For those of you who know my brother Jeremy, we all can collectively agree on his incredible trait of resilience. After surviving a horrific childhood accident involving burns, his experience inspired him to go into the medical field. He credits those who worked diligently--the paramedics, firefighters, and nurses, to save his life at the age of nine, as those who helped him understand his life’s path and purpose. Following high school graduation in 2009, he became an EMT & paramedic and then transitioned into an ER Technician position in 2017. He is now employed at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, CA, serving the greater San Diego region at one of the largest trauma centers in Southern California and fighting to keep patients alive in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

After overcoming his childhood accident and burn injuries, Jeremy continued living the life of the average active teenager. What began as minor back pain at 17 years old from sports (namely, skateboarding, snowboarding, and pretty much anything else in between) led from one misdiagnosis to another, multiple specialist appointments, many MRI’s, two spinal cord stimulator implants and removal (one of which involved a nearly-fatal infection and hospital), and most recently, a newer diagnosis which reveals the root cause stemming from his hip, rather than his lumbar sciatica and/or piriformis syndrome, as suspected all along. Because of this recent finding, Jeremy now faces a most daunting journey ahead: a life-changing and extremely rare major surgery which is now his final hope at gaining the quality of life he deserves.

The details (feel free to scroll if it gets too graphic): He has been diagnosed with congenital hip dysplasia. Essentially, his hip joint has been tracking incorrectly his entire life and while working an extremely physically demanding position (mind you, at work he’s walking upwards of 20-30k steps per twelve hour shift, transporting patients on gurneys, performing CPR, etc.). The constant repetitive hip motion has caused premature labral tears, and bone spurs to the acetabula (hip joints). Jeremy just so happens to be about 25 years younger than the average patient who would need this procedure, which speaks volumes as to how quickly his condition has progressed and how much the operation is truly needed. The hope is this will prevent him from needing hip joint replacement surgeries a few decades too early.

The procedure itself is called a Periacetabular Osteotomy (PAO), which involves resection of the femoral head and realigning it to track correctly with the pelvis. This of course, entails cutting through major muscle groups of the lower body. The surgical schedule goes as follows: major surgery on one hip, followed by a week of hospitalization, no weight bearing from 6-8 weeks, and then physical therapy begins where he must learn how to walk once again. Each side (since the procedure must be completed bilaterally), will take an estimated 4-6 months from start to finish.

Once this is all behind Jeremy, he plans to resume his position at the hospital and subsequently begin his nursing program, much of which has been placed on hold due to the many years of procedures and treatments for which he’s undergone due to the above-mentioned medical issues. Although his job is intense, and even more so lately, where he has been there for a number of patients in their final moments of their lives, he is determined to return to his calling. 

As we all know, life happens, but the bills never stop. Jeremy and our awesome mom (another 35+ year Scripps Health employee who is going to assume most of his caretaking), are working with their insurance carrier to ensure the vast majority of the procedure is covered. Due to the rare nature of the procedure, only two surgeons in Southern California perform this procedure, and none of them are in their health insurance provider network. He has chosen to partner with an orthopedic specialist at UCLA, and is anticipating the surgery to take place in the next six weeks (by early Spring, 2021). The family is now pooling resources to assist with any travel expenses for my mother while she awaits Jeremy’s discharge from the hospital (estimated about a week), additional costs that insurance will not cover (again, the surgeon is out of network), and to assist with living expenses in San Diego for Jeremy that will supplement his significantly reduced disability earnings (as we all know the EDD in California is essentially defunct in its current state). 

If it’s within your means to assist, any little bit will help this front line worker get back to what he does best: saving lives! Many thanks to those of you who took the time to read this and to those of you who can donate. Once Jeremy has the procedure, we will keep you all posted about his progress! 

With sincere thanks and appreciation,

Joelle