DECEMBER 11, 2022
The day everything changed.
I got sick in December 2022. I went to the ER on Dec. 8th and was misdiagnosed with an MS relapse. Two days later, my husband Donald, found me on the bathroom floor passed out, my pupils dilated. He called 911 and I was rushed to the hospital in multi-system organ failure and in septic shock. We later found out it was from double pneumonia and a urinary track infection.
I went into a coma for seven days and when I woke up, I had bilateral gangrene on both of my feet. It was caused by the pressors they used to keep me alive. I had to wait for it to demarcate and literally felt my body eat itself from December until March. In March they amputated 7.5 toes and the entire muscle out of the arch of my left foot. I have been bedbound and healing for 317 days, and am going in for my 15th surgery on my feet, hopefully this is my final surgery....
This entire process has cost my family over $50,000, and we were not expecting this to happen. It has been hard to explain the depth of what we are going through to people because it is so overwhelming....but I will try.
We had our sons yearly mri to check his Chiari Malformation in July. They found a rare non cancerous hypothalamic mass that causes rage, anger, early puberty and seizures on our sons brain mri. It is called a hypothalamic hamartoma and happens in 1 in 200,000 kids. Lincoln will need a specialized doctor out of state for care. We are sending his records to New York, Arizona, and Texas. Treatment involves either an open skull craniectomy to resect or Gamma Knife or another Laser procedure... the tumor is located in the middle of his brain and we want whoever the best in their field is for his care. Lincoln is a brilliant child with huge emotions, this could be the reason his emotions have always been so big. It is heart wrenching as a Mom to watch your kid struggle to be good, he wants to so much, but he just can't contain the rage that comes out of him... and then he feels terrible. As scary as brain surgery or laser treatment is, the alternative of watching what this does to his self esteem and self worth would be so much worse. I see it in his eyes daily.
I am so thankful to my family for helping me, I do not know where I would be without their help but these costs we are enduring with constant hospital trips, Airbnb for the family to be close, food, add up so quickly and the extra funds we had are dwindling.. I know times are rough right now, so if you can't donate can you please share. Maybe if enough people share, it will gain traction...
No-one expects to get gangrene , lose their ability to work, walk, and care for their family.... I am thankful for my family who showed me we can get through anything but we need some help now.... Thank you for reading our story. 
