Hello, this is for my husband Jason Chernenko and I Rachel Chernenko. We would appreciate any help possible, even if it's just sharing the fundraiser. Thank you and God Bless 

Like millions of people, Jason finds himself battling an invisible but very real mental illness. For him it’s Severe Major Depression, PTSD, anxiety, and he also suffers from Psychogenic Non Epileptic Seizures. His seizures cannot be treated with medications and to add he is drug resistant to antidepressants. 

This past year has been a challenge as circumstances push him to survive on his own. He went from having a more rounded support system economically, mentally, and emotionally. People often can’t understand what it is to be living with mental illnesses as it’s often overlooked by many and mistaken for flaws. Having the proper care and support is fundamental for success and simple survival. There are several factors that have influenced where he is at right now, struggling to be okay. 

Jason’s last day at work as a special education teacher was in October of 2023. On this day he had two seizures at work and was rushed to the hospital. At this time he did not see it as a big deal as he’d been to the hospital on multiple occasions after having seizures. Most every other time it was due to being injured after having a seizure. For example one time he fell down his stairs into his basement and suffered a mild concussion. On another occasion, he fell outside causing damage to his leg that left him unable to have function and mobility in his left leg for nearly a week. This time he was treated and seen at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor where the doctors stated when he had the seizure, “my leg “died” for several days. my body did this to protect my leg during the fall.” When he was sent to the hospital after having seizures at work the doctors at the hospital confirmed the seizures and sent him home the next day. He took the remaining week off from work as advised to do. He went to work back the following week with his doctors note in hand stating he could return to work, but his employer informed me that he was unfit for work until he got a work up and plan in place prior to being deemed to be fit to work. He was devastated. He has been a special education teacher for more than 14 years caring and providing supports to students in need and now he was being told he needs to find support and not work doing what he wakes up every day loving what he does day in day out. 

Workup: Prior to his incident at work, he had been diagnosed with epilepsy. This diagnosis was about two years prior. In November after incident at work, the first thing he did was called his neurologist and explained to her that he needed a “workup” done before he was able to return to work. Jason’s neurologist was concerned for him since the medication he had been taking for almost 2 years was not controlling his seizures (at this time he was having 3-5 seizures a week). She soon made a referral for him to go to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor to have an overnight EEG done in hopes In capturing a seizure. If a seizure was captured they would find the cause of the seizures through surgery on his brain. In January he completed his overnight EEG sleep study. Fortunately on his second night at UofM he had a seizure. Fortunately, but unfortunately it was at the time he was diagnosed with PNES. PNES are attacks that may look like epileptic seizures but are not epileptic and instead are caused by psychological factors; such as traumatic events, and/or severe major depression. 

This made perfect sense; Right around the same time he was diagnosed with epilepsy, he was also diagnosed with Complex PTSD (complex post traumatic stress disorder). His aura/warning signs he experienced before having a seizure was lots of anxiety due to things like sirens, being in a busy environment, flashing lights, stress, and flashbacks of the traumatic events he experienced years before. At this time he was discharged in 2.5 days with a referrals to start Treatment with cognitive based behavior therapy and serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (antidepressants). At this time he felt pretty good about my outlook on his life since this diagnosis and ability to return to work. Moving forward he would attend therapy and find the right medication to stabilize his mood and severe major depression and PTSD symptoms. 

In January he found a therapist that worked closely with individuals with PTSD and PNES. He has been with her since. He has been seeing the same therapist once a week since the end of January. The focus has been on cognitive based therapy and cognitive processing therapy. This has been a real struggle and he has shown little improvement with his seizures and PTSD. The plan is to start EMDR therapy soon. During the month of January he continued to have 3-5 seizures a week and fight the symptoms of his PTSD despite therapy once a week. For this reason he was still unable to work. 

Also, in January he was referred to see a psychiatrist. His first visit was in February where the psychiatrist confirmed his previous diagnosis’ of complex PTSD and severe major depression. His first appointment was very nerve wrecking, mostly due to me having a bad stigma for psychiatric care. During his first appointment he was prescribed 2 new medications. Over the next 4 months he has discontinued and started new medications for his depression more than a handful of times due to not responding to the medications he was put on. It was at this time the psychiatrist deemed him as drug resistant to antidepressants. During the weeks and months he continued to attend therapy once a week, see his psychiatrist 1-3 times monthly, and seen his PCP 1-2 monthly. 

In June his psychiatrist introduced him to Spravato (ketamine therapy/treatment). This drug has shown in studies to be very effective in treating severe major depression that could not be treated otherwise with antidepressants. Jason and his psychiatrist had high hopes that this would be very helpful in managing his seizures, PTSD, and depression. Jason would soon agree to this treatment once a week. 

In the coming months ahead, July and August he saw some minimal improvement with having spravato treatment once a week and continued therapy once a week. During these months my seizures were reduced to 2-4 per week. He continued to see his psychiatrist but only once every 3-4 weeks and PCP once per month. During these months he continued to struggle emotionally with his depression, PTSD triggers, and continued to have seizures due to my PTSD and severe major depression. 

In August, September, and October everything remained the same with his depression and seizure activity and yet again he was growing frustrated that he was not getting better. Still off work, having seizures, and not being able to control his depression and PRSD symptoms In his last appointment with psychiatrist it was suggested spravato treatment to be increased to twice a week. This will begin within next couple of weeks. At the same time his psychiatrist also made a recommendation for him to start adult outpatient hospitalization psychiatric program for 1-2 weeks. At this time he is anxiously awaiting the phone call to begin hospitalization. When he has completed this he will resume therapy with his therapist and have spravato treatment twice weekly. He will continue to see his psychiatrist and PCP once a month. 

As stated by Jason, “I am growing impatient and frustrated with all the care and treatment so have put forth for almost a year now with little growth. I have high hopes the hospitalization, increasing spravato treatment to twice a week, and beginning EMDR therapy very soon with have a positive effect on controlling my seizures, PTSD, and managing my severe major depression.” 

As you are well aware of now, this all has left him unfit to work in any work capacity. He has been advised to apply for social security disability and has done just that. He have filed for disability benefits to be able to pay my medical bills as he continues to get the treatments needed to get back to the healthy mindset he was once at. However, it has almost been a year and his application was recently denied. He however in the process of appealing the denial. This all has taken a toll on him, his wife, and family: financially, mentally, and emotionally. 

This isn’t easy for us to do but at this time we see little to no light at the end of the tunnel. We want to be as transparent as possible when I'm asking for help. It's not easy for me to do this. I've never been the one to ask for help but Jason unable to work a normal job because of my mental health issues and fear of leaving my house plus it would disqualify me from disability which at this moment is my best option while I work on getting better. 

We will be using donations to be able to pay homeowners expenses and also to pay medical expenses, hospital expenses, spravato treatment, and to continuation of counseling. Your support can make a real difference in providing resources, counseling, and support. Every donation, no matter the size, brings me one step closer to making a positive change.”

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Chernenko's need some support.

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