you,

Chenowa Wendel