Family's Fight: Michael Health PT and daily needs

My name is Ian Domingue. I'm 51, and this is my big brother Mike, 52 years old. Over the years, he has been dealing with health problems like diabetes, blood pressure, and other health issues. Most recently, he lost his eyesight over a year ago. He recently had 2 strokes, which his family thought were seizures, but it turned out he had 2 strokes. It's been over 2 months now, and he still isn't walking, something he will have to learn how to do again. Each day is progress. He's able to move his legs more now. He's been waiting to find out about his disability for about 10 months. I know he has an appointment with social security coming up, not sure what the outcome will be. It's been really tough watching someone who was so big and strong not being able to see or walk. I know he will never see again, but I would love to see him walking around. And also his stepson Tyler, who just had surgery for a blockage caused by scar tissue in his intestines.

I would like to share a post from my sister-in-law, Shannon Domingue.

Our family has been through a lot in the past 2 1/2 months, with Michael and Tyler both having extended hospital stays. I have not been able to work since March 21st. It has put a strain on us, not only physically and emotionally, but financially. Michael does not have any insurance and has been out of work for over a year.

On top of him losing his sight over the past year, it all started on March 23rd at 5:30 am. Michael went into a seizure, and we had to call 911. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where we found out his sugar levels and blood pressure were sky high. Just as they let Kekoa and me in the back to see him, he went into another seizure. They had to quickly put him on a ventilator and sedation so he didn’t hurt himself. He had many tests done: MRI, CT scans, blood tests, EKG, ultrasounds of his heart, and some I am probably forgetting. He was in ICU for about a week while they tried to figure out what was going on. Well, apparently a lot. His kidneys were not functioning properly, his heart wasn’t functioning properly, and we found out on top of the two seizures, he had two strokes also. We knew at this point it was going to be a long road to recovery.

Once he was able to come off the sedation and ventilator, he was able to go to a normal room. He continued to get better but slowly. He wasn’t able to sit up and stand/walk on his own. Everything started looking better, but still not great. He was able to walk with assistance for short periods of time. A week after he left the ICU, they thought he was good enough to go home.

Three days at home is all we got. He slowly began to get weaker and was unable to even hold himself up in a sitting position. He also was having difficulty breathing. We brought him back to the ER. Once again, his kidney function was horrible, and on top of his heart function not being the best, he had fluid buildup around his heart, in his lungs, his legs, pretty much everywhere. He also had pneumonia, a UTI, and an infection in his blood. He was in the hospital for 19 more days when he finally was able to go home. He isn’t back to standing/walking on his own, and he is still having some other health issues. The hard part is he has no insurance, so it is hard to get him the physical therapy he needs to be able to get stronger to walk on his own again and all the follow-up appointments with the specialists. He still has a long road ahead of him. We are currently waiting to hear back from Medicaid and disability, but this may take some time. Time that will set him back in his recovery. It’s been rough, to say the least.

On top of Michael not doing well, we had to bring our poor Tyler to the ER last Wednesday. We thought he was just suffering from a stomach bug and possibly needed some fluids because he was dehydrated. Well, of course, it could not be that easy. Tyler had to have surgery on his lower intestines. He had 3 different places that were kinked and had to be reconstructed. Tyler was in the hospital for about a week and a half. He is home now recovering nicely.

Michael still has not gotten his strength back enough to stand/walk. His blood pressure has been dropping, causing him to feel weaker and dizzy. He has a few specialist appointments coming up. We are hoping they will be able to get him on the right medication and that we can start some physical therapy soon to get him stronger. Please continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you all for your love and support through all of this. We truly appreciate it!