Support the Schultz Family navigate a new normal

For those who know Tina, you are aware that her family has been struggling since she fell ill in late 2019 with what started as a staph infection that gave way to a domino effect of illnesses. Throughout 2020, a collection of autoimmune issues began to take over most of her body, sending her in and out of the hospital. Illness weakened her body so severely that she could no longer move about the house, bathe or eat without assistance. She was in horrible pain, lost feeling below her knees, and had significant difficulty walking. Something had to give, and it did, in the worst way possible.

In April 2021, Tina was rushed to the Emergency Room after nearly two weeks of being completely bed-bound and unable to walk, eat/drink, go to the bathroom, or bathe without Doug’s help. Within minutes of being evaluated, admitted, and taken to a room, she fell into a coma. She was rushed to the ICU and remained in a coma for two weeks. During this time, doctors struggled to get her body to respond to treatment, but the prognosis was grim, with no functioning digestive system, liver failure, kidney failure, and internal bleeding. The hospital had the grief team speak with Doug about how to prepare himself and Jackson for the worst, the possibility that Tina would not be going home. Tina wasn’t waking up, and they didn’t have anything else to try. Thankfully one doctor wouldn’t give up, and he told Doug that he would administer a cocktail of heavy antibiotics and steroids, then sit her upright in a chair using a crane sling. Shortly after, Tina began to wake up slowly. After two weeks in the acute care ward and two weeks of physical, occupational, and speech therapy, Tina was able to return home.

While Tina feels genuinely grateful to have made it through that chapter, she is constantly adjusting to the “new normal” of living with limited mobility, intense pain and fatigue, and a barrage of medications, doctor appointments, and testing. Tina now has permanent nerve damage, causing neuropathy in her legs, feet, and hands, significantly restricting her mobility. Her memory and processing speed are diminished, and she spends a good bit of time doing brain flexibility exercises to stave off further deterioration. Simple things like walking, turning over in bed, writing, and typing can be difficult at best and impossible on the worst days. A liver transplant may be the only hope for her to live a full life; however, the longer the wait for a transplant, the more risk Tina has of needing dialysis and possibly a transplanted kidney.

Until now, the family has remained as positive as possible, doing whatever they can to stay afloat. Doug has needed to take so much time from work that any leave is unpaid. He is the only driver and sole caretaker in the house. Tina is often too fatigued or in too much pain to climb the stairs of their townhouse and must remain on the first floor, with her hospital bed in what used to be the dining room.

As friends of the Schultz family, we are asking for support from the wider community to help them through this challenging time as they work towards a more manageable new normal. Contributions of any size will help Tina and her family with innumerable medical expenses and kickstart a few accessibility changes around the house that will help support a safer journey to semi-independence for Tina.