On May 13th, 2024, Samantha Stephen's started the day as a perfectly healthy 39-week pregnant mom at the age of 31 years old. She took her 7-year-old son to school then went home to nap. Three hours later, a chain of events started that drastically changed her life

. Sammi had a sudden severe headache that was so painful she called her mom for help. At that time, she was distraught and almost incoherent. 911 was called for Owensville Ambulance to be dispatched to her home. Paramedics rushed her to Missouri Baptist Sullivan Hospital, and she had a rapid decline en route. Quick action by ER staff revealed a Cerebellum brain bleed that was already large in size. Samantha was quickly intubated then transferred to Barnes via Ambulance. Upon arrival, the Neurosurgery team and OB team made an immediate decision to take her for an emergency C-section then do a Craniotomy with large decompression to repair the bleed.

The prognosis was extremely poor when Samantha was taken to the Operating Room as she was already unable to use her right side. Baylee Jo was perfect. Baylee did require intubation for an hour. Samantha was in surgery from 4:30 pm to 1:00 am. It was necessary to leave her skull plate off to allow room for her brain until swelling and fluid was improved. We remained in the Neuro Surgical ICU for 2 weeks. During that time, she was extubated, had her drain removed from the top of her head and was starting the hard road of recovery. Pain Management has been an issue. She still does not have her skull plate and we were informed that until she goes back for another surgery to place it, her brain is saggy from no support. She has constant pain in her head, neck, and shoulders. She is not allowed to be left alone until further notice. She has cognitive issues, visual difficulty, and balance problems. Insurance does not cover her much-needed therapy which is critical to her recovery. Samantha is home with 24/7 care provided by her mother who is on leave from her job without income at this time. Samantha has limited ability to help with the care of her baby.

We are thankful for being blessed that Sammi is still with us. At this time, we have no insight into when or if she will be able to return to work. Any donations would be used for medical costs, therapy, travel expenses for appointments and surgery. Childcare costs and basic home expenses will also be an issue. We are much appreciative of any and all donations made. Please continue to keep Samantha in your prayers for a successful recovery.

UPDATE: Sammi went for her surgery follow up appointment. He said she is progressing well considering the initial prognosis. He said hopefully if she keeps working hard her short term memory and walking will be much improved in 6 months to a year. She is scheduled in August for her Angiogram to check for any malformation that could cause further strokes. We still have no information on why this happened and likely if the test shows nothing we will never know. Surgery for the plate going back on her skull is postponed pending results. Her brain looks in good position at this time. She has purchased items to use in her therapy plan. She has been working on handwriting skills recently. She was trying to fill out forms and thank you cards when she realized that this is now an issue. So many of life’s basic skills we just take for granted. I’m sure we will keep finding new things to have to work on that she is struggling with. She is determined to get better and be able to be an active mom with the kids. Multitasking I feel will take quite some time to accomplish. She wants to return to work, right now that is just not feasible. When she gets stressed or anxious her cognitive abilities decline causing her to not get her words out correctly. Watching the frustration this causes is difficult. On the flip side, seeing her doing her therapy tasks and pushing herself forward is amazing.

We all want to thank everyone who has supported us through this difficult journey whether it was through prayer, donations or even the messages of support and encouragement. Each and every aspect is so appreciated! Please continue to share this post to spread the word.

UPDATE 12/12/24

We wanted to get the word out on how Sammi is doing. She took a hard fall backwards the end of October hitting her titanium skull plate pretty hard. Everything checked out ok then in the ER. Unfortunately, since then she started building up fluid on the back of her head. With the added fluid came increased pain and pressure in her head. It got so bad a couple weeks ago that we went back to ER to have another CT scan. The results was not what we wanted to hear. She now has a tear in the Dura lining which is causing spinal fluid to leak into her head. We then stayed a week at Barnes to attempt to fix the problem. They did a spinal lumbar drain placement which was drained hourly for a week in hopes to heal the area. She came home on a Saturday evening and by Sunday evening the fluid had already started building back up much quicker than previous time. We are now waiting to find out the exact plan. Sounds like she will be needing another brain surgery to place a shunt. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. This has been a very trying seven months for everyone. There is no sign of when she will be through all of her surgeries and healed enough to get back to work. When she is in the hospital, they had requested that someone stay with her due to the severity. Unfortunately, my mom has used up all her paid leave. All the days she is missing work is a huge impact on our household income. Please continue to share our link. There is a Venmo account also which has been posted. Again I want to thank everyone for their continued support and prayers. It’s by the grace of God that I have done as well as I have.