Gordon's Rehabilitation and Recovery
Donation protected
Writing a request for help or assistance for a loved one is something that one does not wish on anyone once they have experienced it themselves. However, there comes a time that it is necessary and, unfortunately, for a beloved son, brother, and partner this is one of those times.
Gordon is one of those men you meet once in a lifetime – if you’re lucky. He is charismatic and vibrant, mischievous but intelligent, and caring to a fault. He loved to travel the United States filming car racing events, meeting new people, and developing friendships everywhere he went. It is unclear why some things occur, or why tests and tribulations are put in our lives, but Gordon suffered an event which came to affect a wider range of people than even he expected.
On September 24th of 2019, Gordon experienced an accident in his vehicle that has come to change his life forever. Gordon awoke to find himself, alone, in his vehicle with no mobility in his lower body and his hands had little to no strength. On arrival to the nearest hospital, his circumstance was deemed more dire than anyone thought at the time. Gordon had broken C6 in his neck, had a collapsed lung, and was paralyzed from the chest down diagnosing him as a quadriplegic which would require major surgery and countless hours of therapy - if he survived the immediate time after this trauma.
On his first night in the intensive care unit, his family was summoned to make their good-byes because the prognosis was extremely poor. Despite emergency trauma care, his organs began shutting down and he was intubated. But Gordon, with his stubbornness and will to live, pulled through intubation, neurosurgery, major complications, and the worst odds the medical professionals gave him. Through everything that was supposed to break him, he pushed through and kept hanging on. The first hospital he was treated at did not have the capability to deal with his type of injury. He ended up laying in a bed for five months without any of the therapy he needed to continue range of motion that is vital to prevent atrophy and muscle tightness. He suffered through multiple pressure injuries that could have affected him systemically, multiple infections, and was told that no rehab facility would take him due to insurance reasons. Gordon was told that his only option was to be sent to a skilled nursing home for basic care. He just could not accept that and left against medical advice to find a facility that could progress and push him as much as possible instead of wasting away at a nursing home. This is when he made the last-ditch effort to be accepted into a hospital that could deal with his injury.
Against all odds, he was blessed to be accepted into one of the best rehabilitation facilities in the area which meant that he would have three hours of daily therapy. However, not all good news lasts forever, and he could not stay in rehab due to insurance maxing out after only two months and was discharged just when real progress was starting to be made. He was discharged home during the COVID-19 lockdown with no medical equipment, no home health care, no physical therapy, no occupational therapy, a severe urinary tract infection, called Klebsiella CRE, which ended up sending him back in the hospital two weeks after discharge. He still had multiple pressure injuries that needed daily care and was overall not prepared to readjust to a new difficult life after his was so suddenly stripped from him.
Gordon suffers from difficult to control blood pressure that makes it hard to go from a laying to sitting position too quickly without plummeting to life threatening levels or alternately causing an increased pressure for a reason that needs to be found quickly - like a pain that he can’t feel or the need to use the restroom, which his body does not alert him of. Every day is a battle which he still fights with his characteristic humor and wit. However, it is easy to see how he tries to protect others from how bad it really is. Even at his worst, he still thinks of others.
Not only is this a physical toll on Gordon but on the people that care about him and must witness him go through this life changing experience.
Throughout all these events, Gordon managed to stay strong and get as far as he did. Other than the stress on his body, the emotional and mental toll this took on him drove him to an edge of darkness that was still not strong enough to claim him. His will to live and faith carried him through everything.
I was blessed to meet Gordon during the time he was in rehabilitation. We immediately felt a connection that was unexplainable. Even though he was going through all of this, he managed, in his happy go lucky way, to be there for me when I needed it and to make me feel that love was possible for me again – with him.
His spirit and drive were inspiring. Unfortunately, no amount of spirit can afford the medical services needed for his care at this time. Even though he is trying to jump back into his life as quickly as he can and be as independent as possible, attitude and motivation are not enough, unfortunately.
The average first year expenses for quadriplegics with an C5-C8 injury is $816,019. Average lifetime expenses exceed $2,500,000. If Gordon could afford good private insurance it would cover the majority of it, but he can’t; he only has Medicaid. Gordon needs daily medication, without which he experiences symptoms that make it impossible to function. Some of the medications have a yearly max refill which means he needs to pay for them out of pocket after only six refills. Some of his most expensive medications and supplies are not covered at all.
Any support provided will go to giving Gordon the medical care, medications, medical equipment, physical therapy, occupational therapy, paying off medical debt because the neuro- surgeon and cardiologist he needed while in the first hospital did not accept his insurance, the expensive modifications for a vehicle so that he can drive and become more independent again, and also, further surgery that he still needs. Unfortunately, he also developed heterotopic ossification in his hips which is greatly limiting his progress and mobility and requires the surgery to correct it. It is only getting worse and no surgeon listed under his insurance plan is willing to take on his case.
Also, it will give him a chance at a life that any other healthy 36-year-old man deserves. Gordon needs to relearn how to drive a vehicle adapted to his needs. He, like anyone else, wants to have a family and live as normal a life as possible. All the common things that are usually taken for granted are what is most important to him now.
Unless someone has a personal experience similar to what happened to him, it is impossible to know exactly what it takes to persevere, but he keeps pushing on. Any and all support is greatly appreciated and will not go unnoticed.
Gordon is one of those men you meet once in a lifetime – if you’re lucky. He is charismatic and vibrant, mischievous but intelligent, and caring to a fault. He loved to travel the United States filming car racing events, meeting new people, and developing friendships everywhere he went. It is unclear why some things occur, or why tests and tribulations are put in our lives, but Gordon suffered an event which came to affect a wider range of people than even he expected.
On September 24th of 2019, Gordon experienced an accident in his vehicle that has come to change his life forever. Gordon awoke to find himself, alone, in his vehicle with no mobility in his lower body and his hands had little to no strength. On arrival to the nearest hospital, his circumstance was deemed more dire than anyone thought at the time. Gordon had broken C6 in his neck, had a collapsed lung, and was paralyzed from the chest down diagnosing him as a quadriplegic which would require major surgery and countless hours of therapy - if he survived the immediate time after this trauma.
On his first night in the intensive care unit, his family was summoned to make their good-byes because the prognosis was extremely poor. Despite emergency trauma care, his organs began shutting down and he was intubated. But Gordon, with his stubbornness and will to live, pulled through intubation, neurosurgery, major complications, and the worst odds the medical professionals gave him. Through everything that was supposed to break him, he pushed through and kept hanging on. The first hospital he was treated at did not have the capability to deal with his type of injury. He ended up laying in a bed for five months without any of the therapy he needed to continue range of motion that is vital to prevent atrophy and muscle tightness. He suffered through multiple pressure injuries that could have affected him systemically, multiple infections, and was told that no rehab facility would take him due to insurance reasons. Gordon was told that his only option was to be sent to a skilled nursing home for basic care. He just could not accept that and left against medical advice to find a facility that could progress and push him as much as possible instead of wasting away at a nursing home. This is when he made the last-ditch effort to be accepted into a hospital that could deal with his injury.
Against all odds, he was blessed to be accepted into one of the best rehabilitation facilities in the area which meant that he would have three hours of daily therapy. However, not all good news lasts forever, and he could not stay in rehab due to insurance maxing out after only two months and was discharged just when real progress was starting to be made. He was discharged home during the COVID-19 lockdown with no medical equipment, no home health care, no physical therapy, no occupational therapy, a severe urinary tract infection, called Klebsiella CRE, which ended up sending him back in the hospital two weeks after discharge. He still had multiple pressure injuries that needed daily care and was overall not prepared to readjust to a new difficult life after his was so suddenly stripped from him.
Gordon suffers from difficult to control blood pressure that makes it hard to go from a laying to sitting position too quickly without plummeting to life threatening levels or alternately causing an increased pressure for a reason that needs to be found quickly - like a pain that he can’t feel or the need to use the restroom, which his body does not alert him of. Every day is a battle which he still fights with his characteristic humor and wit. However, it is easy to see how he tries to protect others from how bad it really is. Even at his worst, he still thinks of others.
Not only is this a physical toll on Gordon but on the people that care about him and must witness him go through this life changing experience.
Throughout all these events, Gordon managed to stay strong and get as far as he did. Other than the stress on his body, the emotional and mental toll this took on him drove him to an edge of darkness that was still not strong enough to claim him. His will to live and faith carried him through everything.
I was blessed to meet Gordon during the time he was in rehabilitation. We immediately felt a connection that was unexplainable. Even though he was going through all of this, he managed, in his happy go lucky way, to be there for me when I needed it and to make me feel that love was possible for me again – with him.
His spirit and drive were inspiring. Unfortunately, no amount of spirit can afford the medical services needed for his care at this time. Even though he is trying to jump back into his life as quickly as he can and be as independent as possible, attitude and motivation are not enough, unfortunately.
The average first year expenses for quadriplegics with an C5-C8 injury is $816,019. Average lifetime expenses exceed $2,500,000. If Gordon could afford good private insurance it would cover the majority of it, but he can’t; he only has Medicaid. Gordon needs daily medication, without which he experiences symptoms that make it impossible to function. Some of the medications have a yearly max refill which means he needs to pay for them out of pocket after only six refills. Some of his most expensive medications and supplies are not covered at all.
Any support provided will go to giving Gordon the medical care, medications, medical equipment, physical therapy, occupational therapy, paying off medical debt because the neuro- surgeon and cardiologist he needed while in the first hospital did not accept his insurance, the expensive modifications for a vehicle so that he can drive and become more independent again, and also, further surgery that he still needs. Unfortunately, he also developed heterotopic ossification in his hips which is greatly limiting his progress and mobility and requires the surgery to correct it. It is only getting worse and no surgeon listed under his insurance plan is willing to take on his case.
Also, it will give him a chance at a life that any other healthy 36-year-old man deserves. Gordon needs to relearn how to drive a vehicle adapted to his needs. He, like anyone else, wants to have a family and live as normal a life as possible. All the common things that are usually taken for granted are what is most important to him now.
Unless someone has a personal experience similar to what happened to him, it is impossible to know exactly what it takes to persevere, but he keeps pushing on. Any and all support is greatly appreciated and will not go unnoticed.
Organizer
Yana Antipova
Organizer
Sarasota, FL