March 19, 2024

‘Dana’s Road to Recovery’

A fundraising campaign has begun for family of stroke victim Dana Curtis

BAXTER — Neal Curtis has found himself doing many things since May 11, but he has been at the same place at least once each day: Mercy Hospital in Des Moines.

“I haven’t missed a day,” he said.

Curtis’s wife, Dana Doty Curtis, was taken to Mercy after her oldest daughter, Macy, found her at the family’s Baxter home, suffering from severe symptoms from her Type I diabetes. A couple of days after she was taken to Mercy, she suffered a stroke, and hasn’t fully regained consciousness.

Neal said he’s hoping to have Dana moved this week to an open bed at On With Life, an Ankeny rehabilitation facility specializing in brain injuries.

Charles Layne said Neal was a fourth-grade classmate when the two were growing up in Des Moines. The 30-year friendship led Layne and his wife, Emily, who now live in Omaha, to start an account with RedBasket.org, a crowdsourcing website, and more than $800 has been generated in less than one week.

Dana Curtis, 35, worked as an in-home caregiver for the elderly. Her three children, Macy, who is 20; Mady, who is 16, and Wyatt, who is 14, now have Neal, their stepfather, as the household’s sole provider. Neal and Dana were married in September 2009.

“Life has changed permanently for Neal and his family,” Layne said. “He really has to step up now. I can’t fathom, really, how much different things are for him. My wife and I thought it would be great if we could help out with an effort that would allow him to buy groceries and gas, and those sorts of things.”

Layne said he likes the RedBasket approach, as donations to the 501(c)(3) public charity charges no fees, and 100 percent of donations go directly to the beneficiary. Neal, 38, said Dana has shown some acknowledgement of the people in her hospital room — especially family. She reacts to touch, even in her legs, and has smiled, but still hasn’t opened her eyes.

Deb Curtis, Neal’s mother, said her son hasn’t been able to work since he started having to be at Mercy on a daily basis. Since his road-repair job with Denco takes him out to distant parts of Iowa for days at a time, he hasn’t been able to go with a crew, knowing he needed to be close to Des Moines.

Neal said he slept on a couch when Dana was in ICU, but hasn’t stayed overnight at Mercy since she was moved to a regular patient room.

“It’s going to be a long road,” he said. “For one thing, they need me to sign a new release form nearly every time they do anything medical, so I’m in Des Moines constantly.”

Neal said after Dana had the stroke, a portion of her skull was removed because her brain was swelling. That portion is being stored cryogenically and surgery will need to be performed to re-insert it, once the swelling has stopped. Neal said he was hoping to have that procedure done before Dana is discharged from Mercy. Layne said he’s at a loss for words of advice or comfort to his longtime friend.

He said the RedBasket account is an attempt to fill a financial void as another form of support.

Deb Curtis said no matter how quickly Dana’s recovery progresses, she will need a great deal of assistance. She said that’s why many people who care for the disabled and elderly have a broadened perspective, as they are reminded on the daily basis the needs all of us might have someday.

“She spent so much of her time as a caregiver,” Deb Curtis said. “Now, it’s tough for the family to have to see others giving care to her.”

The Curtis family's RedBasket donation page can be found here: http://bit.ly/1T1Wy2p

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com