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Family recovering from medical emergencies
Published July 20, 2008
SWEENY — A month ago, Tara Way could barely speak and couldn’t move the right side of her body.
This week, she walked into physical therapy.
“It’s not a perfect walk, and she doesn’t walk great distances,” said Tara’s husband, Matt Way, 26. “She tires pretty quickly because her muscles haven’t built up any stamina yet.”
On May 29, Tara Way, who celebrated her 25th birthday July 6, suffered a massive stroke while working at Angleton Auto Park and was rushed to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Twenty-six weeks pregnant with her first child, Tara was diagnosed with eclampsia, a life-threatening illness which is fatal in about 25 percent of cases.
Doctors delivered the baby, Myla Faith Way, at 1 pound, 13 ounces by emergency Cesarean section between a pair of brain surgeries to remove blood clots from Tara’s brain. Doctors said it could take at least six months for the young mother to begin moving her right side or talking.
The fact Tara says anything is “amazing,” said her sister-in-law, licensed speech therapist Alisha Way.
“She’s better all the time,” said Alisha Way, who helped Tara with speech and physical therapy after the young mother had no option other than to leave the hospital after 10 days when Medicaid was exhausted. “She floors me. Every day she’s a little bit better.”
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SPEAKING OF HELP
Tara now is able to speak in complete sentences, although her words sometimes are choppy and she often has to stop and re-focus her thoughts.
“I’m doing OK,” Tara said Friday afternoon before heading to Galveston to visit her daughter, now about seven weeks old. “It felt ... good to ... walk.”
The community has been very generous after learning of the couple’s dilemma, Matt said. In halting but clear speech, his wife agreed.
“They have responded ... a lot,” she said. “Thank you.”
After leaving the hospital, Tara and Matt couldn’t afford physical therapy, so family members stepped in wherever possible. Since then, numerous people and companies have filled those needs, Alisha Way said. Physical therapy is work from the waist down while occupational therapy deals with the upper body and everyday movements.
The family travels to Lake Jackson Rehab and Wellness a few times per week, and other therapists have offered to visit them at home. The Angleton Visiting Nurses Association has offered help, as has IPH Home Health.
The volume of calls and offers of assistance in almost every way has been overwhelming but “wonderful,” Alisha Way said.
“It’s been amazing,” she said. “We went from none. ... We went from famine to feast.”
The family is thankful for every offer of assistance and wants all to know they appreciate and have logged every one, Alisha Way said.
“You can’t tell everybody yes, but it’s such an awesome thing that there are so many people who want to help,” she said.
Faith is one of the reasons IPH Home Health got involved, nurse and Gulf Coast Primary Home Care administrator Suzelle Martin said.
“Our company is very Christian-based,” Martin said. “God’s the driving force here. Sometimes there are things that happen to people that are beyond our imaginations, and we felt like this was the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter who help comes from as long as it gets done. Therapy and recovery are a long road, but I’ve seen therapy and nurturing turn someone totally around.”
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MYLA GROWING
Myla is also recovering rapidly, Matt Way said. The baby now weighs 3 pounds, 12 ounces and is moved to a nursery from intensive care. The tiny oxygen mask which once covered her face is gone, and only a feeding tube remains from a collection of lines a few weeks ago, Matt said.
Medical professionals also are working toward moving her from the temperature-controlled isolette bed, and on Friday, Matt and Tara were allowed to attempt to feed Myla with a bottle for the first time.
“She’s doing fantastic,” Matt said. “She doesn’t have all of those tubes anymore and you can really see her face. The nurses still tell us our baby is a miracle.”
An account is set up for the family at TDECU. Anyone wishing to donate can call the Lake Jackson branch at (979) 297-1154 and ask about the Tara and Myla Way benefit account.
A garage sale fundraiser will be held for the family from
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 2 at Dunbar Park in Lake Jackson. To donate items, call Alisha or Jeremy Way at (979) 548-4389. A barbecue fundraiser, silent auction and auction also are planned for Aug. 10 at the Angleton Knights of Columbus Hall.
Tara is thankful for the assistance offered by the public and looks forward to the day she doesn’t have to take a two-hour trip to see Myla.
“Oh, yes,” Tara said with a laugh. “I’m so ready ... for Myla to ... come home.”
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