Rally for "Miracle Mom" Cheryl McLaren

On February 2nd Cheryl was diagnosed with influenza A in Charlevoix where she was given the medication Tamiflu (an antiviral), albuterol breathing treatments and also placed on oxygen.  She was observed for roughly 12 hours and sent home. For a few days she seemed to be making progress and getting better until February 11th when her oxygen levels plummeted into the 70% range and her blood sugars were in the 500's!  We knew we had to get her to the hospital, so my father Patrick and I brought her to the E.R. at Mclaren Northern Michigan in Petoskey.  The ER doctor told us she would be admitted and we thought well of course she is...we can see she is very sick.  They ran so many tests and an unbelievable amount of blood work, she had an EKG, Ultrasounds, chest X-Rays, tests for blood clots, she had 2 I.Vs at this point pumping fluids. My father and I weren't told much of anything through-out the roughly 6 hours we spent waiting for a room on what we assumed would be the main floor. Mom was awake/aware the whole time and Dad and I had been joking and keeping things light, but we were in for a very sobering experience when we finally met with the Pulmonologist. We were told to wait in the ICU waiting room for the Doctor and lead nurse to come speak with us.  This was the 1st time anyone had uttered the words ICU to either one of us.  We had no reason to believe she didn't just need some antibiotics and extra care that a hospital could give. We were in no way prepared for the shocking turn our lives were about to take...there was no buffer.  The news from that doctor and nurse was to kiss her goodbye because the best case scenario was that my mom would be put on full life support and never recover...she would spend the rest of her life ventilated at a nursing home.  She had zero left to give and that her batteries were about to run out and once on the vent she would never regain strength to survive on her own.  Now if any of you know my Mom her reaction would of been and eventually was "do not speak that over me for that is not for me!"  My father and I at the same time refuted this outcome and I'm sure that Doctor and Nurse thought we were nuts but we weren't about to lay claim to that when we knew Cheryl/Mom wouldn't have either. So, within the hour Mom was put on life support and we were left to call family and ask them to pray and if they could come see her.  We found out that not only was Mom suffering the flu but she was also in diabetic keto-acidosis,  and ARDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome) an extremely rare condition where fluid collects in the lungs air sacs depriving organs of oxygen.  Any single one of those conditions had the potential to be fatal.  The Doctors timeline was to slowly ween her off the ventilator by that Thursday(4days later) to see how she would do... but with all of the prayers she was receiving, her inner strength and a great ICU team,  my Mom was fully off life support by then and she was discharged by Wednesday of the following week to boot! The Pulmonologist told her she was their "Miracle."  Medically, this wasn't supposed to end this way but by Gods grace it did. Unfortunately though...being a Miracle isn't cheap.  It doesn't stop the hospital from billing you, it doesn't pay for the many treatments she needs still, the multiple new medications shes having to take, and the day to day bills that have piled up.  My parents have been disabled the majority of the past 20 years and to say that things are financially tight would be like saying the Titanic was just a fishing boat.   I am hoping that by setting up this fundraiser my Mom and Dad are able to breathe easier when it comes to finances. Their monthly income being disabled barely covers the necessities and some times it doesn't even stretch far enough to cover those. This fundraiser is urgent and the need is urgent.  Every penny counts and every prayer helps and please please share this as many times as you can!