Aid Chris in His Fight for Health

On

Thursday Mrch 6th, Chris was transported from Mercy Medical Center to Riverbend in Eugene.

Due to his unknown condition, Chris will be unable to work for an unknown amount of time which means he will not be able to pay his rent or monthly bills. He will also have his insurance copays and quite possibly several months of recovery.

I ask if you all can please help us make this just a little less stressful for Chris and Hollie. If you are not in a position to donate, please pray and please share.

Below you will find the details we have so far from Hollie:

This is a VERY long post. So I apologize in advance. But i wanted to share whats going on.

On Wednesday, 3/5/25, I got a text message from my ex, (Piper, Bentleigh and Jackson’s father) Chris, stating he was in urgent care , that he had lost all strength in his arms. Couldn’t put on his shirt. His hands/feet were numb. He fell bc his legs gave out and was having trouble breathing. They were starting an IV and were giving him fluids. I left work immediately and went to UC. I walked into the room and was immediately taken back, He looked like he was dying. I've never seen him like this in the 11 yrs I’ve known him. He was pale, very weak, and super skinny. He couldn’t even hold his phone or a water bottle. He also had lost 15 lbs in just a week. (Most of you know him as being a big guy. He was almost 400 lbs when he had open heart surgery in 2019). I took one look at him and turned around and told the nurse to please unhook his IV that I’m taking him to the ER. At this time, in just the short 10 minutes I was there, his numbness got worse and he couldn’t walk. He could still use his hands and fingers. He couldn’t lift his right leg to get in the car. Once we got to the ER, they took him back to triage right away then to a room. chest x ray looked good, his INR (blood thinner numbers) were really high. So they thought maybe that was the cause of some of his issues. But he was still really weak. Even after fluids. They didn’t suspect a stoke. But decided to keep him overnight to monitor him and to run more tests. They also put him on oxygen as his levels started dropping. I left as he was finally resting and I told him I’d check in on him later once he was in a room and settled. I called that night and was able to speak with him briefly. It was very hard for him to talk. You could tell it was talking all his energy just to say a few words.

Yesterday - 3/6 I got to the hospital around 11 am. No changes since the day before. No improvement either. He was awake , still extremely weak, unable to walk, unable to move his arms/hands/fingers. His right arm was painful and tingling (like when your arm or hand falls asleep) After talking to the doctor taking care of him. Dr. Abrio, she told me his thyroid levels were extremely elevated. (He was diagnosed with hypothyroidism back in 2017 and stopped taking his meds months ago) At that point Dr. Abrio was thinking some of his issues if not all of them were from the untreated thyroid. Which would explain the pain, numbness and tingling in his hands and feet. However his oxygen levels were still concerning. He had been sick for a couple weeks prior so they also suspected some sort of viral infection. However his labs ended up showing a pneumonia type bacterial infection(Mycoplasma pneumonia) in his lungs. So they started him on thyroid medication, antibiotics and continued to give him fluids. The Covid and flu tests were negative. He was still having trouble breathing but was off oxygen. He also started having trouble swallowing. A speech therapist was added to his team. His INR levels were still high so they were holding off on giving him his blood thinners. They did a CT of his neck and spine to rule out any issues or bleeding and that looked good. Dr. Abrio contacted Dr. Clyde , an endocrinologist as she was leaning more towards this being something called Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis due to his thyroid levels being so high. But she also mentioned something called Guillain Barré Syndrome (GBS). Some believe the cause of Guillain Barré Syndrome might be due to an infection about six weeks prior to symptoms which triggers an autoimmune response.

Dr. Abrio and Dr Clyde both agreed to consult with a neurologist. At this point it took all Chris’s energy to breathe. He was extremely uncomfortable and it hurt to drink water due to the difficulty swallowing. He also could no longer move his hands or fingers. He could move his left leg and wiggle his toes but could not lift his legs. After Dr. Abrio called OHSU and Riverbend , she told me that they were now leaning more towards this being Guillain Barré Syndrome. But they needed to do a lumbar puncture in order to know for sure. However, due to Chris’s INR levels being high they needed to reverse his pro time so it’s safe for them to do the lumbar puncture. They also started him on Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) which is one of the two only treatments for GBS. They were still worried about a paraspinal hematoma in his spine and wanted to do an MRI but due to having a mechanical aortic heart valve, Mercy could not do one. They planned on moving him to PCU to monitor him more closely as this was now affecting his breathing. Dr Abrio warned me to be prepared that they might have to intubate him.

Later in the evening Dr Abrio called and said that they were getting ready to intubate him to be on the safe side in preparation for transfer to Riverbend. They were just waiting for a bed. They took him back to CT to do a brain scan and then he would be going straight to ICU. Around 9 the icu doctor saw him said that he has seen many people make full recoveries but it will depend on how well he responds to the treatments and how progressive it is.

Early this am Riverbend called No real updates. MRI came back good. They were looking for a Paraspinal hematoma. Nothing abnormal was found. So that’s good news. His vitals are good. They are just keeping him comfortable. He is sedated but coherent. He falls asleep when no one is in the room but can be easily awakened with stimulated. And can nod for yes and no. So he is aware of his surroundings. The neurological team is taking him on today and will be by coming by soon. Then the doc will come by. Once I get there I will fill out advance directive paperwork.

Having to tell my children their father might pass away was the most heartbreaking gut wrenching thing I have ever experienced. So please put us all in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate through this difficult time. We don’t know what the future holds but we are still hopeful he will pull through this. They were able to facetime and talk to him before they intubated him. So I am very thankful for that.

Right now that is all we know. Jeff and I are on our way to Riverbend and I will continue to update everyone when I can. Please be patient with me, if you reach out and I don’t respond please don’t be upset. I’m hanging by a thread right now.