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Medical Expenses for Jordan Sweat

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This purpose of this GoFundMe is to help the Sweat family seek medical attention needed by their oldest daughter, Jordan.

This part of Jordan’s story began at age 10 when she sustained a spinal cord injury (SCI) late in March of 2013.  Her younger sibling fell out of the backyard playhouse onto Jordan. She was paralyzed from the waist down for almost 3 hours and had difficulty breathing for 20 minutes.

After almost two years of physical therapy and many hours of pain, Jordan re-learned to walk, run, jump, and climb stairs again.  As part of her injury, Jordan also developed an acute sensitivity to the slightest of touch on her shoulders and back, but through all this, she persevered.

When she started 7th grade in August 2015, Jordan appeared to others to be “normal” again.  She’d regained her body weight and the muscle mass but was still not quite as strong or agile as her peers.  Jordan wanted to participate in athletics, and she was thrilled to play volleyball and basketball – even if it was on the C teams.  It didn’t matter that she was weaker and slower than the others. She felt alive again! 

On February 1st, 2016, when the athletics program switched from volleyball and basketball to running track, Jordan’s spinal cord was re-injured while her head was in a flexion position (head down).  It had not been a problem with volleyball and basketball because those sports don’t involve running with one’s head down, and didn’t affect her in the same way. From the time of the first injury, Jordan’s doctors had claimed that the injury involved her spinal cord, specifically in her back, but had been baffled by the exact location. From 2013-2015, Jordan’s doctors had been baffled by where her SCI was, as the MRI’s didn’t show her injury, but all symptoms were indicative of spinal cord bruising.  No one knew a flexion position would be hazardous to her, but Jordan’s coach had been warned to be careful. That day, however, Jordan was forced to continue running when she needed to stop. 

Jordan has seen numerous neurologists, an orthopedic back surgeon, two functional neurologists, multiple MD’s, her PA, three physical therapy groups and a spine and back surgeon. She’s had a 3D-spinal x-ray, multiple MRI’s of each of the lumbar, thoracic and cervical regions of her spine and a set of functional x-rays of her neck.  She’s endured EMG nerve conduction testing, infra-red and cold laser therapy, as well as more physical therapy. 

Finally, in July of 2016, the functional neurologist, Dr. Brock, said he was 95% sure that he’d found the injury and it’s in the cervical region. No other doctor had thought to MRI Jordan’s neck, so now her symptoms began to make more sense. Based on his analysis and manual manipulation of her neck area, in which he recreated some of her symptoms (such as the feet numbness), Dr. Brock concluded that Jordan’s injury was a Cervical Instability Injury. It is the same type of injury that the actor Christopher Reeve sustained.  Whereas his spinal cord was snapped, hers has been hyper extended like an elastic band that doesn’t go back to its original condition, and the ligaments around the C1-C5, particularly C1-C2 (closest to the brain where the crucial nerves start to come out from the base of the brain) have been “smashed”. 

In the year since the re-injury, Jordan’s condition has not improved.  In fact, she has been steadily declining, particularly since October of 2016.  Jordan’s walk is very unsteady at times, making her a fall risk.  Her heightened sensitivity to touch has returned, and she is no longer able to navigate stairs without assistance.  Her neck swells, sometimes pushing her trachea outwards, making breathing and swallowing difficult.  Sneezing or coughing is extremely painful. She recently had the flu and was in agony.

Jordan is not able to bend over or sit down on the ground, and if she forces it, her symptoms flare up. She struggles to hold a pencil, making her schooling a challenge, and after sitting in one position for a while she starts to lose sensation in her feet, and they turn very cold.  She has burning sensations and shooting pains down her arms and legs, and it changes constantly.  She has lost weight and muscle mass, and her pain levels are becoming more and more unbearable.

Medication only takes the edge off. Physical therapy has been stopped, as it doesn’t seem to be helping, and the medical decision is that it may cause more harm than good if continued.  Jordan is unable to walk beyond 200 feet without requiring multiple stops and experiencing tremendous pain from the neck down. Her back spasms can be so severe that they can be felt by her parents. 

The Sweats have decided that they cannot find the help Jordan needs in the Dallas area, and are working toward taking her to Boston Children’s Hospital to see the nations’ top neurosurgeons. They are unsure how long Jordan will need to be there, or what exactly the doctors can do, but they must try help their daughter. Living under these conditions has become an unbearable nightmare for her. Jordan has three younger sisters, and they would like nothing more than to see her happy and healthy again.

This journey will be long and difficult, and the friends of the Sweat family are setting up this GoFundMe page to give those that would like to help, the opportunity to do so.

A message from the Sweats:

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for helping Jordan to get the medical attention she needs.” – Sam, Shannon, Jordan, Jaime, Sydni and Samantha.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $75
    • 7 yrs
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Organizer and beneficiary

has not reviewed or approved this fundraiser.

Angela Lasher Minatrea
Organizer
Plano, TX
Shannon Sweat
Beneficiary

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