Help Cinders Get Home

101 days ago on Wednesday 27th September, Cindy, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, nanna, sister, aunty, cousin and all-round bloody legend of a woman suffered a TIA- mini stroke.

She was admitted to the PA hospital where she was monitored. All appeared well as she was walking and talking but her speech declined after a few days and after further scans a blockage in her carotid artery was found. Emergency surgery to remove this blockage was needed. As with all surgeries, we were told the risks and the 1-2% risk of further damage was minimal. Mum walked to the toilet for that last minute nervous wee and then with hugs and kisses, off she went.

Several hours later, she was back from surgery. Little did we know that during the surgery her heart was failing and she had to fight hard as hell to stay with us. As she has always been a fighter, she did just that, and came back to us. Unfortunately, due to all the scans and MRIs, heart issues during surgery, it was too much for her kidneys to handle and she needed emergency dialysis to keep fighting. Three days of this and she began to show signs of improvement. Whilst all this was happening, we were also faced with the fact that mum came out of surgery, not only very sick, but with no functionality down her right side of her body, impacting her speech, arm and leg mobility. As fate would have it, she was part of that 1-2% that would have complications.

Not even this would stop her determination- she started to use her left hand to feed herself.

After nearly a month, she was medically fit to be transferred to St Andrews acute stroke ward to start her rehab. This has been hard and rough for mum - managing the associated stroke pain issues, intensive physio then suffering excruciating pain as a result of it all - it was one step forward and 4 steps back. There was progress, but it was limited due to her fatigue levels.

She has been under the care of some amazing health professionals at the rehab ward but unfortunately a few days before Christmas we were told that mum was not able to come home yet and that they recommended for her to go to residential care where rehab can continue. This came as an earth-shattering jolt to all of us, especially mum. All she wants is to be at home on her back deck and be able to go to the land at Tamborine again.

As many of you would know and agree, us Richardson girls don’t give up that easy... we want our mum back home and that is going to take some hard work on Mum’s behalf and some pretty full-on resources to aid that rehab. In our aim to get mum to the best she can be, we need to purchase a specialised wheelchair, shower commode, wheelchair accessible car, modifications to Mum and Dad's home to enable her to move around it. We will also be requiring Mum to be seen by some amazing humans whilst at the residential facility, neurological Physio’s, Speech and Occupational Therapists.

Whist we are proud and generally don’t ask for any help we just can’t do this on our own. For the past 101 days, one of us has been with her each day to assist with her lunch and dinner meals. It is not a sprint it is most definitely a marathon.

So, we are now reaching out to our village to help us help our mum. Your generosity will give Mum and Dad the financial support to action the modifications required at home, purchase a wheelchair accessible car, and pay for the ongoing specialist therapies that Mum will require.

With Mum and Dads’ permission, we girls have created this ‘Go Fund Me’ because it takes a village to support each other. Your donation, whether small or large, will be returned to you two-fold by the expression on Mum’s face when she is able to return to her beloved home.

With thanks Kerri, Cass and Bec

It takes a Village… thanks for being part of ours ❣️