Our mother, Adrienne, suffered a spinal cord injury on Thursday, May 7, that led to paralysis from the shoulders down. Read our story and support her recovery. With your support, we can provide the best care possible and generate the HOPE that she regain her independence again!
OUR STORY
Thursday, May 7th, started out as normal as any other pandemic day. Mother’s Day was a few days away, cards were being bought, plans were being made, all from our homes as we continued to socially distance. In a small town in North Carolina, our mom, Adrienne, – sister, aunt and Nana – was working from home. At 65 years old and a few months from her planned retirement, mom had never worked from home, and all her younger coworkers were giving her heck about it. All in good fun, which she loved by the way! Full of life, active, and quick-witted, she was always dishing out as much as she received, if not more. In fact, she was gathering hair curlers, a gaudy robe and a face mask to wear to her company’s next Zoom meeting to show them how she worked from home!
THE FALL
Thursday evening continued with normalcy. The news was reporting the President’s valet tested positive for COVID and that meat processing plants were reopening on Friday. Living by herself, mom often spent time with her long-time friend and neighbor. That night the two ate dinner, and then mom went home early to get ready for the next exciting day of commuting from the bed to her desk in the living room. After watching a bit of TV, she got up to get a glass of water and on her way to the kitchen, she collapsed. She was completely paralyzed.
She was on the floor, unable to move, and her phone laid on the floor 6 inches from her still (inert) fingers. Thursday night crawled into Friday morning with mom fully conscious, calling out, and praying for someone to come to her aid. Though mom was supposed to be working, the “stay-at-home” orders requiring her to work from home made her absences less noticeable. Her brother Richard started texting her Friday to finalize plans about a Mother’s Day dinner that weekend. Since she was scheduled to work, delayed responses from mom would have been normal.
What happened after her fall is an unthinkable scenario that we can barely start to contemplate at this point, and is difficult to put into words. Our strong, independent mother laid on her floor seeing and listening to calls and texts come through her phone inches from her hand without the ability to answer. Making it more difficult, is the knowledge that we were prohibited from visiting her for Mother’s Day weekend due to COVID restrictions from her job that didn’t allow her to interact with anyone who lived more than 50 miles away from her. What would have been if we could have continued our plans to spend the weekend together?….
Friday became Saturday. Our Uncle, worried he had still not heard from her, called the neighbor she had dinner with Thursday night. Immediately going to check, the neighbor found mom where she had collapsed 36 hours earlier. Still alive, but not moving.
HOSPITALIZATION
Of course, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren were notified and made their way to North Carolina to be with mom; However, COVID is preventing us from being with our mom. Facetime, WebEx, text and phone calls are the only ways we can be “there” for her right now and since she is unable to move her arms, we must call the nurses each and every time we want to speak with her. Apologetic and thankful, we are at the mercy of their schedule for when they can answer our calls and hold the phone for Facetime. It’s also hard to accept call backs as the only communication method for talking with the surgeon, case worker, dietitian or nurse to discuss mom’s progress and treatment. Imagine talking to a nurse for a daily update and finding out today wasn’t a good day, that your mother is depressed, feeling alone and confused and you can’t go in the room to give her a hug or just sit and be with her. Thanks COVID.
There is no definitive answer on what caused mom to collapse. We have learned she has a fracture of the left C4 transverse process, severe arthritis in her spine with degenerative changes pronounced between C4/5 and C5/6 and spinal stenosis at this level. Her surgeon speculates that this degeneration made her spinal cord vulnerable to pressure that can cause confusion through the nervous system and muscle weakness or malfunction. That Thursday night, she moved in just the wrong way to cause the syncopal episode that led to her spinal cord injury.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
It has been 12 days, and mom can wiggle her toes, lift her hands and generate minimal shoulder movement. There is no feeling when touched.
We have applied and been accepted to Shepherd Center in Atlanta for in-patient rehabilitation. That is where we are as we reach out to you today, asking for support from our community and beyond.
First year costs of a spinal cord injury in mom’s case is between $700,000 and $1,000,000.
Here is a glance of what that entails:
Mom’s previous conditions of arthritis, degeneration, and herniation in the cervical spine mixed with traumatic injury to the spine causing edema, affect her from her C3 to her C7, which has caused confusion in communication to muscle function and sensation from the chest down.
We have been told to expect the following needs:
Medical transport from North Carolina to Shepherd Center in Atlanta
Inpatient rehab
Outpatient rehab
In-home nursing visits
Minor and Major Home Modifications during outpatient rehab
Major home modification for long term living/Purchase of modified home
A vehicle modified with adaptive equipment
Specialized equipment (unknown which specific equipment will be needed at this time)
OTHER COSTS
We also have moving costs, storage facility costs, and unknown costs due to not working. We are grateful for the opportunity to be our mom’s full time caretakers for the foreseeable future. There is no way to know at this time how this will affect how we provide for our families and our mom’s grandchildren.
THANK YOU
In this time of uncertainty for all of our fellow humans, we appreciate your support and encouragement. This shocking turn of events is already devastating to us, without the added stress of not being able to hold our mother’s hand, brush her hair, make sure she feels comfortable, adjust her pillows for her, moisturize her skin, and keep her company.
Your prayers, donations, support, love, and sharing of our story are greatly appreciated. From our family to yours, may we be guided by that which reminds us how intrinsically connected to each other we are, no matter the circumstances. We are in this together. For our mom. For all moms.
Thank you,
Anthony and Mary
Mom with her children and grandchildren.
OUR STORY
Thursday, May 7th, started out as normal as any other pandemic day. Mother’s Day was a few days away, cards were being bought, plans were being made, all from our homes as we continued to socially distance. In a small town in North Carolina, our mom, Adrienne, – sister, aunt and Nana – was working from home. At 65 years old and a few months from her planned retirement, mom had never worked from home, and all her younger coworkers were giving her heck about it. All in good fun, which she loved by the way! Full of life, active, and quick-witted, she was always dishing out as much as she received, if not more. In fact, she was gathering hair curlers, a gaudy robe and a face mask to wear to her company’s next Zoom meeting to show them how she worked from home!
THE FALL
Thursday evening continued with normalcy. The news was reporting the President’s valet tested positive for COVID and that meat processing plants were reopening on Friday. Living by herself, mom often spent time with her long-time friend and neighbor. That night the two ate dinner, and then mom went home early to get ready for the next exciting day of commuting from the bed to her desk in the living room. After watching a bit of TV, she got up to get a glass of water and on her way to the kitchen, she collapsed. She was completely paralyzed.
She was on the floor, unable to move, and her phone laid on the floor 6 inches from her still (inert) fingers. Thursday night crawled into Friday morning with mom fully conscious, calling out, and praying for someone to come to her aid. Though mom was supposed to be working, the “stay-at-home” orders requiring her to work from home made her absences less noticeable. Her brother Richard started texting her Friday to finalize plans about a Mother’s Day dinner that weekend. Since she was scheduled to work, delayed responses from mom would have been normal.
What happened after her fall is an unthinkable scenario that we can barely start to contemplate at this point, and is difficult to put into words. Our strong, independent mother laid on her floor seeing and listening to calls and texts come through her phone inches from her hand without the ability to answer. Making it more difficult, is the knowledge that we were prohibited from visiting her for Mother’s Day weekend due to COVID restrictions from her job that didn’t allow her to interact with anyone who lived more than 50 miles away from her. What would have been if we could have continued our plans to spend the weekend together?….
Friday became Saturday. Our Uncle, worried he had still not heard from her, called the neighbor she had dinner with Thursday night. Immediately going to check, the neighbor found mom where she had collapsed 36 hours earlier. Still alive, but not moving.
HOSPITALIZATION
Of course, brothers and sisters, children and grandchildren were notified and made their way to North Carolina to be with mom; However, COVID is preventing us from being with our mom. Facetime, WebEx, text and phone calls are the only ways we can be “there” for her right now and since she is unable to move her arms, we must call the nurses each and every time we want to speak with her. Apologetic and thankful, we are at the mercy of their schedule for when they can answer our calls and hold the phone for Facetime. It’s also hard to accept call backs as the only communication method for talking with the surgeon, case worker, dietitian or nurse to discuss mom’s progress and treatment. Imagine talking to a nurse for a daily update and finding out today wasn’t a good day, that your mother is depressed, feeling alone and confused and you can’t go in the room to give her a hug or just sit and be with her. Thanks COVID.
There is no definitive answer on what caused mom to collapse. We have learned she has a fracture of the left C4 transverse process, severe arthritis in her spine with degenerative changes pronounced between C4/5 and C5/6 and spinal stenosis at this level. Her surgeon speculates that this degeneration made her spinal cord vulnerable to pressure that can cause confusion through the nervous system and muscle weakness or malfunction. That Thursday night, she moved in just the wrong way to cause the syncopal episode that led to her spinal cord injury.
WHERE WE ARE NOW
It has been 12 days, and mom can wiggle her toes, lift her hands and generate minimal shoulder movement. There is no feeling when touched.
We have applied and been accepted to Shepherd Center in Atlanta for in-patient rehabilitation. That is where we are as we reach out to you today, asking for support from our community and beyond.
First year costs of a spinal cord injury in mom’s case is between $700,000 and $1,000,000.
Here is a glance of what that entails:
Mom’s previous conditions of arthritis, degeneration, and herniation in the cervical spine mixed with traumatic injury to the spine causing edema, affect her from her C3 to her C7, which has caused confusion in communication to muscle function and sensation from the chest down.
We have been told to expect the following needs:
Medical transport from North Carolina to Shepherd Center in Atlanta
Inpatient rehab
Outpatient rehab
In-home nursing visits
Minor and Major Home Modifications during outpatient rehab
Major home modification for long term living/Purchase of modified home
A vehicle modified with adaptive equipment
Specialized equipment (unknown which specific equipment will be needed at this time)
OTHER COSTS
We also have moving costs, storage facility costs, and unknown costs due to not working. We are grateful for the opportunity to be our mom’s full time caretakers for the foreseeable future. There is no way to know at this time how this will affect how we provide for our families and our mom’s grandchildren.
THANK YOU
In this time of uncertainty for all of our fellow humans, we appreciate your support and encouragement. This shocking turn of events is already devastating to us, without the added stress of not being able to hold our mother’s hand, brush her hair, make sure she feels comfortable, adjust her pillows for her, moisturize her skin, and keep her company.
Your prayers, donations, support, love, and sharing of our story are greatly appreciated. From our family to yours, may we be guided by that which reminds us how intrinsically connected to each other we are, no matter the circumstances. We are in this together. For our mom. For all moms.
Thank you,
Anthony and Mary
Mom with her children and grandchildren.Organizer and beneficiary
Anthony G
Beneficiary