Neil Lorbiecki's Medical Fund

Our Journey...

On June 10th, my brother Neil Lorbiecki, was admitted into the ER at Mercy Hospital Southwest in Bakersfield, California. If his daughter (my niece Averie) hadn’t called Neil’s girlfriend Tracy, to tell her Neil was sick with flu-like symptoms and to please come by the house because things weren’t quite right, they wouldn’t have gotten Neil to the ER before he lost consciousness. I am beyond grateful for these two ladies and their combined efforts. At that time, Neil was immediately placed into an induced coma, intubated and rushed to Mercy Truxtun for emergency brain surgery. Dr. Laremo was the Neurosurgeon on staff that night (praise Jesus!). My brother’s girlfriend, Averie, and her mother Jaime, were told that Neil would die without the surgery, but even with surgery, it could still be too late (thank goodness it wasn’t!!). Neil had a brain bleed which caused a cerebral hemorrhage (stroke) with brain stem compression (when an artery in the brain bursts, blood pools within the brain tissue, causing a stroke). The bleed was 5 cm, the largest bleed Dr. Laremo has seen/performed surgery on……Dr. Laremo has been in practice for 42 years!!!

I arrived the following day from Wisconsin without knowing the severity of the situation. If I had a dollar for every time we have been told how lucky Neil is to be alive, I wouldn’t have had to start this page.

We are into the 7th week since Neil’s visit to the ER. Early on it was our understanding this bleed was due to a blood thinning medication (Coumadin) he was on for his arrhythmic heartbeat. He had blood work done the week of June 6th to check his Coumadin level, and it was extremely high. At some point, it was mentioned that Neil had rolled an off road vehicle (razor) over Memorial Day weekend. The accident seemed “minor” at the time, resulting in no immediate injuries (minor bruises). However, the slightest bump to his head, along with his elevated Coumadin level, started the bleed. It is my understanding that he started having headaches the following week and when it became excruciating on June 10th, he was admitted to the ER. Therefore, we are into the 9th week since Neil’s Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Neil’s bleed was in the cerebellum which caused his brain stem to be compressed. These areas of the brain (cerebellum/brain stem) control breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure, speech, swallowing, hearing, and eye movement. My brother is currently on a PEG feeding tube to maintain his nutrition. Swallowing (without aspirating) is a very complex function of the brain. As of right now, he is not able to eat and protect his airway. We are hoping with speech therapy, he will be able to have ice chips, water and eventually work up to a cheeseburger (which he has asked for over and over!!). His speech is improving daily and his memories are coming back.

I won’t get into the day to day details, but Neil was in two ERs, the ICU for four weeks, intubated twice, put into an induced coma twice, had bronchitis, pneumonia, numerous spinal taps (6 at last count), tons of X-rays, in the hospital for another week after ICU, in rehab two days, back into the ER for oxygen levels, readmitted into the hospital for another week, and we just made our way back to rehab.

Neil is a single Dad of Averie (11), is currently not able to work, and we are looking at 6+ months of rehab. We are hoping you would consider making a donation to help cover is medical bills, insurance premiums (his insurance ends with his company on July 31st) and household bills.

Any little bit helps!

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

April, Averie, Tracy & Family