Update: Amanda is back in the hospital again for the third time. She has been in the ICU on and off since the 8th of July. When we arrived at the ER Amanda was having terrible pain in her chest and back, radiating up and down her arm. It was so severe that Amanda had a massive seizure, one of the worst I’ve seen her have in 17 years of knowing her. The ER called a code blue and rushed her to critical care where I was forced to wait outside as the medical team rushed to stabilize her and hooked her up to multiple machines. She had probably 20 people working on her. It was the scariest thing I have ever been through and there was nothing that that I could do. They admitted her from there and we have been here for the past 11 days. She’s been on an IV pain pump for the continuous excruciating pain. They can’t find the source of the pain besides the existing pulmonary embolisms but are still trying, so we have no idea at this point when she will be released. Doctors currently have Amanda on Lovenox injections and are hoping that the clots will respond to the treatment. Amanda's health situation is incredibly serious. The blood clots in her lungs have continued to multiply and have not responded to the anticoagulants that have been given to her over the past few months. Both Xaralto and Warfarin were not successful for her, as one saw her blood clots increase to 3x what they were at diagnosis, and the other her body would not stay at a therapeutic INR level in or out of the hospital despite taking the medication as directed, which meant that her clotting factor was wrong and she was at high risk for more clots. The clots are causing her excruciating pain. Amanda is no longer ambulatory most of the time, and has lost almost all of the motor skills and what little mobility she had left. She is in and out of consciousness due to the extremely high dosage of pain medication that is being pumped intravenously every 10 minutes. I have never seen her this way. Even her ability to verbally communicate has been lost through this admission from time to time. She makes it a point to call the kids every day no matter what, but a lot of those calls have simply been me calling them, and her just smiling through the pain and waving at the time, losing all control when it’s time to hang up. Currently the doctors are trying to find an effective anticoagulant and get it to a therapeutic level as well as trying to manage her pain. These are their two main goals. They are also working on a plan to safely bridge Amanda's pain management care to home care. I have still not been able to receive unemployment due to needing my birth certificate, which been ordered, but can take up to 150 days. I have been applying for jobs non-stop every day, but the current job climate is at its worst in decades and I have yet to find one. I am sick writing this to ask for help after so many of you have so generously helped us before, but we are out of options. Our family has exhausted their savings helping us survive and do not have the ability to help us any further. Bills have continued to pile up and our boys are starting school this week as well. This whole situation is completely awful and terrifying. As much as I wish that I did not have to ask all of you, I humbly beg you to help us in any way that you can. We are more grateful than you could ever know for your generosity. I will continue my non-stop search for another opportunity for employment to take care my family. I am literally writing this with tears in my eyes as I am pleading with all of you to please help in any way that you can. We are beyond grateful for any bit of help that you can provide as well as all of your prayers for our family and Amanda during this time. I’m so sorry to have to come to you again with this request and I assure you that we are all doing everything we can to make it through without having to ask for help. We have just had so many hard things hit us at once. The hardest being, what is happening to our Amanda. -Christopher Labigan (Amanda’s Husband Since this LFEBridge was created, Amanda was admitted to the hospital with as little as days to live. Her health has taken a turn for the worse. They’ve discovered her lungs are now full of pulmonary embolisms, and the only solution would be surgery, but because of how weak her heart is and how serious the pulmonary embolisms are, the hospital has not found any Level 1 hospital willing to do the surgery. Until then, they’ve been trying to keep her stable with different anti coagulants on an IV, but she is fading fast. Christopher has not left her side, and the kids are currently being taken care of by Manda’s Mom Sam, who takes care of the kids, Manda’s dog and house, and who visits her every day. Currently we do not know what the outcome will be. Without the surgery, Manda will die. She has already begun to fade very quickly and spends around 23.5 hours per day asleep as she is heavily sedated. Their bills are still coming in but there is currently no income at this point for this family. Hello, my name is Amanda. A lot of you know me from TikTok as Riley’s Mom. If you’re friends or a family member, you know our long, difficult history and how we got to where we are now. I was given one year to live in November of last year. I was diagnosed first with end stage right side heart failure and pulmonary hypertension, and then it was discovered that the reason for this is chronic pulmonary embolism. Currently, I have 3 very large blood clots in my lungs that make it impossible to do anything at all, and I am on oxygen and permanently in a wheelchair. Over the past year my current doctors have done not much to help, they have only anticipated my decline, which has been happening more rapidly the past few months. I am absolutely dying. Some days I don’t even have the strength to go to the bathroom without assistance, much less anything else. Those days are becoming more and more frequent. The one possible solution- pte surgery - is not something my body is strong enough for. As far as transplants for my heart and lungs, I do not qualify due to pre existing medical conditions. Before I was ever sick with heart/lung issues, I had two brain tumors, one of which caused hydrocephalus and the need for a shunt in my brain to keep me alive. I have had EIGHT brain surgeries since 2012. To say it’s been rough is putting it mildly. But I got through. I am the mother of two amazing kids, Riley, who is 17, and James who is 14. I have the most amazing husband Christopher who is also my full time care giver. Being sick is expensive and I have not been able to work for years because of my health. I have only been getting SSI for less than a year, but it is nothing compared to what I used to make, so Christopher is our primary earner and we live paycheck to paycheck. Our worst nightmares came true when Christopher was laid off at the beginning of last month. He has still been unable to find a job yet, and has yet for his unemployment to come through. We have also applied for services that have not come through yet. We are drowning. At this point, even if all of those things came through, we are in enough of a bind that we would still need to move or be unable to keep our lights and water on, or groceries for our boys. We need help so badly, and this is our last resort. Family has helped absolutely as much as they can, but we have exhausted all options and now need to ask for the kindness and mercy of all of you to provide for our boys. If you know me, you know what kind of person I am. Before Christopher’s layoff there wasn’t a LFEBridge I wouldn’t at least donate $5 to. I help everyone and would give the shirt off my back if you need it, and have proven that in my actions time and time again. I believe in kindness and paying it forward, and I hate that I have to ask to be on the receiving end, but we are desperate and I have no other choice. I know money is tight right now for everyone, and for that I am so so sorry. I wish I didn’t have to do this. But I thank you if you have taken the time to read this, share, or donate. You have no idea how much it means to us, and I will pay it forward the first chance I get. God bless.
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