Rehab for Lonnie
Donation protected
On May 18th at age 43, Lonnie had a massive stroke. On May 22nd he had to have emergency surgery to relieve the swelling of his brain, so 75% of his skull on the left side was removed. We spent (I say we because I have been here every step of the way) very close to 2 months in the hospital. Lonnie's stroke happened on the left side of his brain and because of this he has aphasia which affects his speech, apraxia which affects his motor skills and is flaccid on his right side which means that side does not work. After spending two weeks in rehab getting physical, occupational and speech therapies we were sent home, he needed more but insurance would not pay. The hospital staff strongly felt that I should put him in a nursing home. After researching I found that he would just be there for his day to day care and not be getting much if any of the therapies he so desperately needs. I decided to take him home and the hospital sent home care for 4 visits of each therapies needed. This is when I became his physical, occupational and speech therapist. We worked hard on a daily basis and he made lots of improvements. Shortly after we were back in the hospital. Lonnie had another blood clot in his leg. We spent another 5 days in the hospital so they could monitor the blood thinners and fix the dosage.
On October 18th he had surgery to replace his skull. The surgery went great and there were no complications. On October 10th I had to stop giving him his blood thinner and aspirin because of the surgery. Three to five days after surgery he was supposed to start taking them again. When I told the nurse, she got with the doctor and he decided after doing an ultra sound he would not start them. We went to rehab and then his blood pressure got really low and heart was racing. After another ultra sound they find that he had blood clots going through his right leg and starting to go in his left leg. He also has an IVC filter that was put in in June that was clogged. Thank goodness for that, because if it were not there he would not be alive. He swelled up and is still swollen and has been in lots of pain. They had to perform a procedure called TPA, which catheters were put in both legs to feed medicine directly to the clots. Well that was not enough, two days later they had to go back in and use what they call an angio jet to vacuum the clots from the IVC which was clogged so much the TPA was not able to get them all.
Because of all of this he has exhausted most of his days for hospital stay with insurance. They are only paying for seven days and he does need at least 14 days.In-patient rehab is $1700.00 a day. Once released he will need extensive outpatient rehab in which insurance will only pay for 8 visits and it will only be for physical therapy, he will also need occupational and speech therapy. This will help in getting him stronger and hopefully taking some steps and speaking better.
This whole experience has been the hardest thing I have ever had to go through and I do not know how I would get through it all without the help of my family and friends. I appreciate everything so many have done. This is the short version of all that has happened but I hope this will help explain why I am trying to raise these funds. There are no programs that are available to help stroke victims, believe me I have tried. I am trying to get more involved with a stroke club that the hospital offers and I am hoping to educate people about the warning signs and the healing process for stroke victims and their families. We still do not know why he had a stroke but are hoping to prevent it from happening again.
On October 18th he had surgery to replace his skull. The surgery went great and there were no complications. On October 10th I had to stop giving him his blood thinner and aspirin because of the surgery. Three to five days after surgery he was supposed to start taking them again. When I told the nurse, she got with the doctor and he decided after doing an ultra sound he would not start them. We went to rehab and then his blood pressure got really low and heart was racing. After another ultra sound they find that he had blood clots going through his right leg and starting to go in his left leg. He also has an IVC filter that was put in in June that was clogged. Thank goodness for that, because if it were not there he would not be alive. He swelled up and is still swollen and has been in lots of pain. They had to perform a procedure called TPA, which catheters were put in both legs to feed medicine directly to the clots. Well that was not enough, two days later they had to go back in and use what they call an angio jet to vacuum the clots from the IVC which was clogged so much the TPA was not able to get them all.
Because of all of this he has exhausted most of his days for hospital stay with insurance. They are only paying for seven days and he does need at least 14 days.In-patient rehab is $1700.00 a day. Once released he will need extensive outpatient rehab in which insurance will only pay for 8 visits and it will only be for physical therapy, he will also need occupational and speech therapy. This will help in getting him stronger and hopefully taking some steps and speaking better.
This whole experience has been the hardest thing I have ever had to go through and I do not know how I would get through it all without the help of my family and friends. I appreciate everything so many have done. This is the short version of all that has happened but I hope this will help explain why I am trying to raise these funds. There are no programs that are available to help stroke victims, believe me I have tried. I am trying to get more involved with a stroke club that the hospital offers and I am hoping to educate people about the warning signs and the healing process for stroke victims and their families. We still do not know why he had a stroke but are hoping to prevent it from happening again.
Organizer
Lonnie Lonn
Organizer
Casselberry, FL
