Help us support Olivia Rios’ TBI recovery

Hi, my name is Adalia Rios and my little sibling Olivia is in the ICU on life-support. My family has been bouncing between hotels and airbnbs because Olivia is at a hospital in San Jose, away from our hometowns. We dropped everything to be at Livy's side and we will continue to stay with her. The bills are adding up with the cost of housing expenses, food and medical bills. If anyone wants to contribute financially to help support my family during this incredibly hard time, we appreciate it greatly.

Olivia is a hilarious, loving, loyal, and brilliant person. Please continue to pray for her recovery and pray for her healing. Send Livy strength so she can recover and come back to us.

6/5/23 update: the doctors took Livy off dialysis this morning because her kidneys are functioning better

6/6/23 update: thank you for all the support. we are blown away. livy’s body continues to heal, please keep praying for her brain activity to increase.

6/7/23 update: meeting with the doctors tomorrow. keep praying for a miracle

6/11/23 update: still in San Jose with Livy. Doctors confirmed she is going to need a lot more time to heal her brain injury. Thank you for the continued support and prayers.

6/17/23 update: Livy’s brain injury is not healing like we hoped. Keep praying for a miracle this weekend

6/23/23 update: these days have been unfathomably hard. thank you for the support and prayers. they help me and my family to keep going.

6/24/23 update: we took livy off the ventilator and she is breathing on her own! keep praying everyone

7/4/23 update: Still stuck in San Jose. Livy has been breathing on her own this past week. She struggles sometimes but has been pulling through. Not much has changed neurologically. Thank you everyone for your continued support, we are just trying to take it day by day.

7/9/23 update: we are trying to transfer livy home to orange county. please pray there is a bed available at a good hospital for her and that she continues to be stable enough to transfer.

7/13/23 update: we need to transport livy via air ambulance down to OC. This an additional cost to the expenses we already have, if anyone wants to spread the word about our need for help to get livy back home, we would appreciate it greatly. Thank you everyone!

7/19/23 update: Livy got a procedure done yesterday to have a feeding tube inserted into her stomach. This is necessary for her transfer down to OC. She’s recovering and hopefully we can have her transferred next week.

Update 7/21/23-

My family and I want to update you all on Livy’s progress and to thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers and support. It has allowed livy to continue to receive the best possible care and for our family to be able to stay close to her in San Jose for 7 weeks.

The next huge step for livy will be transporting her by air ambulance from San Jose to Orange County where she can be with her whole family and have access to the specific medical care she needs for her brain injury recovery. We think this transfer will happen at the end of next week but it all depends on how livy is doing and if she stays stable.

We’ve learned that moving people by air ambulance is not an easy thing and requires a lot of coordination between doctors, airports, hospitals etc. Every thing needs to be planned perfectly so livy can basically go from bed to bed. The jet has all ICU and life support equipment livy could need. There will be multiple medical people on board as well as two pilots to fly the jet. Because this involves so many people and so much coordination, the entire process costs a lot of money and is unfortunately not covered by insurance. But getting livy to the best possible care she can get is all my family wants right now. It’s so important that livy is able to get to this TBI rehabilitation center so she has the best opportunity to recover. Being home in OC will allow her whole family to be with her and I know that will bring livy comfort.

Please continue to share our page with others if you can. Minimizing or covering the cost of the air ambulance for livy would make a huge impact on my family’s ability to keep livy on the best path to recovery possible. Thank you so much everyone, from the bottom of our hearts we appreciate you all.

Update 7/25/23

About a week ago Livy had a feeding tube inserted into her stomach. This is a good step for her and will improve the quality of the nutrition she can receive. We’re hoping that it will also improve her recovery chances. However, there are some common temporary adverse reactions that can happen from this, and Livy has been experiencing them since her surgery. But the doctors say she should be past these reactions by the middle or the end of next week. Everyday brings new challenges, but we just keep praying and sending livy all the healing energy we can. 

Depending on how she is doing, we hope to be able to transport her by air ambulance as soon as possible so she can get the medical care, family support, and most importantly the rehabilitation she needs. Like I posted in the last update, the air ambulance is really expensive, $10,000 for the one hour flight. Me and my family have been working on raising the additional money because unfortunately the air ambulance is not covered by insurance. Please, if you can, continue to share this page with family, friends, organizations etc. Thank you so so much to everyone who has donated and prayed for Livy. Your support makes a difference and gives Livy the chance at the best recovery possible.

Update 7/30/23:

Livy is still in the hospital in San Jose due to the feeding tube surgery complications and other short term complications from her TBI. But these issues have been getting better the past day and a half and she began getting nutrition again yesterday, which is great. Our hope is that she will be stable enough to be transported down to OC at the end of this week or beginning of next week.

The rehab team at the speciality facility in OC are really optimistic that they will get her on the right path once she gets there. However, there’s still a really long road ahead for livy and my whole family. The doctors say the next 3 to 6 months are really crucial and getting her the best medical care possible gives livy the best opportunity for recovery.

The cost of Livy being in the hospital, the air ambulance transport, and moving to the rehab will all continue to add up.

We are so grateful for every single donation, and we hope that you can continue to share our link so we can keep supporting Livy’s road to recovery. Please keep praying and sending Livy healing energy so she can come back to us. We miss her.

Update 8/8/23:

Thankfully, Livy is improving enough that she is supposed to be transferred down to OC this Thursday. After another month of trying to get her transported, me and my family are really grateful that it is finally time. It has been a very long road for us all to get to this point with many setbacks and complications. But once we have Livy in a facility that specializes in TBI’s, she will have the best possible opportunity for recovery. This center will provide Livy several months of intense focus on rehabilitation.

Even though Livy will be closer to home, the expenses will still continue as Livy’s care does. Please keep sharing this post with friends, family etc. It helps us all so much. Livy means everything to us and your support changes her future. Thank you!

Update 8/12/23:

Even though we were really looking forward to having Livy home in OC, there’s been some issues since she got here. Livy was transported Thursday from the hospital in San Jose and was supposed to arrive at the TBI rehabilitation facility where she will be staying for a few months. But when she got there she had some serious complications and was sent to the hospital ER. Livy was intubated and in the ICU. She got a tracheostomy procedure done today to ensure she can breathe while at the rehabilitation facility. She’s now stable and hopefully can be discharged from the ICU soon.

We want Livy to be well enough so she can start her new rehabilitation work at the TBI facility and be provided with the best opportunity to recover. Thank you everyone for your unending support and for sharing this gofundme.

update 8/24/23

Livy is still in the ICU at the hospital since her tracheotomy. Unfortunately, there has not been much improvement over the last couple days. But me and my family will continue to stay positive for Livy. Once she shows some more improvement, she can be moved to the facility that provides the specific TBI therapy that she needs. 

Thank u again to everyone who has been following my and my family’s life these past few months. We appreciate every prayer and donation that has been given to us. Please keep us and mostly livy in your thoughts as we keep going down this path of uncertainty. Please keep sharing this page if you can, the road is going to be even longer for us in the future.

update 8/31/23

Livy is still in the ICU at the hospital in OC. This past week she got pseudomonas, which made her need antibiotics. Its pretty common in health care settings like hospitals, and thankfully the antibiotics seem to be helping.

But since Livy’s health is compromised and she has a trach, this is a big concern because it could create further complications.

The journey so far has been unfathomably difficult, but my family continues to have optimism and hope for Livy’s recovery.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported as in any way these past 4 months. We appreciate it all so so much.

Once Livy is able to move to the facility that provides the nuero therapy she needs for her TBI, we except the costs to just continue. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this page we appreciate you so much. 

9/10/23 update:

The antibiotics that Livy had been on for her pseudomonas have been working. The thing with this infection is that it can stay in the body for a while so there’s a chance it could come back. We’re staying hopeful that it won’t and that will give Livy’s system a chance to recover. Livy has been in the ICU- her vitals have been inconsistent lately so we’re just trying to focus on getting her stable so she can be moved.

There’s been a change of plans about the nuero program Livy will be transferred to. But the good news is that it seems like Livy will be accepted into UCI’s neuro-rehab program which is huge! They have great treatments there that could really help her on this recovery journey and give her the best chance possible.

This is an seemingly impossible road. After all these months, we aren’t any closer to the end. So thank you to everyone for your support and being there for Livy and my family. Please continue to share this page if you can with family, friends etc. Thank you

9/25/23 update

Livy’s still in the ICU, there hasn’t been much change in her condition. Nuero storming is something she has been dealing with, and its been a balancing act to find the right medications that can help.

Livys still on the vent and we are trying to work to get her off. It can take time but once she can manage her breathing without the vent she will be a step closer to moving to the nuero rehab facility. This is where Livy will be able to get all kinds of therapy for her TBI, hopefully helping her recovery. It will be months of work at this specific facility and a long journey still after that.

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with this gofundme and praying for Livy and my family. It means so much.

As it all continues, financial pressure for Livy’s recovery is adding up and unfortunately, there are a lot of things insurance does not cover that Livy will need for her rehab.

So my family will be doing some extra things to spread awareness and raise funds for Livy. In late October there’ll be a fundraiser at Mutt’s Sports Bar and Grill in Newport Beach. I’ll keep this page updated once we have the exact information on that. We will also be asking for donations for bracelets that show support for Livy. These will be available soon and i’ll post more information then too.

Thank you everyone.

update 10/10/23:

After spending a lot of time in the ICU in Tustin, Livy has been moved to Kindred Hospital in Brea. This is a good step for livy. The doctors there are working to reduce her sedation meds so she can have the opportunity to be more responsive. This will make the physical therapy they do possible. Also possibly sitting livy up in a chair with the help of the nurses. Another big step for livy is the doctors are starting to try to get her off the vent, which is a long process. If we can do this, Livy can be moved out of the ICU and move into the rehab side of the hospital. 

 

Thank you everyone for showing my family support and sharing this page etc. As I mentioned in the last update, we have bracelets for sale that say LOVE4LIV on one side and LIVON on the other side. On the inside of the bracelet it says Olivia Rios and mentions the GoFundMe. Ill post more info about the bracelets, but they will be available at the fundraiser for Livy at Mutt’s Sports Bar and Grill in Newport Beach on November 12th. I’ll post more about that soon too.

10/18/23 update

On Thursday, Livy’s nutrition, through the feeding tube, is changing to a much healthier kind that is organic and fresh with less preservatives.

This will be so much better for her internal organs as well as give her body more energy to heal her pressure ulcers and wounds.

This organic nutrition was recommended to us by dietitians with experience with TBI patients.

The unfortunate part is that insurance does not cover this because its more expensive then the generic nutrition.

So the out of pocket cost is about $900 a month, which we will pay for thanks to the support of all the people following livy’s story and donating to this page. thank you.

10/22/23 update

Livy with an ice pack on her head in the photo. The cool sensation will help her cool down sometimes when she is anxious or neuro-storming. Today I wanted to appreciate and share gratitude for all the nurses, caregivers, physical therapists, and all other sorts of specialists that have been helping to take care of Livy during this very long and very difficult journey. Many work day in and day out, and really show deep and care and regard Livy. When we cant be there, they are, and we are incredibly thankful for them and all they do. Thank you for all the care, prayers and support. Don’t forget to join us for Livy’s fundraiser November 12.

11/1/23

Livy’s still in the ICU at in Brea. She has been weaned off the sedation medication Precedex. Now that shes off it, she has the opportunity to be more alert during the day. We are hoping that this is a good step and can lead Livy to the intensive rehab that she needs. The next step for Livy will be a congregate living rehab program where she can get all the different therapies that she needs for the chance to recover. These therapies are speech, cognitive and physical. Like i said before, there is a big out of pocket cost of $1000’s per month. But it will be well worth if we can give Livy the chance for the best life possible for her.

Livy has been on the been all-natural organic nutrition for about 10 days now.  She is responding well and the doctors think it is helping her skin/wounds heal. It is definitely better for her body because its organic and has no preservatives. The financial stress for us is that insurance does not cover this good quality nutrition which costs $225 per case. One case lasts 5 days. So that is about $1,350 per month.

Thank you so much everyone for the support and donations. Today we were able to sit Livy up in a motorized bed for the first time and she really seemed to enjoy it. It’s been a long journey and we still have a long way to go with more expenses expected so thank you again. Please continue to share the GoFundMe link with family, friends etc. Also, please remember that the fundraiser for Livy at Mutt’s in Newport Beach has been moved to December 3rd so please join us and spread the word about the new date.

update 11/14/23

We are still working diligently to get Livy off the ventilator, and she is starting to get some physical therapy. Our goal is still to get her out of the ICU, into a Telemetry floor; and then into a congregate living rehab.

 Unfortunately, this type of rehab is not paid for by insurance and comes with a lot of out of pocket expenses. This type of program gives us the ability to determine what type of recovery Livy may have.

To be able to do this we are trying to raise an additional $50,000. 

Thank you everyone for all that you have done to support me and my family.

Also, please share the upcoming fundraiser at Mutt’s in Newport Beach on December 3rd.