Christina's Story
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In July 2017, my wife Christina suffered a devastating infection that dramatically changed her life. A super bug known as MSSA left her unable to walk and needing round-the-clock support, and due to residual complications and the ongoing need for rehabilitation, she has spent most of the last 2.5 years in hospital. She remains in hospital to this day. While Christina's goal is to walk again, to be able to work again (if that is possible), to enjoy her grand children, our immediate goal is to get Christina home. I created this GoFundMe campaign to fund the home care, rehabilitation and accessibility equipment that she needs to live safely at home and continue her road to recovery. Please have a look below for more about Christina’s story.
Christina’s Story
July 1, 2017 was Canada’s 50th anniversary and my wife and I decided to attend the festivities on Parliament Hill. Like many, we stood in the rain for hours to get through security. That is pretty much the last thing my wife Christina remembers before waking up in the ICU on a respirator and life support four weeks later. We’d left for a vacation to Nashville on July 3rd and by the 9th, Christina was very sick. Mild flu-like symptoms had turned into severe trouble breathing and within hours, Christina was in a Nashville hospital on a respirator, in a drug induced coma, fighting for her life. The bacteria had attacked her lungs, her heart and completely infected her entire body. Thankfully she held on long enough to be air-lifted back home to Ottawa, Canada, where she was placed directly into the ICU and remained on full life-support. It was touch and go for weeks. Her heart failed twice. Her lungs collapsed and failed. Our kids were called to the ICU multiple times in case she didn’t pull through. It was a really traumatic time and the doctors and nurses still say it is a miracle that she survived.
We are blessed that Christina survived and beyond grateful for the medical team that saved her life. Our struggle now is with getting Christina out of hospital, where she has been for the better part of 2.5 years. The infection left her with only 5% of her mobility, a damaged heart and lungs, and severe worsening of her existing nutritional issues. She needs a caregiver to help round-the-clock and long-term restorative physiotherapy, and unfortunately, Christina and I are not financially equipped to cover the long-term care that she needs. The wait-times for long-term care facilities are long and the cost is in the 6-10K range, meanwhile home care is not fully covered nor is the cost of creating a wheelchair accessible home. We are hoping to raise 50K to help get Christina home and set up with the home care and accessibility equipment that she needs. For a detailed breakdown of Christina’s financial needs, please have a look at my blog .
A heartfelt thanks to those that have already donated and those that are considering it. Please know that your support will go a long way because Christina is a fighter. Her current disability was caused by this devastating infection, but she has had health complications her whole life. When we met 25 years ago, she was a single mother raising two young boys, one of whom was born to her in her teens. Those boys are now successful men and she raised them in the face of partial blindness, a stroke, partial mobility impairment, and Crohn’s disease. She has remained optimistic and driven through all her life’s challenges and she is facing her current road to recovery with the same strength. She is motivated to spend every minute she can with her six grandchildren and I know she will use any support she receives to live her fullest possible life. I’ll be posting updates on Christina’s progress on my blog .
You can also visit the blog for more information on Christina’s financial and medical situation.
https://gmluchak.com/christina-s-story
Again, our sincere gratitude to all of Christina’s supporters and to the first responders and medical teams that have helped Christina and saved her life over the last number of years. It has been a long journey, but we are hopeful that Christina will be home soon and enjoying a better quality of life.
We both thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any and all support and for sharing Christina’s story as widely as you can.
Best wishes, Greg and Christina
Christina’s Story
July 1, 2017 was Canada’s 50th anniversary and my wife and I decided to attend the festivities on Parliament Hill. Like many, we stood in the rain for hours to get through security. That is pretty much the last thing my wife Christina remembers before waking up in the ICU on a respirator and life support four weeks later. We’d left for a vacation to Nashville on July 3rd and by the 9th, Christina was very sick. Mild flu-like symptoms had turned into severe trouble breathing and within hours, Christina was in a Nashville hospital on a respirator, in a drug induced coma, fighting for her life. The bacteria had attacked her lungs, her heart and completely infected her entire body. Thankfully she held on long enough to be air-lifted back home to Ottawa, Canada, where she was placed directly into the ICU and remained on full life-support. It was touch and go for weeks. Her heart failed twice. Her lungs collapsed and failed. Our kids were called to the ICU multiple times in case she didn’t pull through. It was a really traumatic time and the doctors and nurses still say it is a miracle that she survived.
We are blessed that Christina survived and beyond grateful for the medical team that saved her life. Our struggle now is with getting Christina out of hospital, where she has been for the better part of 2.5 years. The infection left her with only 5% of her mobility, a damaged heart and lungs, and severe worsening of her existing nutritional issues. She needs a caregiver to help round-the-clock and long-term restorative physiotherapy, and unfortunately, Christina and I are not financially equipped to cover the long-term care that she needs. The wait-times for long-term care facilities are long and the cost is in the 6-10K range, meanwhile home care is not fully covered nor is the cost of creating a wheelchair accessible home. We are hoping to raise 50K to help get Christina home and set up with the home care and accessibility equipment that she needs. For a detailed breakdown of Christina’s financial needs, please have a look at my blog .
A heartfelt thanks to those that have already donated and those that are considering it. Please know that your support will go a long way because Christina is a fighter. Her current disability was caused by this devastating infection, but she has had health complications her whole life. When we met 25 years ago, she was a single mother raising two young boys, one of whom was born to her in her teens. Those boys are now successful men and she raised them in the face of partial blindness, a stroke, partial mobility impairment, and Crohn’s disease. She has remained optimistic and driven through all her life’s challenges and she is facing her current road to recovery with the same strength. She is motivated to spend every minute she can with her six grandchildren and I know she will use any support she receives to live her fullest possible life. I’ll be posting updates on Christina’s progress on my blog .
You can also visit the blog for more information on Christina’s financial and medical situation.
https://gmluchak.com/christina-s-story
Again, our sincere gratitude to all of Christina’s supporters and to the first responders and medical teams that have helped Christina and saved her life over the last number of years. It has been a long journey, but we are hopeful that Christina will be home soon and enjoying a better quality of life.
We both thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any and all support and for sharing Christina’s story as widely as you can.
Best wishes, Greg and Christina
Organizer
Greg Luchak
Organizer
Orléans, ON