Ramp Van

Hello my name is Cherice and I have a 6yr old daughter named Stacey. She is the light of my life, and very special to me. She has Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy that originated from her not being treated for her jaundice when she was just a few days old. I didn't find this out until last fall. Stacey has had many, many medical complications arising from her having Cerebral Palsy and a genetic blood disorder called Factor 5 Liden that I have too and will pass on to all future children. She is growing up so big and beautiful and has an even more beautiful mind. I have done my absolute best at advocating for her. I used to be a nurse and work a 40+ hour work week and have a nurse to come in and take care of Stacey and that all changed on Sept 4th 2006 when I rushed Stacey to the hospital. She was very ill and I wasn't sure with what but I knew she was ill and she ended up having an infectious disease in her intestines and pancreatitis which is very rare in children. While we were in the hospital for those two complications we were awaiting a Gastrointestinal feeding tube placement and a fundoplancation which is a procedure that they do on children with severe Gastro Eshpogeal Reflux Disease (GERD) and when that occurred Stacey ended up with a bowel obstruction that snowballed into many other medical problems. She ended up needing a surgery where they opened her up all the way down and did "exploratory" surgery to find what went wrong and the surgeon had sewn her large bowel to the back of her stomach during the process of the surgeon doing the fundoplancation. When she got out of the surgery her vital signs were not stable at all and she ended up retaining alot of water and had to be rushed to the ICU and was put in a drug induced coma. She was in a coma and in the ICU for a week. The total time in the hospital was 2 months and since then I haven't been able to work because she requires even more care than before and physically she isn't the same child she used to be or could have been and now is subjected to a life in a wheelchair. I am ok with her being in a wheelchair I just want to make sure that she is getting all the services she needs and is doing everything she can to her full potential. I also don't want to her miss out on something that could benefit her. So I bravely asked her therapists and doctors that she be considered to receive a power wheelchair and they thought it was a great idea. So that leaves us here, where we are today. She is now being fitted for a power wheelchair and will be getting hers within a couple months. We are an active bunch. I am a co-leader of a girl scout troop and Stacey and I are disability/inclusion advocates for girl scouts. Stacey also has a new service dog named Sunny, who helps her tremendously. We have a minivan. But no wheelchair lift or ramp. I went to price used ramp van's and they start at $40,000.00 Being a single mom with limited income. I certainly cannot afford a ramp van for Stacey. So I am asking for your help in finding funding sources to help with this gargantuan cost. I look forward to talking with you in the future. I have enclosed a couple photos of Stacey and Sunny.

Thank You,
Cherice, Stacey and Sunny Lowry