In 2025, my elderly father required a double craniotomy after spending only two months in an assisted living facility in Maryland; he was re-located there following hospitalization for sepsis and UTI infections while living at home. The facility is in Maryland, 500 miles away from where I live in Massachusetts. During the crisis, I scrambled to travel there to assist hospital acute-care staff provide care for him. I was the only family member at his bedside to support him every day for two weeks straight during his initial recovery. I was able to provide the individualized, hands-on care that you can't get in an acute-care setting by staff that change each shift and have so many other critical patients to look after. I had faith in my Dad’s strong will, and in G-d’s love and divine power to save him.

Through care and prayer, he miraculously began to show signs of recovery – chewing and swallowing ice chips, then pureed foods, followed by speaking a few words and engaging. Dad was happy to see me, he lifted his mitted hand to my face and pulled me to his chest. My father is a resilient and determined person, he eventually even used his mitted hands to pull out the feeding tube in his nose multiple times to signify to staff he was not just responding, but improving! The staff believed he had passed the critical observation period at that point, and they were ready to move him to rehab where he would receive more specialized care to rebuild his functionality.

Unfortunately, I could not afford to stay longer given the travel/accommodation expense, and had to make the tough decision to leave him and return home—I have not been able to see him since. He seemed to do well in rehab, and was conversing in complete sentences over the phone, but was moved back to the same assisted living facility after only a short period, and before he could manage to use a phone independently. Since returning, he has stopped talking, and is having trouble using his right hand and walking, even with a walker. The facility he is in apparently does not have a computer center to help residents with virtual visits.

I would deeply appreciate assistance with travel and accommodations so that I can visit with my father, as I am his only daughter and he has been asking to see me. I could then assess his situation and needs better, and see how to best support and advocate for him, as it is hard from 500 miles away. I am concerned that he may need a higher level of care, and/or possibly a longer duration in rehab in order to function more independently to mitigate the need for higher level of care. I have researched advanced treatment options that are promising and which he’d potentially benefit greatly from; medical care which every person—especially the elderly—has a right to be informed of and the option to choose. A visit with him will not only lift his spirits and fortify his will, but will allow us to have a conversation about his wishes, treatments, and care options. I feel time is of the essence, and hope to make the trip soon before there is another tragedy. I love him and miss him dearly—before these medical events, we had made plans for him to come visit Massachusetts and attend Plymouth’s “America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Parade”- he had never attended a parade in person before.

Any support you can offer would mean the world to me and my father. Your help will allow me to be there for him when he needs me most. Thank you for considering a donation and sharing in our story.