Joy's Journey after Brain Surgery
Donation protected
Myself and Stephanie (Tuppy) Remillard are posting this for our dear friend Joy Basham. For those that know Joy personally you know she has a heart that is bigger than anyone else you will ever meet and would NEVER post this herself, so we are doing this on her behalf.
When we learned the devastating news of her brain tumor diagnosis in 2013, we could not imagine the road she would have ahead of her. As her friends, we were concerned about her life. Would this brain tumor take away one of our best friends? Many doctors refused surgery due to the location of the tumor. There were so many unknowns and we were thankful when she found a doctor that would help her undergo her much needed surgery.
She and her family met and consulted with several of the best doctors in the country to decide on a course of treatment. On August 21, 2013 at MD Anderson in Houston, Joy underwent brain surgery.
The tumor was diagnosed as a Brain Stem Glioma and the surgeon was able to successfully remove the entire tumor! However much to the dismay of her surgeon, the teeny tiny nerves at her brain stem that had to be moved during the surgery were bruised. The bruised nerves caused major life altering deficits that she has fought to overcome on her own the past 3 years.
Post-surgery, she was left with both of her eyes set to the far right. She had no feeling on the entire right side of her body from the waist down. Her jaw was almost locked shut (only a few millimeter opening) and the left side of her face was paralyzed, such as a person who suffered from a stroke or Bell’s Palsy. She was devastated!
For Joy, it was like she had been in a traumatic car accident and woke up a different person. She couldn't do anything by herself. Suffering with the effects of numbness and eye issues, she literally had to re-learn many of the normal functions such as walking, showering, and dressing herself.
After a two week hospital stay, Joy returned home to begin the long journey of recovery and her new “normal”. The doctors told her it could take a year for her bruised/damaged nerves to fully recover.
With time, her right eye corrected itself, but the left eye never recovered. She couldn’t blink her left eye and it was fixed to the right. She still has numbness on the right side of her body and serious depth perception deficits which make descending stairs, curbs, and walking a challenge. After extensive testing, it was determined that the damaged nerves would never recover.
Over the past 2 1/2 years, Joy has had 11 surgeries and/or procedures involving her eye, eye lid, jaw and a complete jaw-joint replacement. Extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy have also helped with her recovery. However, after all the therapy, she was still not able to regain the one thing that meant the world to her, her smile. This was due to the permanent facial paralysis.
For Joy, the physical effects of her brain surgery and the aftermath were devastating themselves, but within the first 6 months of her surgery her marriage ended in a divorce. Also, she lost a job the she loved because of her inability to return to work. She also went from being extremely extroverted and the designated "Social Chair" for her friends and family prior to the surgery to becoming a "hermit" due to all of the deficits she faced.
Joy has struggled as much emotionally, mentally, and spiritually to deal with the outcome of the surgery and the other major losses in her life. With the help of her friends, counseling, and family, she has overcome major depression. She knew she was strong, but nothing compared to how strong she is now.
We are praying that Joy is now entering the final stage and will under-go, by far, the most extensive and complicated surgery to date. In a few short days from now, on July 26th, she will be having an approximately 11 hour Facial Reanimation surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to correct the facial paralysis on the left side of her face. Nerves and muscle from various parts of her body will be grafted to bring back approximately 90% of her movement. She is thrilled to be having this surgery to yet again find her new normal.
As her friends of more than 20 years, we created this GoFundMe page to help defer the tens of thousands of dollars Joy and her family have incurred in surgeries, procedures, therapies, medications, insurance premiums and travel in the past as well as the major expense of the up-coming surgery.
The co-pay/insurance on this upcoming surgery alone will be $18,500. Travel, housing and food for the 2 weeks in Baltimore will be thousands more.
Upon her return, Joy will also be receiving extensive physical, occupational and speech therapies related to the surgery. She will be working with an oral surgeon to correct her jaw misalignment from the jaw-joint replacement and she will be receiving orthodontic care to correct bite issues from the limited jaw opening.
Below are some pictures of our friends journey. Honest, real, and graphic pictures. She has had a long enough road to travel.
If you can, please help her offset some of her cost. If you are unable, we are sure an encouraging word would go far. Please keep our friend in your prayers in the coming days.
Joy is a fighter. We are confident that for all of you that know her, you would agree that she never gives up and that she would fight for you or I just as much as she has fought this for herself.
She has come a long way both mentally and physically, but she still has a ways to go. Joy is always helping others, so we are asking from the bottom our hearts that you please help Joy!
We will be posting updates on the progress of Joy's surgery and recovery on this page. Once Joy begins recovery, she will also post. If you want to be updated on her progress please click the "subscribe for updates" tab above the list of recent donations to be notified when there is a post.
When we learned the devastating news of her brain tumor diagnosis in 2013, we could not imagine the road she would have ahead of her. As her friends, we were concerned about her life. Would this brain tumor take away one of our best friends? Many doctors refused surgery due to the location of the tumor. There were so many unknowns and we were thankful when she found a doctor that would help her undergo her much needed surgery.
She and her family met and consulted with several of the best doctors in the country to decide on a course of treatment. On August 21, 2013 at MD Anderson in Houston, Joy underwent brain surgery.
The tumor was diagnosed as a Brain Stem Glioma and the surgeon was able to successfully remove the entire tumor! However much to the dismay of her surgeon, the teeny tiny nerves at her brain stem that had to be moved during the surgery were bruised. The bruised nerves caused major life altering deficits that she has fought to overcome on her own the past 3 years.
Post-surgery, she was left with both of her eyes set to the far right. She had no feeling on the entire right side of her body from the waist down. Her jaw was almost locked shut (only a few millimeter opening) and the left side of her face was paralyzed, such as a person who suffered from a stroke or Bell’s Palsy. She was devastated!
For Joy, it was like she had been in a traumatic car accident and woke up a different person. She couldn't do anything by herself. Suffering with the effects of numbness and eye issues, she literally had to re-learn many of the normal functions such as walking, showering, and dressing herself.
After a two week hospital stay, Joy returned home to begin the long journey of recovery and her new “normal”. The doctors told her it could take a year for her bruised/damaged nerves to fully recover.
With time, her right eye corrected itself, but the left eye never recovered. She couldn’t blink her left eye and it was fixed to the right. She still has numbness on the right side of her body and serious depth perception deficits which make descending stairs, curbs, and walking a challenge. After extensive testing, it was determined that the damaged nerves would never recover.
Over the past 2 1/2 years, Joy has had 11 surgeries and/or procedures involving her eye, eye lid, jaw and a complete jaw-joint replacement. Extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy have also helped with her recovery. However, after all the therapy, she was still not able to regain the one thing that meant the world to her, her smile. This was due to the permanent facial paralysis.
For Joy, the physical effects of her brain surgery and the aftermath were devastating themselves, but within the first 6 months of her surgery her marriage ended in a divorce. Also, she lost a job the she loved because of her inability to return to work. She also went from being extremely extroverted and the designated "Social Chair" for her friends and family prior to the surgery to becoming a "hermit" due to all of the deficits she faced.
Joy has struggled as much emotionally, mentally, and spiritually to deal with the outcome of the surgery and the other major losses in her life. With the help of her friends, counseling, and family, she has overcome major depression. She knew she was strong, but nothing compared to how strong she is now.
We are praying that Joy is now entering the final stage and will under-go, by far, the most extensive and complicated surgery to date. In a few short days from now, on July 26th, she will be having an approximately 11 hour Facial Reanimation surgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore to correct the facial paralysis on the left side of her face. Nerves and muscle from various parts of her body will be grafted to bring back approximately 90% of her movement. She is thrilled to be having this surgery to yet again find her new normal.
As her friends of more than 20 years, we created this GoFundMe page to help defer the tens of thousands of dollars Joy and her family have incurred in surgeries, procedures, therapies, medications, insurance premiums and travel in the past as well as the major expense of the up-coming surgery.
The co-pay/insurance on this upcoming surgery alone will be $18,500. Travel, housing and food for the 2 weeks in Baltimore will be thousands more.
Upon her return, Joy will also be receiving extensive physical, occupational and speech therapies related to the surgery. She will be working with an oral surgeon to correct her jaw misalignment from the jaw-joint replacement and she will be receiving orthodontic care to correct bite issues from the limited jaw opening.
Below are some pictures of our friends journey. Honest, real, and graphic pictures. She has had a long enough road to travel.
If you can, please help her offset some of her cost. If you are unable, we are sure an encouraging word would go far. Please keep our friend in your prayers in the coming days.
Joy is a fighter. We are confident that for all of you that know her, you would agree that she never gives up and that she would fight for you or I just as much as she has fought this for herself.
She has come a long way both mentally and physically, but she still has a ways to go. Joy is always helping others, so we are asking from the bottom our hearts that you please help Joy!
We will be posting updates on the progress of Joy's surgery and recovery on this page. Once Joy begins recovery, she will also post. If you want to be updated on her progress please click the "subscribe for updates" tab above the list of recent donations to be notified when there is a post.
Organiser and beneficiary
Wendi Buis Hauck
Organiser
Buford, GA
Joy Basham
Beneficiary