Support for Rebecca Melock

On the early morning of January 2nd, Becky was found laying on the floor of the bedroom. While trying to help her up it became very clear that something just wasn't right and she was immediately rushed by ambulance to the ER.

She was immediately taken to Buffalo General Hospital where they found that she had suffered a stroke. Rebecca's stroke affected the right side of her brain and has damaged that side almost entirely leaving behind dead tissue. They took her into surgery right away to insert stents in through her carotid artery to relieve the blockage in her brain. However, they ran into issues when the inner tubing of her artery wall began deteriorating & shedding the more they pushed the stent in causing more blockages. She now has 5 stents in her carotid artery helping to open it up for blood flow.

Her brain then started to swell which caused the surgeon to have to go back in and remove a part of her skull. This was to allow her brain someplace else to go instead of putting pressure on the left side of the brain or the brain stem. At anytime from 2 weeks to 3 months from now, they will have to take her back into the OR to put that piece of scalp back or put in a plastic one that would be made specifically for her. It is a fine balance as far as when they decide to do this, weighing out the benefit vs. risk since her body has been through so much trauma already.

Throughout testing, it was discovered that Rebecca has a clotting disorder which is referred to as "Antithrombin" which plainly means that her body produces clots. There was absolutely no way for her to know any of this ahead of time.

She was put on a ventilator and an induced coma as she was becoming unresponsive and her heart rate was becoming extremely low. The doctor ended up doing a spinal tap and draining about 20cc of fluid, which was then repeated again afterwards to help release pressure. Shortly after, she was taken back to the OR to remove the dead section of the right side of her brain to make more room for swelling. This was an extremely dangerous procedure that could have caused consistent bleeding for 3+ hours. Luckily, the procedure went as well as expected and she is now in an medically induced coma to allow her brain to rest before slowly waking her up.

Prior to this last procedure, she was responsive through squeezing of her hand and using sign language. Her entire left side is immobile but the doctors are hopeful that once the swelling comes down and they start treatments, they can begin to bring it back.

What's Next?

We are all hoping & praying that Becky will start healing and the swelling in her brain will start and continue to go down. Once this happens she will then be able to start aggressive physiotherapy and occupational therapy. This will take a long time - months to possibly years. The prognosis is that she will not gain back full use of her left side BUT there is hope that she will be able to function at a level where she can lead a satisfying life.

For anyone who has had the privilege of knowing Becky, you know how ambitious and selfless she is. She does anything she can to help someone with a problem and she will listen to you and offer advice even if you are a total stranger. She never gives up on anything & is always looking to reach her goals that she sets for herself.

Rebecca suffered from a "Complete Stroke" which means that the signs and symptoms of her having a stroke developed quickly with little to no improvement over time. She had no way to prepare for this.

So now, it is with humble hearts, that we are asking for support from our community & anyone who knows & loves Becky. She has an extremely long road ahead of her and we would really like to take the burden of finances (Hospital, Medical, Etc) off of her while she fights to get her life back.

Her family has set up an account for her so that all donations made here will go directly to her for whatever she needs.

On behalf of her family & friends, we thank you for taking the time to read her story & sincerely appreciate anything you are able to do to help support Rebecca during this difficult time.

** the fundraiser has been authorized by Lucynda Beers - Rebecca's mother.