The Lastra Family

We have created this new page on behalf of our family to help raise funds for the recovery of our dad, Gerardo Lastra. On March 28th our dad was admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 symptoms, within hours he was in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator. After 3 difficult weeks and almost losing him, he survived and was taken off the ventilator. Because of the extreme stress that his body went through trying to stay alive his body is experiencing an extreme weakness leaving him bed bound. He is unable to move, eat, swallow, or talk on his own. To say that COVID-19 changed our lives is a complete understatement.

He was discharged from the hospital on May 19th and brought home. Our mother has taken a huge role in becoming the caregiver our father needs. Caring for him has become more than a full time job. It has changed our way of living. She wakes up early in the morning to give him breakfast before his morning medications. Throughout the day she takes care of his personal hygiene, such as brushing his hair, bathing him, brushing his teeth, and change the dirty sheets. She always makes sure his needs are being met while also taking care of our younger brother, keeps the house clean, cooks and drives our father to and from therapy. One of the biggest challenges is the communication barrier, it is hard to know what he needs and makes him frustrated. We use an alphabet board, picture board or guess to figure out what he needs. On September 9th the doctors were able to remove his surgical feeding tube now that he is able to eat solid food and take his medications orally. Ever since he started therapy he's has more strength in his abdomen, legs and arms. He's practicing to pick up utensils, cups, sit up with support and coordinate his breathing and talking. He isn't able to communicate clearly and we can't fully understand but he is practicing his vowels and sounds in order to form words soon enough. 

The emotional and financial strain caused by this situation has taken a toll on our family. Since our father needs care 24/7 my mother has completely stopped working to help with his home care. My sister and I are both staying on track with our studies in college while also going back home every weekend and as much as we can during the week in order to help with his care and give our mother time to rest. We are trying to raise funds to help our family pay for his medication, medical equipment, and help us stay afloat during these hard times, so that our dad can have a quick recovery. 

Our dad is a strong and determined man trying his best to regain his mobility. COVID-19 may have taken the best of the father we used to know and the life we once had but it didn’t take our sense of humor, resilience and our faith. Our mother is the strongest woman we know and she has always put her family before herself and has never let our family down. We know how incredibly lucky we are to have such inspirational, hardworking and persevering parents.