Tuesday, August 29, 2006
who'll stop the rain?
The past few months have been rough for some family and friends. Two families in my acquaintance come to mind, one in Louisville, KY, and the other in Bloomington, IN.
I've mentioned the Louisville family before. Carrie died from complications following a C-section due to a heart condition related to Turner Syndrome, and her husband Lawrence is left with infant twins, Sydney and Matthew, to raise on his own... and a sea of paperwork to try to figure out. How he coped, and continues coping, with the grief and the joy is beyond me. He and the babies have a community of friends and family around them that has been incredibly supportive. Carrie touched the lives of many people, and they want to give back to her family. There's also a fund: Melvin L. Godbey in honor of Carrie Godbey, FBO Matthew or Sydney, c/o Commonwealth Bank & Trust Company, 12906 Shelbyville Road, P.O. Box 436209, Louisville, KY 40253-6209. (Lawrence also set up a fund in Carrie's memory to assist women who undergo IVF at the facility where Carrie did, but I do not have that address handy at this time.)
I've mentioned the Louisville family before. Carrie died from complications following a C-section due to a heart condition related to Turner Syndrome, and her husband Lawrence is left with infant twins, Sydney and Matthew, to raise on his own... and a sea of paperwork to try to figure out. How he coped, and continues coping, with the grief and the joy is beyond me. He and the babies have a community of friends and family around them that has been incredibly supportive. Carrie touched the lives of many people, and they want to give back to her family. There's also a fund: Melvin L. Godbey in honor of Carrie Godbey, FBO Matthew or Sydney, c/o Commonwealth Bank & Trust Company, 12906 Shelbyville Road, P.O. Box 436209, Louisville, KY 40253-6209. (Lawrence also set up a fund in Carrie's memory to assist women who undergo IVF at the facility where Carrie did, but I do not have that address handy at this time.)
While we were away at GenCon, my friend Lesley was hospitalized. The timeline went something like this: one day she was fine, the next she went to the hospital and by the end of that day she was on a ventilator. The diagnosis: Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS). Basically, her immune system is attacking her nervous system, so that now she is paralyzed. Last week she could raise her eyebrows to communicate, but now even that much mobility is gone. She can move her mouth, and she tries to talk--but mostly we ask yes/no questions and use a signal to determine her response. The good news is that most people recover 100% from GBS without ever having a recurrence of the paralysis--yet complete recovery could take anywhere from months to three years.
Family and friends have rallied 'round Lesley and her family, with volunteers taking care of her 8-month-old son, taking shifts sitting with her and serving as her advocate at the hospital, doing chores around the house, ensuring that her husband gets rest and food while he's basically trying to be Superman--taking care of her, spending time with the baby, dealing with the insurance, employment and other bureaucracies that "care" about her condition, and running his own business. She's in the long-term care section of the hospital, and while it seems as though she may have hit the plateau with the paralysis, it's difficult to tell. She's developed some complications that stem, at least in part, from not being able to move when, unfortunately, what her body absolutely doesn't need is more infections to fight. There's a fund for her, too: Donation for Lesley Davis, c/o Philippa Beatty Foundation, PO Box 2182, Bloomington IN 47402.
And I would be remiss if I didn't note Paul Kemp's most recent blog post (8/28/2006 @ 6:54AM) about his friend who is fighting cancer while scrambling to raise funds to help pay for COBRA as he lost both his medical benefits and his job thanks to a corporate acquisition that couldn't have been more poorly timed for his circumstances. Paul is accepting donations to help his friend via PayPal under his e-mail account, paulsvantekemp@yahoo.com.
Here's to better times for our friends and family....
Family and friends have rallied 'round Lesley and her family, with volunteers taking care of her 8-month-old son, taking shifts sitting with her and serving as her advocate at the hospital, doing chores around the house, ensuring that her husband gets rest and food while he's basically trying to be Superman--taking care of her, spending time with the baby, dealing with the insurance, employment and other bureaucracies that "care" about her condition, and running his own business. She's in the long-term care section of the hospital, and while it seems as though she may have hit the plateau with the paralysis, it's difficult to tell. She's developed some complications that stem, at least in part, from not being able to move when, unfortunately, what her body absolutely doesn't need is more infections to fight. There's a fund for her, too: Donation for Lesley Davis, c/o Philippa Beatty Foundation, PO Box 2182, Bloomington IN 47402.
And I would be remiss if I didn't note Paul Kemp's most recent blog post (8/28/2006 @ 6:54AM) about his friend who is fighting cancer while scrambling to raise funds to help pay for COBRA as he lost both his medical benefits and his job thanks to a corporate acquisition that couldn't have been more poorly timed for his circumstances. Paul is accepting donations to help his friend via PayPal under his e-mail account, paulsvantekemp@yahoo.com.
Here's to better times for our friends and family....
