A Gift of Love

Hello everyone my name is Sandra Tapp many of you know me as Chicky and I am raising funds to help my big sister Terri Tapp. Some of you many know but many of you don’t know that my sister Terri came to live with me after facing some small health issues in 2018. However on April 28, 2019 her life and mine were changed forever. Terri suffered a major stroke and was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia. Initially the stroke took a toll on her the the recovery process began. Since Terri was not working at the time she did not have Health Insurance so the cost of recovery came out of my pocket. I love my sister and would do anything to help her out in her recovery. Soon after the recovery began I quickly found this was going to be no easy task but I preserved or at least I thought I did. With Terri’s age 58 at the time of the stroke she qualified for nothing. I was able to sign her up for a small subsidy for home health but again that came out of pocket. Soon after Covid hit and home assistance was not coming to the house for the year and a half I worked from home and took care of my sister. Hoping for her recovery this did not happen as quick as we hoped. On a routine visit to the Neurologist for a check up it was revealed she was now suffering from Dementia. Vascular Dementia to be exact. As some of you may know any type of dementia is a major and difficult diagnosis. This would require additional assistance as her motor skills were impaired and declining. With the assistance of her Godsons we did all we could to make her comfortable. Again all her expenses came out of my pocket; clothing, food, medications, and DME equipment ( potty chairs, shower chairs, depends, bed mats). After months and months of applying for Disability it was approved in May of 2020 a small assistance because her expenses far out weighed her disability income. Forced to return to work in September 2020 again I again had to find alternate care at home to assist this too came out of my pocket. Many people know that one catastrophic illness can ruin you financially we were heading in that direction. With Terri’s health issues mounting thing took a turn for the worse when she had another stroke. Due to this situation I was forced to place her in a adult home but this was not a good fit so she was placed in another adult home this proved to not be the proper fit. Those two homes took all her disability payments it was breaking me. So, in March 2022 Terri was placed in a facility that was larger and inclusive for over her disability payments so out of my pocket additional funds were and are $1200 additional out of pocket funds. With my bank account depleting and my savings gone to help my sister I reach out to you all for assistance. Terri is finally getting the help she needs and is beginning to respond positively to her treatment. I’m so excited for this but I worry all the same. I need her to continue with her success but with the mounting cost I cannot afford to keep her in the facility. Please understand how much I love and want to continue to support and help her. Any amount you can assist her with would be forever appreciated. Those that know me know that this is difficult for the both of us. Although Terri cannot express this herself I will on behalf of my big sister Thank You and God Bless you all.