Team Trina - Bring back her smile!
Donation protected
So here we are June 2023. More than 3 1/2 years after the injury. We truly live in a Ground Hog Day kind of life. We mostly keep our heads down and keep the focus on getting better. We just had our two year anniversary of attending outpatient therapy at Advanced Neurological Rehabilitation. When we started. Trina was not able hold herself up on her own while sitting. Her memory recall was very poor. Speech was weak. The use of her left arm was nonexistent. Standing was out of the question. The progress since has been amazing. Here lies the challenge. In order for her to get better. It will take a boat load of work. Healthcare insurance companies first goal is to make money. So continued coverage for outpatient therapy is an expense. Like all companies you try to control that and reduce it. So people like us. Where minimal improvement each month is not enough in the ‘eyes’ of insurance. So now we are 100% out of pocket for OT sessions. And probably in a month PT will be the same. Financially we appear to be able to handle this expense. The wild card is we don’t know how long she’ll be in therapy. Any additional monetary assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thx Team Trina
Update: Once we got settled into her Skilled Nursing Facility in late October. It felt like we were in a place that Trina could heal. Beginning in November she began physical and speech therapy. That went on for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, she was not responding at all. Sleep at that time seemed to be more important in the healing process than therapy. Unfortunately, in the eyes of insurance a patient needs to show improvement to stay covered. When recovering from a stroke. It takes time and patience. That is two things insurance does not take as part of the recovery. We started to feel the pressure that insurance could be pulled at anytime. During a conversation I had with her doctor. We talked about the number of different seizure preventive medications she was on. Plus, how much of each she was taking. I started pushing the doctor to get Trina in front of an Epileptic specialist to review the medications. First try was the original team from ICU to reevaluate her. However, it would take four weeks to get her reviewed. That would have been too long to wait. Insurance would certainly be pulled by then and only hospice could be the only next step for her. I just didn’t take that as the only option as someone that could review her medications. We found another specialist that would see her in a few days. Got that review done. Targeted a medication that was in excess and created a stepdown plan in reducing her dependency. If Trina was going to have one last chance to pull out of the devastating injury. I was going to give her the best chance possible. After about a week, we started seeing a different level of alertness in Trina. It was an opportunity for me to reach out to the therapy department. They came in to do another review on a possible reengagement. A day later Trina was approved to start physical therapy once again. The first two weeks was simple range of motion and lite resistance. Then a couple of days before Thanksgiving. The PT Department gave her a try standing using what is called a Lite Gait. They estimated she would be only be able to support 20% of her weight on the first try. She held up holding her own at 50% of her own weight! Very impressive but not surprising to me. The following day one of her favorite therapist, Clair came in to ask her if she would not only like to try standing again. But to try to walk as well. After 109 days since her injury. Trina spoke her first words to answer Clair, ‘What the (Hades).’ Seriously? I was expecting, Yes, No, or Todd. But when I saw Clair’s Victory Smile. I knew we had something going that was something special. Since then her determination has been a reflection of her first words. From end of November to March her improvement was consistent and steady. Therapy was going well in all phases, Physical, Occupational and Speech. Improvement was noticeable daily. We saw the improvement, but more importantly she did too. Then in mid March, COVID happen. We already had a discharge date set for her for end of April. All three phases of therapy had a plan for what they could accomplish in a 5 week time frame. I could not be there any longer to be her biggest supporter. For me to be immersed in her recovery was an understatement. I no longer could be in the facility due to COVID. She was now on her own. The first few weeks she did really well. We could tell by the feedback from the therapy department. Plus from the FaceTime calls I had with her and quality of speech. The progress slowed some as we got closer to discharge.Now we have been home for a couple of weeks. She has a new group of therapists. They and Trina are starting to make progress again. Trina has come so far since that original prognosis of 5% of ever coming out of a coma. Once again I am fighting the insurance to help support her therapy sessions. As of today there is no area that we see cannot improve and be corrected. There never has been any sign of quit in her. She wants to get better and know she can. I know she can too. So this next phase I am asking for assistance in her therapy. Insurance will only cover 20 sessions of each type of therapy at the most. It is up to their discretion what they are willing to pay for. Do we believe Trina can recover fully from her stroke? I think so. But it is up to her to achieve. There is nothing I have seen that is in her way to accomplish this goal. The results will not be known until another six to nine months. If you would be so kind to help Trina and I on this journey to success. Please do so. This truly is a ‘Feel Good’ story in so many ways. We have over come so many obstacles. There will be more to work through. But it will not stop us. God bless and thank you! Let’s bring back her smile! TnTTrina had on August 11 a serious stroke that was caused from an aneurysm. Most people do not make it to the hospital when something like this happens. She made it to two. In the first three weeks in ICU she had 22 major surgeries. She spent 69 days in ICU. ICU is there for you to survive or not. Pretty much yes or no. No in between. I was told by some of the best neurologists in the country that she would be nothing but a vegetable with a possibility of 5% change of a significant recovery. Since leaving ICU she has defied those odds a few times already. I as well as her family and close friends have been amazed what she has accomplished so far. From August 11 to October 26 her healthcare insurance has paid out over $1.8 million in claims. For me marrying a smart financial advisor was the right thing to do. She had us somewhat prepared for something like this. Now that she is looking like she wants to pull out a miracle and play ‘the long game’ in recovery. I am looking for a little help to fill the financial gap her insurance has created. This amount is not the total gap what is needed. I can make most of this work from what we have set aside. This request for money is only for her. Any excess in left over contributions will be donated to the America Stroke Association. None of this is for my personal gain. If you can help bring back Trina’s Smile. Please. I, her family and close friends appreciate your help. Thank you, Trina, Kila, JJ and Todd
Update: Once we got settled into her Skilled Nursing Facility in late October. It felt like we were in a place that Trina could heal. Beginning in November she began physical and speech therapy. That went on for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, she was not responding at all. Sleep at that time seemed to be more important in the healing process than therapy. Unfortunately, in the eyes of insurance a patient needs to show improvement to stay covered. When recovering from a stroke. It takes time and patience. That is two things insurance does not take as part of the recovery. We started to feel the pressure that insurance could be pulled at anytime. During a conversation I had with her doctor. We talked about the number of different seizure preventive medications she was on. Plus, how much of each she was taking. I started pushing the doctor to get Trina in front of an Epileptic specialist to review the medications. First try was the original team from ICU to reevaluate her. However, it would take four weeks to get her reviewed. That would have been too long to wait. Insurance would certainly be pulled by then and only hospice could be the only next step for her. I just didn’t take that as the only option as someone that could review her medications. We found another specialist that would see her in a few days. Got that review done. Targeted a medication that was in excess and created a stepdown plan in reducing her dependency. If Trina was going to have one last chance to pull out of the devastating injury. I was going to give her the best chance possible. After about a week, we started seeing a different level of alertness in Trina. It was an opportunity for me to reach out to the therapy department. They came in to do another review on a possible reengagement. A day later Trina was approved to start physical therapy once again. The first two weeks was simple range of motion and lite resistance. Then a couple of days before Thanksgiving. The PT Department gave her a try standing using what is called a Lite Gait. They estimated she would be only be able to support 20% of her weight on the first try. She held up holding her own at 50% of her own weight! Very impressive but not surprising to me. The following day one of her favorite therapist, Clair came in to ask her if she would not only like to try standing again. But to try to walk as well. After 109 days since her injury. Trina spoke her first words to answer Clair, ‘What the (Hades).’ Seriously? I was expecting, Yes, No, or Todd. But when I saw Clair’s Victory Smile. I knew we had something going that was something special. Since then her determination has been a reflection of her first words. From end of November to March her improvement was consistent and steady. Therapy was going well in all phases, Physical, Occupational and Speech. Improvement was noticeable daily. We saw the improvement, but more importantly she did too. Then in mid March, COVID happen. We already had a discharge date set for her for end of April. All three phases of therapy had a plan for what they could accomplish in a 5 week time frame. I could not be there any longer to be her biggest supporter. For me to be immersed in her recovery was an understatement. I no longer could be in the facility due to COVID. She was now on her own. The first few weeks she did really well. We could tell by the feedback from the therapy department. Plus from the FaceTime calls I had with her and quality of speech. The progress slowed some as we got closer to discharge.Now we have been home for a couple of weeks. She has a new group of therapists. They and Trina are starting to make progress again. Trina has come so far since that original prognosis of 5% of ever coming out of a coma. Once again I am fighting the insurance to help support her therapy sessions. As of today there is no area that we see cannot improve and be corrected. There never has been any sign of quit in her. She wants to get better and know she can. I know she can too. So this next phase I am asking for assistance in her therapy. Insurance will only cover 20 sessions of each type of therapy at the most. It is up to their discretion what they are willing to pay for. Do we believe Trina can recover fully from her stroke? I think so. But it is up to her to achieve. There is nothing I have seen that is in her way to accomplish this goal. The results will not be known until another six to nine months. If you would be so kind to help Trina and I on this journey to success. Please do so. This truly is a ‘Feel Good’ story in so many ways. We have over come so many obstacles. There will be more to work through. But it will not stop us. God bless and thank you! Let’s bring back her smile! TnTTrina had on August 11 a serious stroke that was caused from an aneurysm. Most people do not make it to the hospital when something like this happens. She made it to two. In the first three weeks in ICU she had 22 major surgeries. She spent 69 days in ICU. ICU is there for you to survive or not. Pretty much yes or no. No in between. I was told by some of the best neurologists in the country that she would be nothing but a vegetable with a possibility of 5% change of a significant recovery. Since leaving ICU she has defied those odds a few times already. I as well as her family and close friends have been amazed what she has accomplished so far. From August 11 to October 26 her healthcare insurance has paid out over $1.8 million in claims. For me marrying a smart financial advisor was the right thing to do. She had us somewhat prepared for something like this. Now that she is looking like she wants to pull out a miracle and play ‘the long game’ in recovery. I am looking for a little help to fill the financial gap her insurance has created. This amount is not the total gap what is needed. I can make most of this work from what we have set aside. This request for money is only for her. Any excess in left over contributions will be donated to the America Stroke Association. None of this is for my personal gain. If you can help bring back Trina’s Smile. Please. I, her family and close friends appreciate your help. Thank you, Trina, Kila, JJ and Todd
Organizer
Todd Bolks
Organizer
Chandler, AZ