Bringing Bev back to life

December update to November request for help in retaining the help of caregivers to help me recover from a dangerous medical accident.

Thanks to the thoughtful and generous people who have made it possible for me to retain a caregiver and to work with physical and occupational therapists for the past month! I am working hard and making progress. When I impatiently ask for an estimate of the time I will be able to manage entirely on my own and return to work, they say four months! I certainly learned in my fifty year teaching career to pay attention to my own teachers, so I trust these healing teachers and listen to everything they suggest. And I do my exercise homework religiously. I can see that during that four months I will still need financial assistance and hope that even during the holidays, some readers will still take the time to pause and help me heal from the challenging medical accident. Thanks for reading the story of my scary comeback from a true medical nightmare.

Original December Posted Story

Hi, my name is Bev Riverwood. Thank you for taking the time to read about my struggle to recover from the medical accident that happened to me in July, 2023. Back in 2020 I was advised to have an elective full-hip replacement surgery because of serious arthritic deterioration. The arrival of Covid made surgery impossible. So in June, 2023, I took the plunge.

I hoped to be able to extend my active life as a teacher, writer, musician, and to finally be free of pain. Unfortunately, that was not to be. The initial surgery failed within a few days and I suddenly found myself needing to have emergency surgery - a second complete hip replacement to repair the broken left femur caused by the first surgery.

Having even one major surgery at the age 83 is somewhat risky and having two, is pushing it. I was sent to rehab to recover but unfortunately contracted pneumonia within a week. As a result, it would be three months for the femur to heal, during which I also contracted UTI infections that turned out to be resistant to antibiotics. That infection required an additional week's stay in the hospital to have constant IV treatments. I was horrified to be on such a lengthy and expensive downward path. Not only was I not teaching, as I had for the past 50 years, or carrying on my usual projects, I was unable to work as a reading specialist, which is my day job and main source of income. This medical episode has become more than just a short chapter in my life.

Now after four months of concerted physical and mental effort, I am finally back home, working with physical and occupational therapists to regain my lost abilities. I am grateful to special caregivers who see my goals and support my efforts to get me back to work.

Each day just four hours of help from my caregivers costs my family $200. The minimum necessary treatment is over $1000 a week. That does not count living expenses, medical supplies, food or incontinent supplies. We fear losing our home if we cannot make the mortgage payments. Even with both my son and daughter contributing, our resources are down to nothing, and it will take several more months of care and hard work for me to recover and to walk again.

Anyone who contributes to this healing process will be defraying the cost of paying my caregivers, as well as daily living expenses and medical supplies. Your support could help me get beyond the recent months of pain and suffering and lost opportunity. The profound lesson I have learned in my life, is gratitude. So I thank you for helping me regain my heath and future. If you are unable to donate, we'd appreciate it if you could share our need with others.