Help a father to be with ongoing medical care
Donation protected
This past May, my brother Jeremy and his wife Jackie announced they were expecting their first child, a son, in November. The family, believing this was a slim possibility because Jeremy was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma in January of 2014, was ecstatic. He went through six rounds of chemo therapy and two weeks of radiation over the course of six months and was declared cancer free since June 20, 2014.
At a family gathering on September 6, 2020, at 40 years old, Jeremy suffered a C5 and C6 vertebrae fracture and sustained a spinal cord injury. By the grace of God he did not incur any brain damage. He was taken to St.Josephs Hospital and quickly transferred to the trauma center at Winthrop Hospital where he underwent two surgeries. The first was September 8, his 41st birthday, to fuse the front of his spine. The second, a laminectomy, was just three days later on September 11th to remove bone fragments and insert two rods to stabilize the back of his spine and enable it to get oxygen to help the healing process.
Jeremy is currently at Rusk Rehabilitation Center where he gets 1 1/2 hours of PT and 1 1/2 hours of OT per day. He also sees a psychologist twice a week to help him work through these changes. He is able to feel from mid chest up. He is able to move his arms but is having trouble using controlled movements of his fingers. However, while at Rusk, he has worked on being able to brush his teeth and feed himself on his own.
As of now he is scheduled to be discharged October 22nd. His insurance company will only cover 30 days of in patient rehabilitation. As per a family phone conference his doctors and therapists expressed that Jeremy would benefit from staying at Rusk to continue the rigid schedule of both his therapists while under the watchful eyes of the medical staff. Currently while he is in an upright position his blood pressure drops dangerously low. The doctors are concerned that his wife Jackie would not be able to handle that situation post discharge. Because of this, the medical team is reaching out to his insurance company to try to extend his stay.
If the insurance company doesn't extend his stay, once he gets home he will require a home health aid for at least 4 weeks, maybe more. He will need an at home PT and OT and his home will undergo necessary modifications. All of this is occurring as Jackie is approaching her due date.
Jackie is able to add Jeremy to her insurance one the baby is born, but getting to that date, keeping him at Rusk would be the best for Jeremy. Please help us to raise money to keep him at Rusk where he will benefit the most. Any amount you can give would be greatly appreciated and would be used directly towards his rehabilitation.
At a family gathering on September 6, 2020, at 40 years old, Jeremy suffered a C5 and C6 vertebrae fracture and sustained a spinal cord injury. By the grace of God he did not incur any brain damage. He was taken to St.Josephs Hospital and quickly transferred to the trauma center at Winthrop Hospital where he underwent two surgeries. The first was September 8, his 41st birthday, to fuse the front of his spine. The second, a laminectomy, was just three days later on September 11th to remove bone fragments and insert two rods to stabilize the back of his spine and enable it to get oxygen to help the healing process.
Jeremy is currently at Rusk Rehabilitation Center where he gets 1 1/2 hours of PT and 1 1/2 hours of OT per day. He also sees a psychologist twice a week to help him work through these changes. He is able to feel from mid chest up. He is able to move his arms but is having trouble using controlled movements of his fingers. However, while at Rusk, he has worked on being able to brush his teeth and feed himself on his own.
As of now he is scheduled to be discharged October 22nd. His insurance company will only cover 30 days of in patient rehabilitation. As per a family phone conference his doctors and therapists expressed that Jeremy would benefit from staying at Rusk to continue the rigid schedule of both his therapists while under the watchful eyes of the medical staff. Currently while he is in an upright position his blood pressure drops dangerously low. The doctors are concerned that his wife Jackie would not be able to handle that situation post discharge. Because of this, the medical team is reaching out to his insurance company to try to extend his stay.
If the insurance company doesn't extend his stay, once he gets home he will require a home health aid for at least 4 weeks, maybe more. He will need an at home PT and OT and his home will undergo necessary modifications. All of this is occurring as Jackie is approaching her due date.
Jackie is able to add Jeremy to her insurance one the baby is born, but getting to that date, keeping him at Rusk would be the best for Jeremy. Please help us to raise money to keep him at Rusk where he will benefit the most. Any amount you can give would be greatly appreciated and would be used directly towards his rehabilitation.
Organizer and beneficiary
Chelsea Amato
Organizer
Massapequa Park, NY
Jacqueline Degiso
Beneficiary