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Naama was born on August 31, 1983 in Eilat,Israel.
Naama
loved to play tennis, shop,and hang out with her friends. She loved life and was always smiling and in a good mood. Her eyes
were one day Hazel and the next day blue, always bright and filled with life.
Naama graduated from Stevenson High School
in Lincolnshire, Illinois in the top 1/4 of her class and was so excited to be accepted at Boston University.
Naama
loved going to college in Boston and being a Delta Gamma. She was on the Dean's list at Boston and was studiing for finals
on December 16, 2002, when everything came to a halt when her heart stopped.
After paramedics were able to revive Naama
she was transfered to Beth Israel Hospital emergency room, where doctors managed to keep her alive.
Doctor's told us Naama
would need a heart transplant and were putting her on the list.
We prayed.
By the next day Naama had defeated the
odds and her heart was coming back.
Although the doctors told us that a virus had infected Naama's heart and caused
the heart attack. Naama's pediatrican and I believed that it was a combination of drugs that Naama had taken. HYDROXICUT and
ADDERAL, were found in Naama's room and her roommate said that Naama was taking them.
Naama like every teenage girl
thought that she was overweight and wanted to be skinny. So the promise of weight loss came with these drugs.
After
only two weeks Naama was flown by Air Ambulance back to Chicago, and spent two more weeks in the hospital before being transferred
to Rehab Institute of Chicago.
It was at this point that we realized that Naama wasn't responding to anything.
Doctor's
and therapists began to prep us that Naama might not come back to us. That she was in a PERSISTANT VEGATATIVE STATE.
We
refused to believe.
The first week of March, Naama came home. We had no idea what to do with her.
Naama was crying
out 24/7. We had to learn how to use the feeding tube for all her fluids and medications. Every week the doctor gave us a
different prescription to try to get her to sleep and stop crying. Nothing was working.
None of us were getting any sleep.
Every night we had to carry her upstairs to sleep. In the morning back downstairs so her dad could go to work, and I would
spend the day learning what to do, waiting for therapists to come.
Construction was started on building a bedroom
and bathroom on the main floor of the house. Equipment was bought. Special shower chair, a standing table, adjustable bed,
special air mattress. We paid everything ourselves, being assured that insurance would cover it all.
(Until today, we are
still fighting with the insurance company to pay for all of the above mentioned equipment and more. I was recently told by
the insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield that Naama's shower chair was a luxury item and that I could very well shower
her in her bed.)
Slowly we learned how to take care of Naama. Promised therapists came for two weeks and gave up. New
therapists were sought out, and that expense was also on our hands.
Little time was left for Naama's sister Maayan,a senior
at Stevenson High School, and brother Oren a Freshman at Stevenson, both who were suffering terribly.
In April of
2003,we turned to alternative medicine and flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Flordia for HYPERBARIC OXYGEN, with Dr. Neubauer.(See Therapy)
For
one month we lived in a small hotel room and took Naama twice a day for an hour each time, to lie in a hyperbaric chamber.
We also did speech therapy(See Therapy), Mio Facial Physical Therapy(See Therapy), and started Accupunture(See Therapy).
After
one month we came home without seeing much improvement, but were told Naama needed at least 200-300 more hours of oxygen.
In
July,2003 we once again went to Flordia, and rented a condo for 4 months. Naama had all the same therapies as before, but
this time Naama's dad couldn't stay with us. He spent weekdays in Buffalo Grove with our other two children and flew to Flordia
on Friday's, returning home to work on Monday mornings.
In August,we happily saw our first big improvement, Naama's feeding
tube was removed.
Naama could now eat regular food, that was semi purred in a food processor, and Naama could drink
liquids that were thickened with a thickening product.
We were making progress.
Naama started tracking pictures
with the speech therapist and sometimes looking at yes or no cards.
We felt for sure we were on our way.
It
was a very long time to be away from home, and so far removed from the family. Maayan left for college in September and that
left Oren home with his dad during the week and alone on the weekends. I felt my world falling apart, what kind of mother
was I, but what could be done. We had to bring Naama back and had to do whatever we could to make that happen.
In November,
we took Naama for one week to swim with the dolphins in the Flordia Keys. Naama was a scuba diver and had swam with the dolphins
before her accident and we thought, maybe, maybe it would ring a bell in her.(See picture)
Still no communication, and
it was time to come home.
Time to try and put the family back together.
Oren was having problems and Maayan wanted
to drop out of college after one semester. I had to see to my other children, and try and be there for them.
Since
then, we have continued with all of Naama's therapies and have added several others. All at our own expense. I take care of
Naama all day, and when Naama's dad gets home from work he takes over, so I can make dinner and do some household chores.
With all our expenses for therapy, there is little left over for help in the household.
Naama seems to be more aware
these days. She is eating well and looks great. She still cries and we don't know why. She seems to react to certain people,
to her two dogs, and at times to music. She looks as if she wants to speak out and just doesn't know how.
If you see her
and don't know, you don't understand why she just doen't get up. She looks so good.
2 1/2 years already and now we
are ready to try STEM CELL Therapy, but all of our savings have run out and we need help raising money to help fund the trip
abroad.
It is not easy to ask for help, but we refuse to give up.
We will try everything out there, before we say there
is nothing more. Because of the stem cell laws and restrictions here in the U.S. we must travel to foreign countries to get
the help that Naama needs.
It is not easy to leave the other children all the time, they need us as parents also, but we
have to give Naama the chance that she deserves and we are asking for your help.
naama page 3
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