Support for Poppa Smurf
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Hi everybody,
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my dad. I’ve always had a special bond with him and I’ve always been daddy’s little girl. So that’s why this is so hard for me to write and ask for help.
On December 11th, I received a text message that I will not soon forget while I was on my way back home to Eureka after a weekend in Portland.
“Dad’s in the ER”
My mom woke up from an afternoon nap and found dad collapsed in the garage. She tried to help him up but quickly realized his left side was not working and he was slurring. She called 911 and had him taken to the hospital where they immediately took him back for a CT. We found out moments later that my dad had a hemorrhagic stroke on the right side of his brain.
I wasn’t even home yet, still had over an hour to get home and all I wanted to do was turn around and head back to Portland. I talked to my brother, my husband and finally my mom to learn all I could about what happened to him. I cried most of the remaining drive and went into shock. This is the strongest man I know. A man who worked every single day of his life just simply to survive and now this?! I couldn’t believe this happened to him. I still can’t.
My family and I packed up and turned around the next morning to head back to Portland to go see him. I stayed in Portland until just after the new year to help my mom navigate through life changing without dads physical presence.
The stroke was actively bleeding until Tuesday the 13th. The stroke is a bit bigger than a golf ball and because it’s on the right side of his brain, it’s affecting the left side of his body. His left side is paralyzed, almost entirely. He only just regained movement of his left leg, left arm and side of his face still are not responding. This is due to something the doctors call “neglect” where the brain simply forgets that the left side of his body exists. His right side seems to be working alright, but he is struggling a bit with his sight. We spent the holiday season working with him in the hospital, doing the recommended exercises and constantly checking to see if feeling returned. He stayed in the hospital until last week when they finally released him into a nursing facility to hopefully start the long path for rehab. No one knows how long the recovery will take nor how much he’s going to be able to recover with the size/location of the hematoma. We were told that reabsorption of the bleed can take several weeks and that’s only the beginning of recovery.
We since discovered the insane cost of patient care in hospitals and discussed all that will need to happen so that he can come home and be cared for.
My parents are both retired and on a limited income. We still don’t know how much insurance will cover and what the remaining cost out of pocket will be. All I know is that it won’t be easy to incur such a bill. On top of that, my moms disability makes it extremely difficult for her to get by without my dads presence and help. He’s spent the last few years helping out our grandparents as they’ve gotten to a point where they too, are unable to care for themselves entirely. They need help traveling to and from appointments, handling bills and their own health.
So here I am, lengthy story I hand, hoping and praying that the village of folks who love my parents will come to our aid in any way possible. Anything helps.
If you’d like to know more or would like to offer some support for them, let me know and I can get you in touch with them.
Thank you for your love and unwavering support. We need it.
Love,
Kimmy
Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my dad. I’ve always had a special bond with him and I’ve always been daddy’s little girl. So that’s why this is so hard for me to write and ask for help.
On December 11th, I received a text message that I will not soon forget while I was on my way back home to Eureka after a weekend in Portland.
“Dad’s in the ER”
My mom woke up from an afternoon nap and found dad collapsed in the garage. She tried to help him up but quickly realized his left side was not working and he was slurring. She called 911 and had him taken to the hospital where they immediately took him back for a CT. We found out moments later that my dad had a hemorrhagic stroke on the right side of his brain.
I wasn’t even home yet, still had over an hour to get home and all I wanted to do was turn around and head back to Portland. I talked to my brother, my husband and finally my mom to learn all I could about what happened to him. I cried most of the remaining drive and went into shock. This is the strongest man I know. A man who worked every single day of his life just simply to survive and now this?! I couldn’t believe this happened to him. I still can’t.
My family and I packed up and turned around the next morning to head back to Portland to go see him. I stayed in Portland until just after the new year to help my mom navigate through life changing without dads physical presence.
The stroke was actively bleeding until Tuesday the 13th. The stroke is a bit bigger than a golf ball and because it’s on the right side of his brain, it’s affecting the left side of his body. His left side is paralyzed, almost entirely. He only just regained movement of his left leg, left arm and side of his face still are not responding. This is due to something the doctors call “neglect” where the brain simply forgets that the left side of his body exists. His right side seems to be working alright, but he is struggling a bit with his sight. We spent the holiday season working with him in the hospital, doing the recommended exercises and constantly checking to see if feeling returned. He stayed in the hospital until last week when they finally released him into a nursing facility to hopefully start the long path for rehab. No one knows how long the recovery will take nor how much he’s going to be able to recover with the size/location of the hematoma. We were told that reabsorption of the bleed can take several weeks and that’s only the beginning of recovery.
We since discovered the insane cost of patient care in hospitals and discussed all that will need to happen so that he can come home and be cared for.
My parents are both retired and on a limited income. We still don’t know how much insurance will cover and what the remaining cost out of pocket will be. All I know is that it won’t be easy to incur such a bill. On top of that, my moms disability makes it extremely difficult for her to get by without my dads presence and help. He’s spent the last few years helping out our grandparents as they’ve gotten to a point where they too, are unable to care for themselves entirely. They need help traveling to and from appointments, handling bills and their own health.
So here I am, lengthy story I hand, hoping and praying that the village of folks who love my parents will come to our aid in any way possible. Anything helps.
If you’d like to know more or would like to offer some support for them, let me know and I can get you in touch with them.
Thank you for your love and unwavering support. We need it.
Love,
Kimmy
Organizer
Kimberly Hopmann
Organizer
Beaverton, OR