Caring for the Caregiver
Welcome to our page dedicated to helping our friend Karen Koon Tabb, who faces the medical and financial challenge of her life. On Thursday, May 12, she will have major back surgery – her second in three years. Karen is an RN and nurse care coordinator for severely disabled children. As you will learn, she gives her time and love to care for children whose bodies
suffer from severe disabilities – lifting, carrying and serving them – even to the point of abusing her own body. She’s in severe pain because of a degenerative spine and failed back syndrome. She’s been postponing surgery because of the expense. As a single mother for many years, and a grandmother, Karen has struggled in recent years to pay her mounting medical costs, pay her bills, and hang onto her home. Her spine condition prevents her from working in higher-paying nursing jobs, the kind that also require more physical demanding. Now the caregiver needs care-taking. Three years ago, Karen had three lumbar vertebrae fused with bone grafts plus rods and screws to stabilize the spine – but the surgery didn’t work! Her pain came back even worse than before. For the past year, she has pushed through, trying not to miss work, have surgery, go into debt or slow down. But it has caught up to her. A few weeks ago I went with her to see a respected orthopedic surgeon in Tampa. We found out the bone grafts failed! And now the 3-inch titanium screws are wearing down and cannot hold the spine together much longer. The whole operation will have to be redone! If it’s not fixed soon, the screws will break and all three vertebrae will collapse onto the spinal nerves, causing irreversible damage. I know she can’t imagine the pain getting worse than it is now, but it will. Even after the surgery, Karen’s life doesn’t get any easier right away. She’ll miss up to three months of work – returning to work too soon the last time may have contributed to the failed fusion. Unfortunately, Karen has used up all of her sick leave and vacation time dealing with the pain and visiting doctors. And she’s exhausted her personal savings and all other resources. She really has no way to support herself financially during this long recovery. That’s where we come in. Those of us who know Karen want to help. We are collecting money and pledges to help pay her bills during the period that she can’t work. But we have a long way to go. The cost of Karen’s surgery will mostly be covered by her health insurance, but she still will owe at least $3,850 to the hospital and surgeon. If she misses three months of work – with absolutely no income – she will accumulate new bills totaling more than $7,000. That’s a financial hole of at least $10,850 waiting for her when she recovers! How much of that can we raise for her? How much can you help? Karen didn’t ask us to do this, and she’s a little embarrassed that we are. Nonetheless, we are going to try. If you don’t know Karen, or you want to know her better, please read more about her and her work here and on this timeline. If you have a picture or story about Karen to share, feel free to post it on the timeline. Like this page, share it on your page and with your friends. And most importantly, follow the instructions to donate to the special account we are using to help her. Thanks for your time and generosity. God bless. Greg and Cheryl Warner
904-610-1053
Karen in Her Own Words
“I am a nurse who serves disabled children – those with cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, autism, severe asthma or other serious conditions. The children just melt your heart! They are so sweet and loving. You can feel God’s love when you are around them! I work for Children’s Medical Services, a program of the Florida Department of Health, as a nurse care coordinator/registered nurse specialist. We serve children within the Medicaid system who have serious or chronic physical or developmental conditions that require extensive care. I manage a caseload of 200-plus kids, arranging for their referrals to different specialties, like allergists, neurologists, endocrinologists and craniofacial specialists. Some children I’ve cared for have been recovering from or awaiting transplants. I love on each and every one of our children, whether they are my patients or not. Some have severely limited mobility and can barely crawl. I used to lift and carry them, but unfortunately, now that my back has degenerated so much, I can’t do that anymore. So I tell them “climb up in my lap.”
I tell you, I love them so much! There’s one child who can’t speak but he tries to communicate by making a high-pitched noise or he will throw a kiss. When I throw him a kiss or make noises of my own, he just laughs! Some of the severe ones who are in wheelchairs don’t have a lot of expression, but I love on them just the same. I don’t play when it comes to meeting their needs! I only work with the providers that really take care of my kids -- because if they don’t, I move on to providers who will! If someone says “It can’t be done,” I fight for the kids to get what they need. Today was my last full day on the job before my surgery. In the last few days, I’ve been frantically trying to make sure that braces for legs are fitted and authorized, appointments are scheduled, moms are notified, etc., so that everyone has what they need before I’m out. I also work a second job on weekends taking care of other disabled children to try to make ends meet. It’s been such a joy! As much as I love the kids, the pace is wearing me down because I don’t have any time to recover from the rest of the week. So I won’t be able to work the second job after this surgery. It was really hard last Saturday to think about leaving them. I held the baby that is on an apnea monitor and listened to her "coo." I hugged the ones that could crawl into my lap. I took the blind toddler's hands into mine and sang, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!”
I welled up with joy at the wonderful time I’ve had with them every Saturday, caring for their special needs and communicating with them each in their own special way. I am already thinking how much I will miss each and every one of them!”
- Karen Koon Tabb
