Thankful for the Heroes in Lisa’s Life

Fifteen years ago, Misty’s life went from pure joy to despair in a matter of minutes when her infant son suffered a traumatic brain injury. It was her mom, Lisa, who saved her son by performing CPR. Misty refers to her mother as her hero and inspiration. Now it is the daugher’s turn to be a hero for her mom.

After 30 years of marriage and raising four children, Lisa and her husband, Bruce, decided to embark on an adventure of a lifetime: traveling the country as long-haul truckers. Their adventure came to an abrupt end a year ago when Lisa began to experience severe illness and pain she couldn’t control. They headed back to East Texas, where Misty lives with her family, to seek medical care.

Lisa, in her early 50s, did not have health insurance and experienced great difficulty seeking medical care. After being turned away from several hospitals and clinics for further testing, Lisa finally found a physician to take her case.

Exploratory surgery revealed Lisa had stage 4 colon cancer and would need additional surgery and treatment. By now, Bruce and Lisa had exhausted all of their financial resources on medical expenses. They had moved in with Misty, who in addition to caring for her special-needs son, was working multiple jobs and trying to help navigate the health care system for her mother.

Misty worked tirelessly navigating the tedious process of obtaining Medicaid to help give her mother a chance at better care. She did everything she could to help Lisa with pain and purchased the supplies needed for her care on her own dime.

Following several trips to the emergency room for Lisa and increasing pain, her doctor recommended hospice care and referred her to the VNA office in Kaufman, knowing VNA was her last hope for help.

“I didn’t think it could be possible for anyone to care about me like they do,” Lisa says of VNA.

Without access to health insurance and having exhausted all of her financial resources, Lisa had given up on the idea that anyone in the medical community cared about her. She had experienced so much pain in the past year without much help from the medical community, and her family did not have the resources to provide the medication and supplies she so desperately needed.

Upon admission, VNA nurses were able to help Lisa manage her pain and regain some dignity with her day-to-day care. VNA admitted Lisa under charitable funding to expedite her care, while the VNA social worker, Paula, got to work helping Lisa enroll in Medicaid and access Social Security benefits.

Kevin, the VNA chaplain, regularly visits with Lisa and her family offering the spiritual support they need to make the most of her final days. “They pray for me. They reassure me. They care for me. They help me have good days without pain,” says Lisa.

Misty and Lisa refer to VNA and donors as angels. “I am so blessed by each person on the VNA team,” Lisa says. “I pray for not only them, but also for the people who give to VNA and make this care possible.”

You can make a difference in the lives of people just like Lisa. Contact Chris Culak at (214) 689-2601 or culakc@vnatexas.org to learn more, or simply return the enclosed reply card.