Help support Family during crisis times
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February 21, 2023 I suffered a sudden spinal cord injury leaving me partially paralyzed from my waist down. I’m unable to walk, care for myself or work which has drastically altered the course of our lives!
Hello everyone my name is Ryan Thacker, I’m 43 years old, married to my best friend and High School sweetheart for 20 years, and we have two great teenage kids. We need financial assistance until I’m able to work again. Unfortunately the rent & utilities don’t understand our situation.
I know how difficult times are for many of us & I understand money doesn’t go as far anymore. So I promise each donation will go towards our expenses such as rent, utilities, payments & medical bills. Unfortunately were not able to meet our monthly requirements without my weekly income from working.
I lost my strength to walk due to a herniated disc that suddenly blew out on my spinal cord causing severe damage. Emergency surgery was the only way to stop the damage from becoming increasingly severe by each passing hour. However due to serious complications that occurred on February 22, the surgery was postponed until Friday February the 25th.
On the 21st I started my day as usual, only difference is I was having some intense lower back muscle spasms. I’m not one to miss work so I took a few Advil thinking the weather was too blame. I pulled into the gas station & while walking to the door to pay I suddenly felt as if I was trying to carry an elephant! My legs immediately began to wobble, It was difficult to pick my feet up & took every ounce of energy to get to the door where I opened it and yelled quickly I need a chair. After regaining my composure I immediately called my wife Michelle to take me to the hospital. My lower back was in extreme pain, I started experiencing numbness & tingling from my waist down.
I was admitted to the hospital, neurosurgeon was consulted & a MRI was ordered. Pain medication & sedatives were given due to the extreme pain & anxiety I was feeling. Due to the intense pain & longevity of the scan I was unable to keep a completely still posture. Consequently the MRI pictures were unsatisfactory to the surgeon. The neurologist didn’t seem comfortable with proceeding to surgery without a good clear MRI picture so his plan was to put me under anesthesia on the MRI table, get a clear MRI scan, then send me straight to surgery first thing in the morning of Wednesday the 22nd of February.
Evidently the surgical or MRI staff was very behind so around 12:45 pm the radiology team came & whisked me away to the MRI machine where I was put under anesthesia & placed in the MRI machine. I woke up from the anesthesia on February 28, 2023 in ICU!! While under anesthesia inside the MRI I went into cardiac arrest, my heart stopped beating, I was dead! A code blue was called & 8 minutes later I was resuscitated, taken out of the MRI machine and sent to ICU. The second MRI scan wasn’t able to be completed. Neurosurgeon & cardiologist had to put off this emergency surgery due to the possibility that I could potentially have another heart attack.
Once stable I was taken to have a heart catheter to look for any blockages or damage done to my heart. This was the most critical time of all!! Depending upon the cath results would determine the quality of life I would have till my death. Every hour this disc is causing irreversible damage!! If heart surgery was done due to clogged arteries then the back surgery would be postponed until I was stable enough for it!! Thankfully the heart cath showed no blockages or issues other than damage caused by the attack so the Drs felt they could safely take me to surgery Friday 24th February.
Friday I had surgery to remove two large pieces of disc off my spinal cord. Each piece an inch wide & with the delay in the emergency surgery subsequently caused severe damaged to my spinal cord. Neurosurgeon informed me I had Cauda Equina Syndrome, a serious injury that causes severe nerve damage with the ability to regain control over motor skills to permanent paralysis. This type of injury affects the bladder & bowel functions, fine motor skills & overall a decreased quality of life. With Caudia Equina time is of the essence having 24-48 hours to complete surgery until serious permanent damage is done. My surgery was performed around 96 hours later!!
I woke up in ICU with no feelings from my waist down. March 1st 2023 I was moved to the inpatient rehab floor. The hope & plan was before I left the hospital I’d be able to transition from bed to a wheelchair. An electric lift with harness was used to pick me up for the first week. It was used to put me in my wheelchair or on the toilet & tub. After several weeks I eventually, with the help of the physical therapist team, able to walk using a walker. I couldn’t walk upright or far without sitting in my wheelchair and resting. Essentially I’ve had to relearn how to walk, balance myself and do the small things we take for granted. I’m having to learn how to dress myself, wash myself, & do essential things while having this injury. I wasn’t able to walk out of the hospital but I sure was glad to go home & on March 15, 2023, our 20th wedding anniversary, I was discharged from the hospital wheeled down to the car!! I was there for three weeks and one day while my surgery only took 86 minutes to complete.
Immediately I started outpatient physical therapy with a great therapist. He has had extensive experience with Caudia Equina patients. He was completely honest with me about what the outlook of my recovery would be. I’ve slowly progressed from a wheelchair to using a walker for short distances while now I’m able to walk on even flat surfaces with two canes. I’ll continue with physical therapy until either I’m able to walk without a cane or until I’ve reached the full potential of recovery expected.
The injuries I suffer from having Caudia Equina Syndrome have completely changed my life & my family lives. I’m not able to be an independent person anymore. I have to ask my Wife & kids to help me, I can’t do things with my children I’d love to do or can even plan to do things we once did. The main Injuries I suffer are paralysis in my glutes down both legs to my calves. I’ve lost the ability to wiggle my toes & my feet feel as if they are asleep yet trying to awaken with that tingling & burning sensation. I’d much prefer to be working my regular 65-70 hours six days a week instead of asking for help. Unfortunately I’m unable to work right now with no guarantee that I’ll ever be able to work at my current career but I’m going to do everything in my ability to get back in my truck! I'm asking for donations to help my family make our monthly obligations, any donations will go directly towards our rent, utilities, groceries & such. Please consider donating & sharing this with everyone on all your social media sites. Thank you all for your support and continued prayers May God bless you all!
Hello everyone my name is Ryan Thacker, I’m 43 years old, married to my best friend and High School sweetheart for 20 years, and we have two great teenage kids. We need financial assistance until I’m able to work again. Unfortunately the rent & utilities don’t understand our situation.
I know how difficult times are for many of us & I understand money doesn’t go as far anymore. So I promise each donation will go towards our expenses such as rent, utilities, payments & medical bills. Unfortunately were not able to meet our monthly requirements without my weekly income from working.
I lost my strength to walk due to a herniated disc that suddenly blew out on my spinal cord causing severe damage. Emergency surgery was the only way to stop the damage from becoming increasingly severe by each passing hour. However due to serious complications that occurred on February 22, the surgery was postponed until Friday February the 25th.
On the 21st I started my day as usual, only difference is I was having some intense lower back muscle spasms. I’m not one to miss work so I took a few Advil thinking the weather was too blame. I pulled into the gas station & while walking to the door to pay I suddenly felt as if I was trying to carry an elephant! My legs immediately began to wobble, It was difficult to pick my feet up & took every ounce of energy to get to the door where I opened it and yelled quickly I need a chair. After regaining my composure I immediately called my wife Michelle to take me to the hospital. My lower back was in extreme pain, I started experiencing numbness & tingling from my waist down.
I was admitted to the hospital, neurosurgeon was consulted & a MRI was ordered. Pain medication & sedatives were given due to the extreme pain & anxiety I was feeling. Due to the intense pain & longevity of the scan I was unable to keep a completely still posture. Consequently the MRI pictures were unsatisfactory to the surgeon. The neurologist didn’t seem comfortable with proceeding to surgery without a good clear MRI picture so his plan was to put me under anesthesia on the MRI table, get a clear MRI scan, then send me straight to surgery first thing in the morning of Wednesday the 22nd of February.
Evidently the surgical or MRI staff was very behind so around 12:45 pm the radiology team came & whisked me away to the MRI machine where I was put under anesthesia & placed in the MRI machine. I woke up from the anesthesia on February 28, 2023 in ICU!! While under anesthesia inside the MRI I went into cardiac arrest, my heart stopped beating, I was dead! A code blue was called & 8 minutes later I was resuscitated, taken out of the MRI machine and sent to ICU. The second MRI scan wasn’t able to be completed. Neurosurgeon & cardiologist had to put off this emergency surgery due to the possibility that I could potentially have another heart attack.
Once stable I was taken to have a heart catheter to look for any blockages or damage done to my heart. This was the most critical time of all!! Depending upon the cath results would determine the quality of life I would have till my death. Every hour this disc is causing irreversible damage!! If heart surgery was done due to clogged arteries then the back surgery would be postponed until I was stable enough for it!! Thankfully the heart cath showed no blockages or issues other than damage caused by the attack so the Drs felt they could safely take me to surgery Friday 24th February.
Friday I had surgery to remove two large pieces of disc off my spinal cord. Each piece an inch wide & with the delay in the emergency surgery subsequently caused severe damaged to my spinal cord. Neurosurgeon informed me I had Cauda Equina Syndrome, a serious injury that causes severe nerve damage with the ability to regain control over motor skills to permanent paralysis. This type of injury affects the bladder & bowel functions, fine motor skills & overall a decreased quality of life. With Caudia Equina time is of the essence having 24-48 hours to complete surgery until serious permanent damage is done. My surgery was performed around 96 hours later!!
I woke up in ICU with no feelings from my waist down. March 1st 2023 I was moved to the inpatient rehab floor. The hope & plan was before I left the hospital I’d be able to transition from bed to a wheelchair. An electric lift with harness was used to pick me up for the first week. It was used to put me in my wheelchair or on the toilet & tub. After several weeks I eventually, with the help of the physical therapist team, able to walk using a walker. I couldn’t walk upright or far without sitting in my wheelchair and resting. Essentially I’ve had to relearn how to walk, balance myself and do the small things we take for granted. I’m having to learn how to dress myself, wash myself, & do essential things while having this injury. I wasn’t able to walk out of the hospital but I sure was glad to go home & on March 15, 2023, our 20th wedding anniversary, I was discharged from the hospital wheeled down to the car!! I was there for three weeks and one day while my surgery only took 86 minutes to complete.
Immediately I started outpatient physical therapy with a great therapist. He has had extensive experience with Caudia Equina patients. He was completely honest with me about what the outlook of my recovery would be. I’ve slowly progressed from a wheelchair to using a walker for short distances while now I’m able to walk on even flat surfaces with two canes. I’ll continue with physical therapy until either I’m able to walk without a cane or until I’ve reached the full potential of recovery expected.
The injuries I suffer from having Caudia Equina Syndrome have completely changed my life & my family lives. I’m not able to be an independent person anymore. I have to ask my Wife & kids to help me, I can’t do things with my children I’d love to do or can even plan to do things we once did. The main Injuries I suffer are paralysis in my glutes down both legs to my calves. I’ve lost the ability to wiggle my toes & my feet feel as if they are asleep yet trying to awaken with that tingling & burning sensation. I’d much prefer to be working my regular 65-70 hours six days a week instead of asking for help. Unfortunately I’m unable to work right now with no guarantee that I’ll ever be able to work at my current career but I’m going to do everything in my ability to get back in my truck! I'm asking for donations to help my family make our monthly obligations, any donations will go directly towards our rent, utilities, groceries & such. Please consider donating & sharing this with everyone on all your social media sites. Thank you all for your support and continued prayers May God bless you all!
Organizer
James Thacker
Organizer
Brice, GA