Support for Lauren After Medical Issues

My name is Katie Lerch and I am writing this in hopes of gathering financial support for my mom, Lauren, after a slew of medical issues.

Some of you may know her, some may not; but I'd like to share a bit of her story. My mom has taught me a lot about determination, hope, patience - but most of all, love. After her divorce, she navigated raising two daughters while living across the country from her family, managed to support both of us in any activities we wanted to pursue (driving us to and from school, dance classes, late night practices, across the country football games), and never missed a chance to cheer us on from the audience.

Back in 2021, my mom was unfortunately put on a ventilator due to a coronavirus infection (which we believe she caught while we was at work, since she was considered an essential worker). After a long recovery that consisted of many respiratory treatments, a tracheostomy, and resulting occupational therapy, she was diagnosed with kidney failure.

In early January 2023, Lauren started to suffer from what she thought was a stomach infection. This meant that her dialysis port needed to be replaced by a catheter in her chest, which required hospitalization and several weeks of antibiotics, but also barred her from being able to take part in at-home dialysis treatments. She now has to go into the clinic 3 times a week to complete her treatments. Lauren was later diagnosed with diverticulitis and after months of antibiotics with no relief and numerous emergency room stays, doctors decided she needed to have surgery to remove the infected area of her digestive tract.

This surgery resulted in complications that led to a temporary colostomy from June to September, and Lauren was not able to return to work until this fully healed. Additionally, in October, she had to have a permanent dialysis access put into her arm - a surgery which again resulted in complications and a hospital stay. She is now trying to get onto the transplant list with the Mayo Clinic.

Because of the multitude of issues, my mom has been unable to work and has missed over 6 months of work. Her leave of absences has covered only 70% of her income, therefore she has depleted her savings to make up the difference. Dialysis prevents her from being able to work a second job, and on top of this scheduling issues with her dialysis treatments prevent her from being able to work a full 40 hours. Issues have come up with some of her disability benefits due to her not being able to work enough hours to qualify.

My mom's main goal is to catch up on regular bills that have piled up due to the large amount of unexpected medical bills that she's been hit with from at least 5 hospitalizations and 8 surgeries just from this past year.

I understand this is a lot - but we'd like to ask for anything to help support my mom financially as we navigate this extremely difficult time. My mom is one of the most important people in my life and I'd like to show her that it's now time for us to support her.