Blessings for the Baker Family
Donation protected
On Sunday, August 10, 2014, 15 year old Amanda Baker started complaining of some pain in her neck that ultimately became severe enough to prompt her parents to take her to the emergency room. Within hours, Amanda could no longer stand up and by the following evening she was paralyzed from the chest down. This was just the beginning of the medical nightmare that Amanda and her family are now living. Days after her paralysis set in, with physicians still unsure of the cause, Amanda suffered a pulmonary embolism and went into cardiac arrest multiple times. She was intubated and has been on life support in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit since. This past Thursday, Amanda had yet another MRI and the physicians now believe (although are admittedly not 100% certain) that Amanda is suffering from transverse myelitis which is a swelling of the spinal cord. She is currently undergoing a treatment called plasmapheresis which will take ten days; it is unknown if this treatment will reverse any of her paralysis. With everything Amanda has been through thus far, physicians are telling her parents she is facing as much as a year or more of recovery and that is still without knowing whether or not this treatment will cure any of the paralysis or help her to regain consciousness.
Through all of this Amanda’s parents, Karen and Jeff, have been by her side, day and night. This of course means that they are not working and vacation and sick days have been drained. Complicating matters further, Amanda's father has been dealing with a recent failed spinal fusion surgery resulting in loss of income for nearly a year and the multiple surgeries required to resolve his spinal condition have been put on hold. Jeff has also been forced to exhaust his retirement funds by early withdrawal. I am establishing this fund for the Baker family in an effort to help alleviate some of the financial stress this situation is causing.
Although Karen and Jeff are currently living every parent’s nightmare not knowing exactly what is wrong with their child, how it will be treated and what the prognosis will be, Amanda’s younger sister Elizabeth struggles as well. Elizabeth is dealing with all honors classes in her first year of middle school while traveling to the hospital in Tampa after school in order to keep contact with her mentor and big sister.
Amanda, an honors student and accomplished musician aspiring to forge a career in biochemistry, was due to start her sophomore year of high school just a week after this cardiac event. Prior to this medical mystery, Mandy's biggest obstacle for the year would have been learning the new musical arrangements of marching band, managing her time between playing guitar, saxophone, oboe, or flute and ultimately passing her drivers exam, but now this amazing young lady finds herself fighting for her life.
I thank you for taking the time to read this, for your prayers for this sweet family and for considering a donation.
Through all of this Amanda’s parents, Karen and Jeff, have been by her side, day and night. This of course means that they are not working and vacation and sick days have been drained. Complicating matters further, Amanda's father has been dealing with a recent failed spinal fusion surgery resulting in loss of income for nearly a year and the multiple surgeries required to resolve his spinal condition have been put on hold. Jeff has also been forced to exhaust his retirement funds by early withdrawal. I am establishing this fund for the Baker family in an effort to help alleviate some of the financial stress this situation is causing.
Although Karen and Jeff are currently living every parent’s nightmare not knowing exactly what is wrong with their child, how it will be treated and what the prognosis will be, Amanda’s younger sister Elizabeth struggles as well. Elizabeth is dealing with all honors classes in her first year of middle school while traveling to the hospital in Tampa after school in order to keep contact with her mentor and big sister.
Amanda, an honors student and accomplished musician aspiring to forge a career in biochemistry, was due to start her sophomore year of high school just a week after this cardiac event. Prior to this medical mystery, Mandy's biggest obstacle for the year would have been learning the new musical arrangements of marching band, managing her time between playing guitar, saxophone, oboe, or flute and ultimately passing her drivers exam, but now this amazing young lady finds herself fighting for her life.
I thank you for taking the time to read this, for your prayers for this sweet family and for considering a donation.
Organizer
Jeffrey Baker
Organizer
Lakeland, FL