Help Chuck Recover

In 2014 Chuck had Scoliosis surgery to repair a 45-degree angle of his back. It was hoped at the time that it would relieve his back pain. Fast forward to 2021 and somehow, someway, the rods (titanium) broke. Dr. Chuck had decided to live with them like that – until that is, he couldn’t. That time came in 2023. With his pain level increasing and his ability to walk being hampered, he began looking for a neurosurgeon to take on the job of repairing or repairing the rods. It was during this time that he began having balance problems and also began falling. On New Year’s Eve 23, Chuck fell and something happened – he could not walk. Sunnie insisted that he go to the emergency room. The doctor in the emergency room said he could see no problems, no broken rods, just a large, bulging hematoma – and sent him home. After another two weeks of not being able to walk, he had another fall. This time, his daughter Liz called the ambulance to take him to he go to the E.R. This time, he was admitted to the hospital. After running several tests, he was again released and admonished to keep his appointment the following Monday with the neurosurgeon in Frisco. At this point, he could not walk at all and was dependent on his son, Matt, to assist him with his daily activities. Although he was having physical therapy – he still could not walk. Matt was lifting him into the wheelchair or car or whatever he needed. On Feb. 5, he finally saw the neurosurgeon. After viewing the MRI Chuck had brought with him and Chuck telling him the history – the doctor said he would have to go back to his original surgeon. He stated that no doctor would touch him because there were only 3 doctors in the metroplex that could do it and 2 of them were protégé’s of the original surgeon. Once again, he had to wait, in pain, and unable to walk for yet another appointment. On February 14th, Chuck finally saw the original neurosurgeon. After X-rays, viewing the MRI, the doctor diagnosed the broken rods were impinging on his spinal cord and creating pain and loosing ability to walk. The doctor stated that he needed emergency surgery, but that due to Chuck being on blood thinners, they had to wait 7 days, otherwise he would bleed out on the table. Sunnie asked if there was anything that would be emergent during the 7 days of waiting for hospital admission. The doctor explained if he lost control of his bowels or bladder to get him to the hospital immediately. With that being said, the waiting began. On Thursday, February 15th, Sunnie went to work like any other day only to receive a phone call from Matt approximately 2 hours later stating the emergency. An ambulance was called, and Chuck was taken to Medical City Hospital Denton. Sunnie called the surgeon’s office, and the PA and other staff were alerted. At Medical City Denton, Chuck went through numerous tests and xrays. Once the surgeon approved, he was transferred via ambulance to Medical City Dallas Spine Hospital where he had a 3 hour MRI, after which he was admitted. Unfortunately, due to the blood thinners, all that could be done was wait and keep him safe for them to purge from his system. He was scheduled for surgery on Tuesday, February 20th. MWe thought our worries were over. The surgery took over 8 hours and the surgeon finally came out to tell us that it had gone well, and he was in recovery in the ICU. Once he was awake and alert, he was transferred to his room. After confirming that he was finally out of the woods and safe, we could go home. Two days after surgery, Chuck was drinking some soup and he aspirated it and ended up with Aspiration pneumonia. Once again, he was transferred back to the ICU. Barely conscious, he was still telling stories to the nurses and doctors. After forty-eight hours in the ICU Chuck was transferred back to his room. It was noticed that during his recovery period Chuck had lost a tremendous amount of weight. His doctors (the hospital Generalist) decided he needed a feeding tube so he could get nutrition. He was taken to the radiology department where three attempts were made (and he was not sedated – imagine having someone trying to shove a tube down your throat!) ,due to a physical anomaly, they were not able to complete it, so he was put on a mush diet (think baby food). After two weeks of therapy and recovery, Chuck was deemed well enough to be transferred to a rehab center in Denton – close to home and where he could see Sunnie every day. Once again, when we thought all was well, it was discovered Chuck had developed an infection in his original surgery site. After consulting with his team at Select Rehabilitation in Denton consulted with his surgeon and it was decided that he should go back to Medical City Dallas where the plastic surgery doctor could do clean the infection and perform a procedure called a “flap” surgery. After 2 weeks at Medical City Dallas, Chuck was transferred to an LTAC (long term acute care). He is still there and will be for approximately two more weeks then he will transfer back to Select Rehabilitation Hospital where he will undergo intensive physical therapy for three hours a day. At this time, it is unknown how long he be there. Sadly, it us unknown if Chuck will ever be able to walk again. Due to his mobility issues and the stairs at his home, the family will need to move to be able to accommodate his disability.