Support For Sarah’s Stroke Recovery #strokesisterssurvival

OK, everyone! Like my sister did for me during my time of fear, anxiety, sadness, and overwhelmingness of the unknown, I am now setting up a GoFundMe to help her for this tragic unforeseen event in which she has also suffered a stroke.

Sarah Donaldson returned from Colorado after being with all the family for the Fourth of July, and was on Oahu for a couple of days to see friends. She was at the beach when all of a sudden she started experiencing extreme dizziness and uncontrollable vomiting.

EMS on the beach treated Sarah and made the decision to take her to the hospital in the ambulance that day.

At the Queens Medical Center ER, Sarah was misdiagnosed with dehydration and heat stroke where she was discharged that evening. The next morning she was barely able to walk and had to get on the flight to Maui, experiencing an unsteady gait with continued nausea, dizziness, weakness, and numbness to the left side of her face.

When Sarah was back on Maui, she went to her primary care the very next day because her symptoms were getting worse, and she was now experiencing numbness throughout her whole left side of her body, with a facial droop, and motor weakness to her left arm and leg. There her primary immediately sent her to the ER where CAT scans and MRI diagnosed her with a vertebral dissection to C3, and a stroke to the cerebellum region of her brain.

Since she was not diagnosed immediately when symptoms began, Sarah was unable to receive the life-saving Clot Busters like I did to resolve extreme symptoms of the stroke.

She was in the ICU for a few days, undergoing multiple tests, and treatment for pain management and blood thinning medications.

The neurologist overseeing her care is hopeful with medications for blood thinning for a few months as well as PT and OT inpatient for now and hopefully soon with outpatient care, that it will help aid her in a FULL RECOVERY.

We have been educated by the Neurologist that the cerebellum is a very forgiving part of the brain and will hopefully heal itself fully in the next months and Sarah’s current symptoms WILL resolve.

In the meantime, I am asking that everyone seeing this will pass her GoFundMe along and share to any social media platforms, to spread the word for thoughts and prayers in her speedy recovery and to please donate anything possible to assist in her medical bills, existing cost-of-living bills, and any future treatment necessary to help her with a full recovery.

Sarah will be unable to work with the condition that she is currently in, and the neurologist informed us that it may be months before she will return to a state in which she is able to function in a normal daily life.

Our mother is on the island currently taking care of Sarah for all of us and we are hoping that we can get her back to Colorado when it is medically safe for her to do so. We want her to be closer to all of us during her healing process.

Thank you to everyone showing us your support, anything and everything will help in this time of continued unexpected tragedy the Donaldson family has had to endure.

The Donaldson sisters are strong and optimistic, and with family, friends, and the support of anyone else seeing this post, I know we will have the community and resilience to get through this troubled time!

#strokesisterssurvivalstory ❤️‍❤️