Amazing Single Mom

(SANEPR.com) May 22, 2009 --

Amazing story of a single mom and her two daughters, one who has special needs.

My name is Marjorie J McDonald.  I am an award winning clothing designer. 
I am returning to work after recovering from a accident injury and extensive
rehab.  Recently, when attending a networking event I had the pleasure of
meeting Linda Katz.

I was so impressed with her story that I felt that I would like to help her
by doing 2 fund raiser fashion shows.

Linda is a single mom with two daughters, Emily and Erin. Emily, her older
daughter is a 15 year old spastic quadraplegic since birth and due to medical
complications Emily is also blind and deaf.  In spite of all of the challenges
of her short life up to now, Emily is one of the happiest children you could ever
meet and her smile is absolutely engaging.  She knows only unconditional love.
 
Linda is very diligent to provide the care her child needs. Their relationship is
amazingly touching. Her main floor is primarily used for Emily's care and
equipment.  The only bathroom on the main floor is a half bath so Emily has had
to have sponge baths for quite some time. The goal is to raise enough funds to
convert a sunporch on the first floor into a full bathroom so Emily can have
the necessary care with her bathing needs.

Recently Linda had a flood inside of the house and had extensive damage to the
interior making it even harder for her to care for her family.

In Linda's words, here is her story:
I'm one person trying to juggle the load of about 7 people. I have had to
make up the slack of my ex leaving and not being there to help me, have had
to monitor on a daily basis the nursing help to be sure that Emily is safely
cared for, have had to be proactive in being an advocate for her care when
she is in any medical facility and in getting help to cover the cost of her
care.

I'm trying to work to provide the needed income from my regular job and my 2
part-time jobs and I have to cover whenever the nursing staff does not show
up when they are scheduled. I'm an expert at stretching but the extra needed
to do the home remodeling project is just beyond my capacity to stretch any
further.  I still have to make time and energy for my younger daughter and now
have taken in an exchange student who needed a place to stay. She has been
such a blessing to everyone in the family.

Emily has stayed in the hospital for 6 months at a time and I have almost
lost her a number of times because of medical errors, caregivers who did not
have her or my best interest at heart, or did not want to work hard or had
some perverted desire to withhold care so her life would be shortened. One
was even caught throwing away her food.

I'm one small person (with a big heart) carrying a huge load, who feels
blessed everyday that I get to spend with my kids and that they are alive
and happy.  I'm maxed with my stretching and even finding it difficult to
move Emily in and out of the house when I need to take her for care.

Besides my monumental efforts to get her all the help she needs it is still
a daunting challenge.

Any help or contributions would be welcome.  You can get additional information
at http://www.marjoriejmcdonald.com/fashionshow