WalkAideForMom: Help Mom Walk Again

Hey guys!

It’s been a while. I wanted to update everyone on Mom’s condition, and to ask for your help. 

As you may know, my mother, Valerie, suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke last summer. She survived the initial surgery to stop the bleed in her brain last June, and we knew from that point, her road to recovery would be long and arduous. Today, April 12, 2017, marks 288 days on this road. My mother is one tough lady. An incredibly hard worker. As my brother Darren once said when we were kids hiking in Yosemite, “She’s like a machine!” 288 days ago, Mom was entirely paralyzed on one side of her body. She couldn’t hold up her own head, let alone sit, stand, or walk. Today, 288 days later, Mom has made incredible progress. She still has her wheelchair, but she doesn’t rely on it most of the time. With the help of a cane, or a hand to hold onto, she is able to walk around mostly on her own. 

I want to thank all of you for your loving thoughts, prayers, and your generous donations to Mom’s recovery effort. Just a few of the things you have given her include clothes she could put on with one arm, exercise equipment she could use safely at home, and modifications to her home to make it conducive to her safety and independence, so she can do things like bathroom trips and showers all by herself. All of this has been a huge gift to her, and I can’t thank you all enough for making these things possible. Her ability to be independent at home has hugely impacted her quality of life, and helped so much to keep her motivated to work on her recovery.

Today I want to ask all of you for your help in getting Mom one more gift.

I want to get Mom this device called the WalkAide. This incredible little device is a type of functional electrical stimulation unit. It straps onto her leg in a certain spot, and an electrical current zaps her muscles with every step to activate them so that she can walk safely. This helps rebuild the brain-body connection that was damaged during her stroke. It also makes her leg muscles work naturally to gain back lost strength and control. It may even enable her to one day walk independently, free from canes and orthotics.

The main pro of this device is that it’s super awesome. The main con is that it’s darn expensive. The insurance companies don’t pay for things like this, because they don’t think it’s important if all your leg muscles work. So I am looking at paying for it out of pocket. I need to raise another $4,000 (total $8240) to cover the gap between what I have and what it costs. Anything you can give would be so very appreciated. If I can even offset the expense a fair amount it will ease my financial burden tremendously. For those of you who can’t give, please repost and share the word. If a lot of folks out there even gave just a few dollars, it would make a tremendous difference. 

As always, your love, thoughts, and continued prayers are welcomed with much gratitude. Thank you for thinking of, praying for, and loving my precious mother. I am so very excited to take her out hiking some day, here's hoping that day is soon <3

With gratitude,
Sharon

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July 2016 Original Post:

Hey guys.

I've never asked people to pitch in like this, but this is a special situation. And I want to emphasize that every penny is so greatly appreciated. 

For those of you who found this via Facebook, you may know the full story, but I'll lay it out here just in case. 

My mother Valerie has always been a healthy lady. I am thirty years old. The last time she was a patient in a hospital room was the day I was born. 

Just over two weeks ago (June 29), Mom suffered a devastating stroke. Massive hemorrhagic. It came without warning, and despite the fact that my healthy mom has none of the usual associated risk factors. It nearly killed her. 

Mom had a lifesaving brain surgery later that day. The neurosurgeon who operated on her expected that, if she woke up, she would remain fully paralyzed on her left side for life. He expected she would need a tracheotomy just to breathe without a tube. 

My mother is strong. A fighter. A miracle woman. They removed her breathing tube the day after surgery and she could breathe on her own. After a few painful and thirsty days she was able to drink water and eat baby food, and as of three days ago she can eat solid food again. She is also beginning to regain sensation and motion on the left side of her body, and with assistance, she can now sit in a wheelchair. The surgeon told me that they weren't expecting it, but, some day, Mom will be able to walk again.

Before this happened, Mom was looking forward to her retirement in September from her job with the State of California. She had big plans to help my aging grandmother, and to continue backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains. One of her life dreams was to hike the entire John Muir Trail, all 220 miles, in a single push. She was planning to hike the final section to Mount Whitney this month with my brothers. It would have been her third time on top of the highest mountain in the lower 48 states.

Her backpacking trip is indefinitely postponed, because now, Mom can't even use the bathroom without someone's help.

I am so grateful for the miracles I've already witnessed in Mom's recovery. Breathing, swallowing, eating food, sitting in a wheelchair, and feeling aches and pains in what was essentially a dead half of her body are all amazing blessings. But Mom isn't out of the woods yet. She has an unknown number of days awaiting her if she's going to walk again. To hike again. To go backpacking again. An unknown number of hours of grueling and expensive physical therapy. Insurance isn't going to cover it all. Insurance isn't going to see my mother recover to a place where she can stand on her own two feet and walk like she could two and a half weeks ago. We have no way of knowing now how long that road to recovery will be. But it is guaranteed to be a financial hurdle. It could last months. Or years. Mom is strong, motivated, and ambitious, but it will take a lot of help to bring her back to a place where her goals are achievable. To help Mom walk again.

So if you have anything to give, every penny counts. And every penny is most deeply appreciated. Thanks for listening. And thank you, truly, for all the support we have already received. The outpouring of love and well wishes may have already helped my mom in untold ways. Our entire family feels the love and is incredibly grateful. Financial donations aside, please keep the love coming, and keep my precious and wonderful mother in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you.

All my love,
Sharon Eriksen (the youngest daughter)