Supporting Celina Lemon and Family

Hi ❤️ If you’re here, you've heard about Celina's journey either directly or indirectly and know how much of a fighter she is

On March 8, 2023 — after having just hit the 7 month milestone of pregnancy with her twin girls — Celina woke up feeling dizzy with pain inside her head. What started off as a regular morning turned into a life-changing event as Celina went unconscious and began having a seizure.

Because of her intuition that something was wrong and quick thinking, the paramedics arrived and rushed her to the ER. Soon after arriving in the ER, she went into cardiac arrest, which required an emergency c-section to save her twin girls while they pumped Celina’s heart. After her c-section, she was rushed to have a CT scan which revealed that Celina was experiencing a massive bleed in her brain due to an AVM (arteriovenous malformation). An AVM, which we never knew she had, is a congenital malformation where arteries and veins connect and are tangled when they should not be. Celina's was located in the left occipital lobe of her brain and when it ruptured into various lobes of her brain, it triggered a cascade of life threatening events including cardiac arrest, intraparenchymal hemorrhage, and seizure. After her CT scan, she was rushed into two emergency brain surgeries to release pressure and stop the bleeding.

Celina spent a month in the ICU, where she had a third brain surgery to remove excess blood and brain fluid that wasn’t being absorbed. Miraculously, all of her procedures went well and she was transferred to inpatient rehab to do physical, occupational and speech therapy at the hospital.

Celina and the babies (who spent more than a month in the NICU) are now home with their amazing papa Juan and loving big brothers Luca and Joaquin who can’t get enough of their sisters. Celina has gone through an in-home therapy program and is now doing outpatient vision, speech, occupational, and physical therapy.

It’s a true miracle that Celina and her baby girls are with us today. As an occupational therapist who once worked at a hospital, she taught Juan the importance of giving her therapy as soon as possible if something like this ever happened to her, which he did to his fullest capacity. She’s healing one day at a time and, to the surprise of no one who knows her, she’s already come so far.

While everyone’s hopeful for a full recovery, Celina still has a long and challenging journey ahead. Her massive brain bleed has impacted her physically, cognitively (including short term memory), and visually (to name a few). Her body is working relentlessly to resolve the bleed, and the first 12-18 months are of utmost importance for recovery from an AVM bleed. Care for her and the babies has been extremely costly and the family is truly grateful for any support you can provide — which will go directly toward covering medical bills and related expenses. Juan has taken unpaid leave in order to support her full recovery and manage her and the girls’ healthcare.

Celina’s community has already been so helpful and she can feel the love from everyone who’s stepped in during this unimaginable time. We are beyond thankful.

With your continued support, we believe she will one day be fully back to the incredible, hilarious, one-in-a-million person that she is ✨

I am organizing this fundraiser as Celina’s colleague as a fellow occupational therapist working for LAUSD and friend since OT school at USC. Anything you can give will help Celina, her husband, and her four little ones. Thank you ❤️

Direct Venmo donations can be sent to: @linalemon