Medical Emergency That Changed Our Lives

Hi, my name is Lauren Killilea, and our family went through a medical emergency that changed our lives forever. On March 29th, we woke up like it was any other day, except it was Good Friday. We both were off from work and planned to take our 3 month old son to his first baseball/softball games. However, our day took a turn for the worst when my husband had a hemorrhagic stroke, secondary to an aneurysm after an arteriovenous collection of vessels ruptured. He required emergency surgery at the WakeMed Heart Center using their cath lab for the procedure.

After the procedure, he was in the Neuro ICU for a while, in the intermediate care, and will be transferred to the WakeMed Rehabilitation Hospital for Inpatient Rehabilitation Assistance. He is currently paralyzed on the right side, and his behavior and speech was affected by the location of the aneurysm. We will also be working with a speech therapist to improve and rebuild those verbal connections as well.

We are unsure of how long we will be in the rehabilitation facility, but I know the expectation is going to be multiple months. Of course, with that long of a stay, we worry about the longevity and changes we will have to alter in our lives including: the hospital bills will be extremely high; possibility of needing a minivan with wheelchair capabilities; remodel our front steps into the house and lower level bathroom; gas to get across the entire triangle for appointments; continued daycare for our 3 month old son; reduced salary given my husband's disability leave.

We've been through so many struggles and challenges over the last couple of years, and I know we can get through this one as well. God has blessed us in more ways than one in each of those struggles, and I thank him everyday that my husband and best friend is still with us. I know he doesn't give us anything we can't handle, but we would greatly appreciate some assistance financially with the things listed above.

Thank you to those that have been part of our prayer warrior team! We couldn't have made it through the already accomplished hurdles without you! Keep sending up the prayers for me and my family!