Stand by Nora

Our parents have always been kind and generous people. For as long as we can remember, we have always had extra people around, either living with us, eating dinner or just hanging out on a Friday night with no questions asked. They never complained or asked for anything in return. 

Now  they are in need everyone’s help. 

In 2004, our mom (Nora Jastorff) was diagnosed with Early Onset Parkinson’s disease. This took our family by surprise. We had no idea how fast or slow things would progress or what this meant for her long term. Luckily, her disease has progressed fairly slowly. She is tenacious and fierce and vowed that she would keep working the job she loved until someone told her that she couldn't anymore. She was able to keep driving  for a few years and although her symptoms greatly impacted her life she kept a positive outlook and used her sense of humor and very supportive co-workers to get her through each day. 

In May of 2013, Nora underwent a brain surgery. She had a deep brain cell stimulator put in to help subside the tremors to make daily living a little more easy.. This surgery overall was successful, but she had to wait a period of time before she could get her device turned on (for healing and recovery). Before this could happen she started to have some collateral health problems that forced her back into the hospital again. 

This time she went into the ER due to her having horrible pains in her abdominal area. The doctor found a hernia that mom’s intestine had grown around. She was prepped for surgery right away. Unfortunately the doctors did not read her chart correctly and she was administered a medication during surgery that is given routinely for nausea the she is allergic to (This was posted on her chart with a large orange sticker).

The doctor was not able to fully repair the hernia, stating that she would most likely need another surgery, and in the mean time she was spiraling. She was moved to the ICU where she had a tracheal tube and ventilator put in place because she could not breath on her own.  She was unable to speak and we were not quite sure she could hear us.  She had gone septic. The doctor suggested that all family members come to see her as it was likely that she would not make it through. After about a month in the ICU, she was finally transferred to a rehabilitation facility where she went through vigorous physical, occupational and speech therapies. She was finally on the mend. 

Nora was able to make it home by Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with the family. Life was great. She returned to work, but after several months of being back, learned of some organizational changes that would make it extremely hard for her to continue working and maintain her personal dignity. She and her co-workers  decided that it was time for her to stop working and helped her apply for short term disability. 

Sometime later, mom was hospitalized again with another hernia. This procedure went smoother and although she did not have to stay an extensive amount of time, she was released home with a nurse as she had gotten an infection in her wound. This wound never seemed to heal and Nora had run out of nursing help. She continued to care for her wound on her own and with the help of family members, but the infection wouldn't go away. She went back to the doctor and they said that she should see her surgeon because she needed an ultra sound to check for more infection. She did this and her surgeon did not check her and instead just sealed her wound shut. This caused major issues and led to another ER visit because her wound had ruptured. This led to another few weeks in the hospital because she had staff infection (that the hospital did not even report to us). She eventually returned home again.  

If she hadn’t had enough, last year Nora was diagnosed with Endometrial Cancer. Her doctors did not feel that her body could handle another surgery, but luckily they caught the cancer early enough that there was an alternative treatment. She is currently receiving this treatment along with a new Parkinson's medication that is really helping her. Some days are better than others, but overall she is living a good life, spending time with grandkids and caring for her two dogs. 

Financially, the situation is dire. With Nora not being able to work and her disability being cut drastically (due to a previous "clerical error") by about $400 per month and Rodney's income being cut in half after taking out a loan from his 401K in order to pay back debts from hospitalizations and living expenses they are barely making it. They have been relying heavily on help from family members and in the past few months have had major appliances break that they can't afford to replace (washer and oven). They need help to get back on their feet so that Nora can enjoy her life and the people around her without having to worry if she will have a place to live. 

Anything you can give would be used to go towards getting house payments caught up, paying off medical debt and making life more comfortable for two people whom, even now, would give the shirt off their back for anyone who needed it.  If you can't afford to give anything, but have knowledge of community resources for appliances or help with house payments, etc that would be greatly appreciated as well.  Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this and help our family get back on their feet again.