Help with Karina's Recovery

After much contemplation, I am reaching out to my friends and family to share a little of what’s been going on. While I want to maintain some privacy and respect for family members, I also want share some of the details so you can have a better understanding of the situation. Last month, Karina was hospitalized due to extreme limiting of her food intake. In May, I realized she was not eating much and had lost a lot of weight. Until then, I thought she was trying to be healthier, eat better and exercise more. It could no longer be rationalized so I scheduled a doctor appointment. Karina was withering away right in plain sight...and worst of all, I hadn’t recognized the signs soon enough.

Unfortunately, the waitlist for an assessment was a month out. I feared this would be too late. She was on a dangerous spiral downward. The daily battles attempting to reason with the disorder hijacking my child was impossible and taking a toll on our family and my health. It’s a heart–aching place to be as a mother when nothing I said or did made a difference. Karina’s condition only worsened. As a parent, I failed to help her or fix the situation. A few weeks ago, after another night of insomnia from a nagging gut feeling, I took her to the emergency department.

Karina has long suffered from social anxiety and compromised self-worth. Transitioning from elementary into middle school during the pandemic, as for many kids, exacerbated everything. She feels deflated, foundering to successfully gain traction in her world, finding an identity and to garner a sense of belongingness. Her potential and desire to live is thwarted, obstructed, and impairing her ability to feel secure and safe in her skin. Eroding this bright, talented, creative, fun, inventive and amazing kid is chronic self-isolation, trepidation and inner conflict from unresolved childhood trauma.

Karina is now living in an in-patient, residential treatment program where she has a full team of professional. Her stay includes partial hospitalization for medical care. This is her chance to finally relinquish the anguish, trapped emotions and negative memories bottled up inside. My hope is that in this space, she may be relieved of this undue burden and begin loving herself and form healthy, trusting relationships with others.

That said, I had no other choice but to follow the strong recommendations of the hospital and allow for her to be placed into this accredited intensive program. Her chances of a strong recovery are high if we follow this program. Of course, her recovery doesn’t come without monetary cost as well. Fortunately, the insurance will cover 80% of most expenses, but there is a substantial amount of out-of-pocket expenses we must pay.

In June, we paid $4,000 plus another $600 deductible fee upfront to begin her care. We will be charged a minimum of 3,575.30 monthly during her stay which can last three to four months on average. When Karina transitions into Intensive Outpatient, the cost will be reduced to $600/month. This is in addition to other costs for mental health counseling, dietician aftercare consults and other expenses to support her healing process. We are still waiting on the bill for her two-week hospital stay. Karina fell off her bike in December and our portion of the bill from the emergency department was over $1,000. I can’t imagine what the charge will be for her latest specialized hospitalized care.

As difficult as it is to ask for funds to help cover the compounding expenses for Karina’s care, I must. Please only give if you’re able. I understand these aren't easy times for many of us, Please copy and paste this post if you can and wish to share it at your discretion. I am so grateful for this platform and your generosity. I don’t know how we would manage without your support. Our goal is $10,000, although any and all donations falling short of this amount will help Karina stay with the program and give promise that she will come out stronger, healthier and happier.

Love and Thanks!

Katerina and family