Collen Uhrbrock & daughter Chrissy

Muskegon, MI

Our Story...

The baby monitor hissed. Labored breathing strained through the electronic speaker. Then the vigilant mom awoke immediately in the middle of the night. She methodically raced into her daughter’s bedroom and confidently rescued Chrissy from the ravages of still another epileptic seizure.

Colleen Uhrbrock’s poise under pressure stems from 37 years of experience.

For nearly four decades, Colleen’s provided round-the-clock care for her 37-year –old daughter, ever since Chrissy was born with autism and a seizure disorder that today leaves her fragile 90-pound, 5-foot-2-inch body vulnerable to falls, injury, and even suffocation in bed during a seizure.

“I really think that Chrissy wouldn’t live long in an institution. No one could give her the kind of constant care she gets at home with me,” says Colleen, a Home Help worker in Ravenna who helps her daughter feed, bathe and dress herself. “My mind is on constant overload worrying about Chrissy.”

And no wonder. Chrissy can’t speak. She wobbles like a toddler rather than walks like the adult. And recently while attending a school for adults like her, Chrissy fell out of a chair during a seizure and I njured her head.

But Colleen is only too happy to provide her daughter this comprehensive personal care at home. Colleen even bakes cheesecakes and other soft foods that Chrissy can more easily chew. “She is so sweet, so cute,” says Colleen. “I can’t imagine not caring for my little angel, my sugar bear.”

But Colleen is concerned who will care for Chrissy when she is no longer physically able. Even today, she has problems finding a home care provider just to relieve her and her husband so they can get away for few days. “At this point, we are just resigned to not going away at all,” says Colleen, “besides there is must too much to do here.”

Indeed Colleen Uhrbrock is always on the go – even in the middle of the night listening to that baby monitor.