Update from Vitalady

mgpm
on 9/17/10 11:36 pm
I'm so sorry they are going through this.  Just one step at a time and that the nerves are working is good news.  Hopefully he'll have progress even if it's slow.  Still praying here. xoxoxox
kirmy
on 9/17/10 11:45 pm - BF-Nowhere, United Kingdom
I am soooo sorry for what Michelle and Don are going through, I'm also utterly outraged that he has until Wednesday to get better before he is put out of hospital due to ******g Insurance!  It is nice to know that the patient comes first eh?

Send my love to Michelle thanks.

What a truly ****ty situation.
            

RIP Mickie aka Happychick.  You will be missed deeply.
vitalady
on 9/18/10 3:57 pm - Puyallup, WA
RNY on 10/05/94
and my satellite radio quit. the part is now obsolete. yeah, it's a 2009.

i told the valet at the hospital that i need rock 'n roll or chocolate! he offered to make me a CD! awww.

that was last week's hospital. this week, i park outside the door.

thank you, i could use a good cussing up and down storm, but i "swore off" that in 1988. LOL

Michelle
RNY, distal, 10/5/94 

P.S.  My year + long absence has NOTHING to do with my WLS, or my type of WLS. See my profile.

kirmy
on 9/19/10 1:00 am - BF-Nowhere, United Kingdom
I am here to swear!

Babe let me know if there is anything advice wise I can offer. I was a Patient Flow Manager in my previous life and would organise complex discharges from hospital like Don's.  Firstly get in tough with "Headway" or the a similar charity organisation dealing with neurology related illness NOW and see what support and tangible resources they can off you. 

If you have the equivalent of Social Services over there see if they have Home care options and get someone in to help Don with the morning routine.  You'll need this support and the nurses will have an easier time of it organising this then you will in the community.  Let them work for the money you are giving them.

Right you know where I am if you need me.  Sending love and lots of swears.

Kirstin xxxx
            

RIP Mickie aka Happychick.  You will be missed deeply.
vitalady
on 9/19/10 1:46 pm - Puyallup, WA
RNY on 10/05/94
this hospital has a huge team of ppl. so, we're in pretty good hands here. after Wed, I worry, btu I can request a case mgr from our insurance, too. then our goals are similar - get him healthy fast. they did wonders for my dad. Here's what I added to my sig line:



* * * * * *

*** This is my apology for any abruptness of replies and my delinquency in responding. Here is the long and short of my status. August 20, Don acquired a very serious kidney infection. Although he recovered, he was very ill for 2 weeks. When he finished his course of antibiotics and was cleared, then he really got sick.

He was OK at 3 am early the morning of Sept 7, but at 6 am he was on the floor unable to move. He felt chest pain (a spasm, is how he describes it now) and planned to stand up and walk it off. There seems to be a 3-4 second gap in his memory. I heard a loud THUD and he was on the floor. He can't say if his bad knee crumpled or if he lost consciousness or perhaps the paralysis had begun.

In any case, when he fell, he hit his head on (?) something unforgiving and it snapped his neck backward breaking/displacing C-4. The nerve damage was immediate and he became a Spinal Cord Injury patient.

The local EMT's responded immediately and the ER team was excellent in diagnosing his issue and ruling out any possibility of heart or stroke issues. We still don't know what the chest pain was (not strong) and we still don't know why he went down.

He was transferred and had surgery 9/9 (they waited for swelling to go down). They fused C 3-4-5-6. He began to have movement again in his hands/fingers/legs. But it will be months before these things work well. This surgery is done via the throat and back of his neck and a drain was installed in his throat area. All this causes swelling in his throat area and he cannot swallow.

He was moved to in-patient rehab at the closest hospital. They did swallow studies and his problem seems to be mechanical, not more nerve damage. He does PT, OT, ADL and speech therapy all day.

As of 9/20, he is still in Good Samaritan in Puyallup rehab and can speak again, but is being tube fed. The danger of his aspirating his own saliva is still present. ****

Michelle
RNY, distal, 10/5/94 

P.S.  My year + long absence has NOTHING to do with my WLS, or my type of WLS. See my profile.

DS Facts
on 9/19/10 2:02 pm
Michelle,

I think everyone would totally understand any "abruptness of replies and my delinquency in responding" (and if they don't it's probably because they don't kwow what you are going through). Please don't give it a second thought.

My heart and prayers go out to you and Don.

Bev
Blank Out
on 9/18/10 12:27 am
 I am so sorry for this terrible trial they are facing.  I hope and pray each day will bring new encouragement!
     
HW/ 302  SW/287  CW/140  GW/135

feeder3565
on 9/18/10 12:44 am
So sorry to hear this. You keep yourself up, no need for you to get yourself in a fix. Don and you have my prayers. Karen
     
Turtle13
on 9/18/10 12:46 am - WA
Thanks for updating us. Thinking of Michelle and Don during this time and wishing them well.

Kim
Turtle   
SW/CW~252/145
pycca
on 9/18/10 1:50 am - Haslet, TX
My thoughts and prayers are with them, Moving parts is a nice sign!!

Just keep an eye on the NG tube they can still aspirate even with it.!!

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