Helping Josephine walk
Donation protected
Hello everyone,
On July 3rd 2016, my mother Josephine LoMonaco was riding an ATV in upstate New York at about 10 mph when she flipped off of it and landed in a ditch. Always one to be cautious, she did not see the creek ahead and landed face first in hard mud. She needed to be airlifted to Westchester Medical Center where an emergency surgery needed to be performed. Since that day was the 4th of July, we needed to wait until the 5th which was a Tuesday. The surgery lasted hours and hours, and finally the surgeon came to speak with my family. The main things he said were that my mother showed no activity on the entire right side electrically during surgery, and that he did not know if she would walk again. He did say it is entirely up to my mother on if she wanted to walk, she needed to fight.
One day before this all happened, she had a picture book where they showed 6 pictures all the same except one. After hours of trying to figure it out I looked at the answers and still couldn’t get it, and finally 4 hours later my mother found the difference. This will to never give up is why I believe she can do this.
After days on breathing and feeding tubes, she finally got them removed and wanted to know if she was paralyzed. We did not know how to respond because we couldn’t tell what she could feel and do. She has now been transferred to NYU Langone to begin rehab.
When the could speak again we tried asking her if she felt this or that as we touched different parts of her body, some she felt some she didn’t. At times we were discouraged other times so proud of her that you couldn’t think of a proper set of words to describe how at peace you felt. She has minimal movement in her arms at this point and less currently in her legs. She is incredibly resilient and never gives up. The injury is not life-threatening but life-changing and there will need to be major changes to bring Mom home.
For Mom to come home and live a healthy life we will need to put a small extension on our home so that she can live and maneuver comfortably. As most of you have seen our home is very small by normal standards and barely has enough room for my brother, parents and myself. We just need a small extension so that we can build a bigger bathroom and give her plenty of room to rehab. In talking to a lot of professionals this will need to be done or she cannot come home to our house since she will need to have someone come to our home numerous times during the week to continue rehab once she is released from NYU. My parents pride themselves on earning everything they own and only buying when necessary and would never ask anyone for money, often giving back as a matter of fact. This time we need your help to BRING MOM HOME!
Whatever is not spent on the extension will be given to charity
Thank you all for your support, LETS GO MOM!!!
On July 3rd 2016, my mother Josephine LoMonaco was riding an ATV in upstate New York at about 10 mph when she flipped off of it and landed in a ditch. Always one to be cautious, she did not see the creek ahead and landed face first in hard mud. She needed to be airlifted to Westchester Medical Center where an emergency surgery needed to be performed. Since that day was the 4th of July, we needed to wait until the 5th which was a Tuesday. The surgery lasted hours and hours, and finally the surgeon came to speak with my family. The main things he said were that my mother showed no activity on the entire right side electrically during surgery, and that he did not know if she would walk again. He did say it is entirely up to my mother on if she wanted to walk, she needed to fight.
One day before this all happened, she had a picture book where they showed 6 pictures all the same except one. After hours of trying to figure it out I looked at the answers and still couldn’t get it, and finally 4 hours later my mother found the difference. This will to never give up is why I believe she can do this.
After days on breathing and feeding tubes, she finally got them removed and wanted to know if she was paralyzed. We did not know how to respond because we couldn’t tell what she could feel and do. She has now been transferred to NYU Langone to begin rehab.
When the could speak again we tried asking her if she felt this or that as we touched different parts of her body, some she felt some she didn’t. At times we were discouraged other times so proud of her that you couldn’t think of a proper set of words to describe how at peace you felt. She has minimal movement in her arms at this point and less currently in her legs. She is incredibly resilient and never gives up. The injury is not life-threatening but life-changing and there will need to be major changes to bring Mom home.
For Mom to come home and live a healthy life we will need to put a small extension on our home so that she can live and maneuver comfortably. As most of you have seen our home is very small by normal standards and barely has enough room for my brother, parents and myself. We just need a small extension so that we can build a bigger bathroom and give her plenty of room to rehab. In talking to a lot of professionals this will need to be done or she cannot come home to our house since she will need to have someone come to our home numerous times during the week to continue rehab once she is released from NYU. My parents pride themselves on earning everything they own and only buying when necessary and would never ask anyone for money, often giving back as a matter of fact. This time we need your help to BRING MOM HOME!
Whatever is not spent on the extension will be given to charity
Thank you all for your support, LETS GO MOM!!!
Organizer
Phil LoMonaco
Organizer
Holbrook, NY
