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We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to Karsyn and Zachary for sharing their story on camera for our Monster Bash program videos! Stories like theirs best illustrate the need for long-term medical housing and the life-changing impact of having a free place to stay in moments of crisis.
Karsyn was diagnosed with preeclampsia when she was 22 weeks pregnant. Two weeks later, she was hospitalized at UAMS. “I had gestational diabetes,” Karsyn said, “…I had to have insulin, and then the preeclampsia, and then my liver started shutting down, and so they had to do an emergency C-section because pretty much I was dying—but it affected [my baby] in the womb too…the blood vessels in my placenta were too small and she wasn’t getting the nutrients she needs. So whereas she should have been way over three pounds, she was tiny.”
Karsyn’s daughter Ardyn was delivered by emergency c-section at 30 weeks. “There were so many things to worry about during that time because she was born at an APGAR scale of 1,” Karsyn explained, “meaning she was pretty much lifeless, and they had to resuscitate her, and it took them four and a half hours to even tell us if she was okay or not.” Ardyn was immediately placed in the NICU. “It wasn’t really a shock,” said Karsyn, “but you really can’t prepare anybody for that.”
In need of a place to stay close to Ardyn, Karsyn and her husband Zachary turned to Home for Healing. They had heard about the Home through a friend and decided it was the right place for them since they didn’t want to deal with the stress of paying for a hotel or needing to reapply for housing after an initial period. They already had plenty to worry about— “I don’t have benefits at my job,” Karsyn said. “I’m 1099 Self-employed…. I just didn’t get paid for the whole time I was up here, and then when I had her, I had a ton of medical bills on top of not being able to work.”
Karsyn describes her time at Home for Healing as “great.” “I mean, I made friends, had lots of support, and I always felt safe and comfortable,” she said. “And I could always look out the window and know that my baby was right there in the NICU.” She also enjoyed the Home’s serene, peaceful atmosphere.
Karsyn says Ardyn is doing wonderfully after being released from the NICU. She says she is “the happiest baby… She’s 4 months old, she’s barely 8 pounds. She’s so tiny—but she’s healthy!” Karsyn says it is a miracle that she is doing so well given her low APGAR scale at birth.
Karsyn stops by Home for Healing now and then when she’s in Little Rock for appointments. “I still feel like every time I pull in the parking lot to come here that I’m home. Every time I pull in, I’m like ‘Oh, we’re home!’”
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