Support Kathy Schaller's Recovery Journey

On April 5, 2024, our sister, Kathy Schaller’s life was changed forever. At 46 years old, Kathy had an Intracerebral Hemorrhagic Stroke (ICH) on the left side. The cause was a blood vessel that burst and leaked into her brain tissue. She had symptoms at her home and was quickly transported to the ER. At the hospital, the bleed then tripled in size in only 15 minutes. Fortunately, she was able to receive immediate surgery to remove part of her skull and contain the bleed.

Unfortunately, it is the left side of her brain that suffered the most damage. The left side of the brain affects speech, motor skills for the right side of the body. As of today, Kathy has no movement on her right side. Thankfully, she has great movement on her left side of her body but she is right-handed.

Kathy is currently unable to speak or swallow, but still has her amazing smile. Soon she will have her feeding tube moved from her nose to her stomach having many benefits as far as therapy and comfort are concerned. We regularly meet with her wonderful surgeon and doctors, but sadly there is no crystal ball to predict what functions Kathy will regain and when. As her brain continues to heal and the swelling goes down, we will hopefully see some improvement on her right-hand side. She will remain without a portion of her skull until her brain swelling goes down and it can safely be replaced. They are estimating 3-4 months before that can happen.

The doctors have explained that it could be several months to a year(s) before Kathy’s abilities reach their full healing potential. They believe that there will be a disability on the right side and only time will tell if she will be able to walk again. The doctors have also explained that struggles to talk and swallow may be long term for her as well.

In addition to damage caused by the stroke, she is battling aspiration pneumonia making it hard for her to cough. The doctors reiterate that she is going to have ups and downs throughout her healing process.

Fortunately, Kathy has a great neurosurgeon and doctors following her case. We all agree that she has age on her side and an 11-year-old son (who needs his Mama) as motivation! Kathy is a fighter and our family is going to make sure she gets the best care. The doctors are really pushing for Kathy to have acute therapy at Miller Dwan. This situation would offer her the best chance for her body to recover and regain abilities.

Visitation for Kathy is limited to immediate family at this time. For health and safety reasons and above all her rest - we are following this advice from her medical team. We thank you for your understanding. Our family will do our best to provide updates on her healing developments and we thank you all for your concern. Your well wishes and prayers are being passed on to Kathy.

If you know Kathy, you know that she is the most loving, kindhearted sister, daughter, mother,

niece, cousin and friend to all. She has always been that person who goes out of her way to help anyone she can. We know that would give the last $10 she had to help someone in need. Her compassion for her family and friends is something we are all proud of.

Being a single mom, and working two jobs to make ends meet, as imagined this has already caused a tough financial burden for Kathy and her son. Thank you in advance for taking the time to learn of Kathy’s situation and also for any contribution you can make to help her along on her healing journey. We have been told many times by the medical professionals and have accepted the reality that, “This is a Marathon, Not a Sprint” for Kathy.

Please continue to pray for Kathy’s health and recovery.

Thank you for your support!

Larry Schaller(Dad), Kolleen Oswskey(sister), Joann Lietha(sister), Amanda Sjoberg (sister)