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Help Sarah’s Traumatic Brain Injury Rehab Fees

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Dear friends and family, 

On Tuesday, September 8, 2020, my husband received the phone call that no dad even wants.  "Hello, is this Mr. Chema?" "Yes..." They ask more questions... causing the anxiety to rise in him and asking what is this regarding... Since they confirmed that Jason is Sarah's dad, they said they were going to transfer him to the Trauma Center.


Our dear Sarah was in a very bad car accident on her way to work in the morning, causing her very severe brain injury. 

She was diagnosed with a Level 3 DAI - diffuse axonal injury.  We asked the neuro MD on the phone, so what's the highest severity... he replies... a Level 3... we're shook to our core...  

A Diffuse axonal injury is the shearing (tearing) of the brain's long connecting nerve fibers (axons) that happens when the brain is injured as it shifts and rotates inside the skull. DAI usually causes coma and injury to many different parts of the brain.  

Due to the severity of Sarah’s injury, she has been in the ICU for 3 weeks now while the team of doctors and nurses have taken care of her, including her mother who also happens to be an ICU nurse.

Sarah has made a lot of progress over the past 3 weeks; she's gone from being in a heavily medically induced coma, having a monitor in her brain to measure her ICP's (inter-cranial pressures), having several different tubes in her mouth... and needing very limited external stimulation to not spike her ICPs.  Her team had to wait to clean and stitch the gash on the side of her right eye, and even had to wait to send her for an MRI because she couldn't be moved. 

Sarah also had a broken/fractured pelvis, but thankfully the ortho team said that they do not need to operate on it because it has already started to heal.  

Sarah was moved to the ACU (acute care unit) just on the other side of the floor since her condition seemed a bit more stable... But that meant having a nurse that had more patients assigned to her and honestly, it wasn't the best situation for Sarah... Whenever we would go to visit her, there was always something that needed attention more quickly than what the nurse could do... 

As of the end of September, Sarah has a trach and peg now; for her breathing, and removal of secretion from lungs and for nutrient feeding.  This was another huge step in the process.   

As of this week, the beginning of October, Sarah has been on breathing tests, to slowly ween her off of her ventilator so that she can learn to breathe on her own.  Also, she has been "awake" for 10-15 minutes a few times a day and this is when her mom will "be all up in her face" and play messages from friends and family to her.  She also does range of motion exercises with Sarah and let's her know which arm or leg she's moving.  

Sarah just turned 26 in June, thus, she was dropped from her mother’s health insurance plan. We are in the midst of seeking workman's compensation, insurance and Medicaid.  Workman's comp has already denied us.   

Any donations you are willing to give will go towards Sarah's medical bills and any other unknown or upcoming monetary needs. We are taking everything one day at a time and will keep you all updated.

We know that we have a long road ahead of us.  We are hoping to get Sarah into a long term acute care facility soon.  Depending on how things go, we are looking to raise at least $40,000 for Sarah's first month of care at the LTAC.

For a more personal testimony of our experience, you can check out our website for Sarah  . 

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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $30 
    • 2 yrs
  • Matt Dykstra
    • $25 
    • 3 yrs
  • Wilfredo J Rodriguez
    • $30 
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $20 
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $260 
    • 3 yrs
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Organizer

Kim Clode-Baker
Organizer
Alief, TX

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