UPDATE swing those critters for Vitalady and Don.

• RE: [Graduate-OSSG] Michelle‏

 Vitalady VITA

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I'm suddenly getting good at accepting help, too. No other choice 

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*** 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. ****

Thanks,

Michelle
Vitalady, Inc ™
www.vitalady.com