Vada Strong! Help support Vada's healing journey!

My name is Alissa; I am Vada Westhoff's oldest sister. I am putting together this fundraiser to assist with Vada's family support cost and medical support through her healing journey.

The evening before Thanksgiving, Vada was at home eating dinner with our father and mother when she began to feel dizzy and nauseous. She ended up throwing up due to nausea/dizziness, and her lips and nose started turning purple; we knew something was wrong, so we laid her down on the floor and called 911 immediately. She said her hands and feet were going numb, and she started having a seizure.

Brainerd Emergency Medical Services responded, and she was brought to St Joes (Essentia) Hospital Emergency Room in Brainerd, where they did a CT scan, among multiple other tests. It showed she had a right-sided vertebral artery clot which caused a stroke and a frontal lobe brain bleed, most likely due to the seizure. During the seizure, she also bit down on her tongue and aspirated some blood into her lungs. Essentia sedated and intubated Vada (among multiple other amazing things), and they flew Vada to Duluth Wednesday night (Nov. 23) and did additional scans. After the MRI, they discovered she had right-sided vertebral artery dissection (tear).

After speaking with the neurologist and stroke team, they were concerned about the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) not draining/absorbing correctly, which was increasing the amount of pressure in her cranial cavity, which could cause damage to her brain. They successfully did surgery on Friday morning (Nov 25) to place a shunt in her brain to help drain some of the fluid off to relieve some of the pressure build-ups, but that wasn’t enough to help decrease the swelling/pressure. They brought her back into surgery Friday afternoon (Nov 25) and removed part of her occipital skull bone to help further relieve the pressure/swelling of her brain.

Vada is currently extubated (the breathing tube is removed) and is alert as of today (Dec 4). She is still unable to swallow correctly and there are some other neurological concerns they are keeping an eye on. The Neuro ICU in Duluth has been taking great care of her, and we see improvements in her condition every day. Thankfully, all of medical staff from the paramedics/EMT's who responded in Brainerd, the nursing/techs/doctors in Brainerd, the flight nurses/flight medics who transferred her to Duluth, and all the nurses/techs/doctors/physicians assistants/surgeons in Duluth have taken great care of her and have made sure we stay well informed of the whole process.

Our father and mother have been by her side the entire duration, staying at hotels nearby and ensuring they are there to make any necessary decisions, along with ensuring she knows that she has her family close by. This healing process will be slow and we know that this will be a long journey.

Vada was just over one semester away from graduating from nursing school at Central Lakes College. She is a Certified Nursing Assistant at Essentia Hospital in Brainerd where she was brought for care when this all started. She is such a motivated and hard worker when it comes to helping people that we know she will fight her hardest to get better.

Unfortunately, even though our world got turned upside down, it does not mean the rest of the world stops for us. With my father and mother missing work to stay by Vada's side and the costs that add up to have Vada get the best care possible, the costs continue to add up.

We know she is loved by so many people, and we only ask for what you can give. Whether that be kind words of support or a donation, we are thankful for whatever you can give. We thank you for all the support.