Support Mary Jo C. Reidy's Recovery
Spende geschützt
On Friday, January 27th, my sister, Mary Jo, suffered a tragic accident. She collapsed at home while cooking dinner for her family. Her husband, Chris, found her unresponsive on the kitchen floor. He heard her make a slight gurgling noise as he approached then she stopped breathing completely. Her children called 911 as Chris began pulmonary resuscitation. When the paramedics arrived, Mary Jo had only a faint pulse. In transit to the hospital and shortly after arrival, she suffered cardiac arrest twice and had to be defibrillated to regain her heart beat. She was intubated and placed on a ventilator at Ball Memorial Hospital while testing was done to determine the cause of her acute collapse. Although the exact cause could not be determined due to “motion” on her C-Scan, it appears this was not due to a stroke or similar event. A heart attack and other causes were also ruled out. Tragically, my sister suffered significant brain damage due to hypoxia after her collapse and subsequent arrests. She was also diagnosed with pulmonary edema.
My sister was healthy, vibrant and feeling normal the day she collapsed. She took care of herself and her only health concern was life-long asthma. The pulmonary specialist believes it is possible that she aspirated on a sip of wine while preparing dinner in the kitchen and suffered an immediate, severe asthma attack and passed out due to hypoxia before she could alert family. But, that is only a theory as the exact cause cannot be determined. When breathing for her, Chris noticed she coughed up a very small amount of wine and there was a full wine glass on the countertop. According to the specialist, even a very small amount of alcohol can have devastating effects if aspirated by an asthmatic.
The pulmonary edema improved and my sister was able to come off of the ventilator and be extubated and woken up on Thursday, February 2nd. Although an EEG showed brain activity, she was unresponsive. She could not communicate or respond to any stimulus. She did not know her family or anything about her life and could do nothing for herself. We were informed, as with any brain injury, that she may make no improvement or could make a near full recovery over time. It could be days, weeks, or years before significant neurologic improvement might be seen. Since that day, she has made remarkable progress. She is beginning to recognize immediate family members, can respond to basic “yes/no” questions, and has begun to show some control of her arms and hands. But, she still has long and very challenging road ahead of her.
On Monday, February 6, she was moved to the Ball Memorial Rehabilitation Center to begin physical therapy and to begin to learn how to do all of things we take for granted like standing, walking, and brushing our teeth. Almost everything will need to be relearned.
We still don’t know how much neurologic function she will regain and how long her ultimate recovery will take. But, we are optimistic at the positive steps forward she is already making. We are prepared to be patient with her recovery; supporting her for as long as this takes.
Those of you that know my sister know that she has spent her life putting others first. She is on the boards for Muncie OutReach and for the Blackford County Arts Council- even though she is not part of the LGBT community or an artist. She got involved with those organizations because she believes in empathy, compassion, and progressive values. She is a devoted mother who has dedicated her life to raising four wonderful children. Her heart is pure gold and she thinks of everyone but herself. Now, we need everyone to think of her and her family and consider helping her with her prolonged recovery. Her loving husband, Chris, is going to have a mountain of expense with medical bills, rehabilitation, missed work, and the possibility of needing to make their home and vehicles handicap accessible. We are also being told to prepare for the need to have 24/7 care for Mary Jo when she is eventually able to come home. We know this is only the tip of iceberg and many future expenses haven’t even been thought of. What we do know is that she and her family need help getting through this life-changing, tragic accident. Any size donation would be greatly appreciated and 100% of all donations go directly to Chris Reidy for my sister’s continued care. Thank you all so very much and please continue to keep my sister and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
My sister was healthy, vibrant and feeling normal the day she collapsed. She took care of herself and her only health concern was life-long asthma. The pulmonary specialist believes it is possible that she aspirated on a sip of wine while preparing dinner in the kitchen and suffered an immediate, severe asthma attack and passed out due to hypoxia before she could alert family. But, that is only a theory as the exact cause cannot be determined. When breathing for her, Chris noticed she coughed up a very small amount of wine and there was a full wine glass on the countertop. According to the specialist, even a very small amount of alcohol can have devastating effects if aspirated by an asthmatic.
The pulmonary edema improved and my sister was able to come off of the ventilator and be extubated and woken up on Thursday, February 2nd. Although an EEG showed brain activity, she was unresponsive. She could not communicate or respond to any stimulus. She did not know her family or anything about her life and could do nothing for herself. We were informed, as with any brain injury, that she may make no improvement or could make a near full recovery over time. It could be days, weeks, or years before significant neurologic improvement might be seen. Since that day, she has made remarkable progress. She is beginning to recognize immediate family members, can respond to basic “yes/no” questions, and has begun to show some control of her arms and hands. But, she still has long and very challenging road ahead of her.
On Monday, February 6, she was moved to the Ball Memorial Rehabilitation Center to begin physical therapy and to begin to learn how to do all of things we take for granted like standing, walking, and brushing our teeth. Almost everything will need to be relearned.
We still don’t know how much neurologic function she will regain and how long her ultimate recovery will take. But, we are optimistic at the positive steps forward she is already making. We are prepared to be patient with her recovery; supporting her for as long as this takes.
Those of you that know my sister know that she has spent her life putting others first. She is on the boards for Muncie OutReach and for the Blackford County Arts Council- even though she is not part of the LGBT community or an artist. She got involved with those organizations because she believes in empathy, compassion, and progressive values. She is a devoted mother who has dedicated her life to raising four wonderful children. Her heart is pure gold and she thinks of everyone but herself. Now, we need everyone to think of her and her family and consider helping her with her prolonged recovery. Her loving husband, Chris, is going to have a mountain of expense with medical bills, rehabilitation, missed work, and the possibility of needing to make their home and vehicles handicap accessible. We are also being told to prepare for the need to have 24/7 care for Mary Jo when she is eventually able to come home. We know this is only the tip of iceberg and many future expenses haven’t even been thought of. What we do know is that she and her family need help getting through this life-changing, tragic accident. Any size donation would be greatly appreciated and 100% of all donations go directly to Chris Reidy for my sister’s continued care. Thank you all so very much and please continue to keep my sister and her family in your thoughts and prayers.
Organisator und Spendenbegünstigter
Kevin Crowe
Organisator
Muncie, IN
James Reidy
Spendenbegünstigte
