Help Pat O'Toole Get Home!
Hi everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read about my Uncle Pat O’Toole’s miraculous journey fighting COVID-19. He is nearing the end of a long, scary road and is anxious to go HOME. Unfortunately, there are a few more steps we need to take to get him there. Some involve more inpatient rehabilitation, but we also need to address the O’Toole’s inaccessible house. 
Uncle Pat & Aunt Mary Jo live in a modest century home built in 1832 that they have lovingly and painstakingly restored. Unfortunately it will not be able to accommodate Uncle Pat’s needs when he is ready to return home after rehab. Among other things, it is not wheelchair accessible, has very small doorways, a small first floor bathroom and a gravel drive. The funds raised from this gofundme effort will assist the O’Toole’s in cementing their gravel driveway, renovating the bathroom and widening the doorframes. Any leftover funds will be used directly for Pat’s home rehabilitation care needs, which are expected to be required for at least six months.
Before I share the details of Uncle Pat’s story, our entire family wants to thank everyone who kept him in your thoughts and prayers. We would also like to thank the Cleveland Clinic staff for fighting for his life alongside him and us every step of the way. Due to visitation restrictions on account of COVID, the caregivers at CCF became family for so many patients struggling with illnesses this past year. I personally watched the nurses, CTs, RTs, OTs, PTs, speech therapists, case managers, doctors, HUCs, and EVS workers treat Uncle Pat as if he was a member of their own family. They lifted him up when our family was not physically able to do so. It was evident they truly loved and cared for him. Everyone even started calling him “Uncle Pat”! We believe their extraordinary care, along with everyone’s love and prayers, are the main reasons he is still with us here today. 
Uncle Pat’s journey began the day after Thanksgiving when he was admitted to the hospital with respiratory failure after being diagnosed with COVID the prior week. At first, he was doing fine on minimal oxygen requirements. Things quickly took a turn for the worse. He became delirious, required more and more oxygen, and ultimately had to be sent to the ICU where he was intubated and then transferred to Main Campus for further management of care. 
During this time, his kidneys and liver began to fail. His body was fighting the ventilator, requiring him to be sedated and medically paralyzed for weeks. Due to the nature of those drugs, his blood pressure dropped to critically low levels. His lungs continued to worsen to the point he was maxed out on the vent settings. Nothing they were doing seemed to help and his family could only watch from afar – receiving daily agonizing updates. As Aunt Mary Jo, Megan, Brian, and Rachel will tell you, December 16th was one of the worst days of their lives. The doctors called and said there was nothing more that can be done. They were told it was time to prepare for end of life and that they should consider removing Uncle Pat’s life support.
However, having faith and being the optimistic family that they are, the O’Toole’s refused to give up. They rallied alongside countless prayer warriors while the doctors tried a “last ditch effort” of proning him (flipping him on his stomach to improve oxygenation). The doctor told us she was not hopeful that this would work, but it was the only thing left to try. After over 16 hours on his stomach, and several more “touch and go” days, they were able to wean his vent settings down to a level that allowed him to undergo a tracheostomy. Once he was trached, he was able to be weaned off the sedatives and wake up for the first time in almost 3 weeks. 
At first, Uncle Pat’s cognition and muscle strength were slow to come around. During his first therapy session sitting edge of bed, two therapists had to hold him up. He was not able to even lift his thumb to give a thumbs up. As his PT and OT will tell you, Uncle Pat is an extremely motivated patient. He is constantly asking to sit up and do exercises. His cognition is finally back to normal. As his “unofficial” OT who sees him on a regular basis, I can confirm that his humor is still perfectly intact!
On New Year’s Eve, Uncle Pat was ready to leave the ICU and be transferred to a long-term acute care facility. He had many set backs during this part of his journey. He developed a horrible bedsore and his body fought multiple infections, landing him back in the ICU at CCF Main Campus after a month. Once he returned to Main Campus, the team was able to completely wean him from the ventilator! He then transferred to Acute Rehab,where he received three hours of labor intensive therapy every day for three weeks. While he was at Acute Rehab, he bounced back to Main Campus for a couple days where they were recently able to completely reverse his tracheostomy. 
This is where our journey stands today. We are preparing for Uncle Pat to transition to a skilled nursing facility very soon where he will continue to receive inpatient therapy. At the present time, Uncle Pat is requiring a lot of assistance to stand and has to be lifted to a wheelchair. He requires a lot of help doing his daily activities like dressing and bathing. His goal is to walk and be independent again, which we are hopeful will happen! Our goal is to get him back home, to the house he loves, as soon as possible so that he can continue his therapy in safe and comfortable surroundings with his family by his side. That is why it is so important that we make the O’Toole house accessible for Uncle Pat. 
The O’Toole’s have been so strong throughout this terrifying ordeal. Family and friends are by far the most important thing to all of them. Our entire family is praying and ready for Uncle Pat to come home! Thank you for any help you can give us in making this a reality. Thank you for your continued prayers while we navigate these next few months. We don’t know what we would do without this wonderful village of people behind us.
