Snowdon Challenge: Tessa's Road to Recovery

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This is Tessa, she suffered a large left sided stroke 3 days before her 37th birthday; this had been caused by a rare tumour within her heart which presented no symptoms (Silent Atrial Myxoma). 

She was found at home, after her partner returned from work in the evening, still in her bed clothes, indicating that the stroke had happened 8-9 hours prior. As it is crucial to receive medical attention within the first four hour window she has been left with severe cognitive difficulty, disturbance to her vision, paralysis of her right limbs and Aphasia which is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. 

Her husband Nick & 2 small children are doing all they can to support & help with her recovery alongside all the amazing teams in the NHS; but unfortunately, we know this is going to be an ongoing battle requiring more than just love & support. 

Tessa has already undergone life saving open heart surgery to remove the tumour & has also had a craniectomy (removal of part of the skull) to relieve pressure on her brain caused by swelling from the trauma. Thankfully she survived & continues to prove to everyone she's a fighter (she puts up with Nick & surely that's enough)!

She will soon be leaving the hospital that she has been under the care of for nearly 2 months and will be moving to an in-patient rehabilitation facility to continue her journey & go from strength to strength.

This however means little to no contact from her family due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as due to understandable concerns they cannot allow visitation & will be limited to phone calls & video calls assisted by the staff there (Nick is hoping that garden therapy sessions will be allowed in the near future but this has yet to be confirmed).

So we wanted to do our bit as a family, to support their family and look to you, our friends, family and people we may never have met to support us.

This will contribute to the spiralling costs of ongoing healthcare, rehabilitation & of course, at home adaptations; as without these Tessa cannot return home to be with those who love her most & need her home with them, including her two young children. 

Due to the severity of her stroke she will require all disciplines, making it beyond the means of the family unit.  Nick is currently not able to work due to having to take over the care of the children & Tessa. 

An example of cost for a private clinic/treatment per week ranges between £7,000 - £11,000, this does not include any equipment or at home adaptations that will be needed for her to return home & continue her recovery!

Good news, Tessa is making progress & we want to make sure that she can continue & give her and her family the best possibility to gain back as much of their normality & independence as possible.

We will be climbing Mt.Snowdon on the 16th of September 2020 taking the Pyg Track and will be descending down Llanberis. This is 7.88 miles in total with an ascent of around 2624ft. We are hoping that we can aim to do this in 7 hours.

Only one of our 3 person group has done this before & in truth our level of fitness is, well, non-existent. This is a challenge in itself for us but nothing compared to what Tessa, Nick & the children are going through. 

Your donations, no matter how big or small will help contribute to the many adaptations to their home, specialist physiotherapy, speech & language therapy and aids as she cannot walk or use her right arm.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read this through & helping support a wonderful family going through the hardest of times during what is a hard & testing time for all of us.

If you want to follow our journey through training & up the peak:
https://www.instagram.com/icklemisstrex/ 
https://www.instagram.com/ylmbeats/