HOW TO SUPPORT
Support the Organizations that
helped us and many more!!
ADDITIONAL EXPENSES
- The Hyperbaric chamber treatment is starting to add up at nearly $800 a month. She is starting to make some progress but this therapy could take a few months or longer. We are trying to look at getting a chamber for the house to cut down on travel time (especially with winter around the corner) but the cheapest unit we have found starts at $5K. This unit could also help Jennifer out as well.---UPDATE!!! We got a chamber 10 Apr 2019!
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- Oral care suction brushes to prevent toothpaste from going in her lungs about a $200 monthly cost.
- Chucks (like pet pads) used to catch accidental overflow at night when traveling or even just relaxing on the couch with the family. About a $300 monthly cost. We have been lucky so far that we have had these directly donated by some clinics.
- Over the counter medications not covered by insurance which fluctuates from $200-$400 a month.
- We need to widen the bathroom door and replace the current swing door with a pocket door. The most expensive part is the materials. John estimates the project can be done for about $500 with additional help from some skilled carpenters and drywall volunteers.
- We will need to build a more permanent wheelchair ramp in the near future to replace the one John made out of the old flower planter boxwood. We had an estimate from a cement contractor for nearly $2,500 but John thinks he can possibly get it built with a roof for about half that estimated cost. This is the project is not really a priority but we know the current ramp is a little steeper then required when Ellie uses it in the future (prayers) especially in the winter for everyone.
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e-mail us with ways you can help info@ItIsAboutHER.com
These Organizations were the first to help us out to get Ellie from Kansas City to the family in Salt Lake City were she get better care and start the recovery. Angel Med Flight matched the ground transportation bid and got Ellie to the Promise Hospital in just a few hours instead of the day it would have taken by ground if the winter weather was perfect. Jennifer's Family did initially pay for the flight but Hill AFB Family Foundation and Wish for our Heroes donated all the reimbursement for this medical flight.
The Ammo family - Not enough can be said about thousands of people John has worked with and the support they contributed in just a few weeks to help out one of their own in the time of this tragic event. The Ammo Chief's Association (local and worldwide chapter), Active Duty, and Retired Ammo friend & family made it possible for the family to make daily trips to the hospital in Salt Lake City form the home (about a 90 minute drive each way). Their contributions also helped with some of the initial modification that had to be done to the home for Ellie.
A GRANT from the Air Force Aid Society is making the Theracycle possible(most funding from this organization is a 0% loan but we were blessed with a grant!). This was made possible by the great people at the Airman Family and Readiness Center like the EFMP coordinator, Tammy. She helped write a letter on our family behalf to help explain or situation. Also, Ellie's occupational Therapy specialist wrote a letter to the private organization explaining the critical need for this therapy bike.
A generous donation from Operation Warm Heart is making the driveway possible to start before winter. We are also getting some assistance from the neighborhood Perry & Layton community and business to help with some of the aspects of the project. The help is going to greatly reduce the cost and let us put some other needed wheelchair modification in place before the winter for Ellie. This funded project is going to be a huge help for us, just a little more area to remove snow but well worth it for Ellie's health and safety. - Thank You and God Bless for this miracle we posted a video on the home page of all the work it took.
For those of you who do not know, Ellie had a beautiful smile before this. We had to use mouth guards to keep her from biting through her tongue during seizures. This caused her teeth to shift outward. We saw so many specialists asking for help. Ellie’s ENT and a few other doctors recommended Invisalign to help keep Ellie from biting her tongue and to help straighten her teeth. Believe it or not, nobody wanted to any part of it and refused to help!!! To make things worse it is very hard to get Ellie to open her mouth so getting a mold of her teeth was going to be impossible. Then we heard of a company called smile direct!
This company has state of the art equipment allowing them to take photos of your mouth to create a 3D image and get you aligners which they mail directly to your home. No need for extra appointments or hassles! The staff was incredible and worked above and beyond to get the images. I was still worried though because, even with such amazing staff, I knew the images were not great due to all the saliva she was accumulating. Well, today we received the aligners. I cannot tell you enough how thrilled I am that these fit perfectly! I am not exaggerating, these aligners snapped right into place. Ellie spent a few minutes feeling them and hasn’t bitten her tongue at all today! I am beyond ecstatic to know we are one step closer to getting her tongue swelling down, which is a requirement for getting the trach out. Furthermore, because of Ellie’s situation, the company has taken the initiative and is walking us through every step! They called during each process to keep us up to date and video chatted today to ensure a proper fit. They check back regularly to make sure there is no discomfort or bleeding along the edges.