Help Steve Patterson Overcome Paralysis Again
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Hi, my name is Steve Patterson. I had run Kalkaska Computer for about 15 years here in Kalkaska. I grew to love my customers and my job and strived to treat everyone with a smile and treat their equipment as if it were my own. I was always fair and would sometimes spend weeks on a job to only charge $60 where other places would have charged hundreds or not even tried. If I could not fix it, there was no charge. I like to fix things. Fact is, I cared and still do. I gladly help by phone as often as I can free of charge from my hospital bed. To this day, I still have a large customer base waiting for me to heal and once again be able to serve our community.
Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with the "roto" virus without so much as a urine sample, blood draw, or any kind of real test at the ER in Kalkaska's local hospital. I was sick, and I mean severely sick, for about a month and a half. I went to see my family physician, whom I have seen for about 30 years. He read the ER report, went along with it, and again, no proper testing... just go home and ride it out.
I should mention I had been paralyzed from just below the knees due to a blown-out disc about 17 years ago. I spent 3 years in a wheelchair and have been unable to wiggle a toe or flex a calf muscle in all this time. I eventually rehabilitated myself, starting with a walker, scaling the roof of my then trailer I lived in. Eventually, I threw the wheelchair, with some help obviously, into a shed outside and was determined to walk again. I eventually moved to a simple cane and even learned to use my legs as stilts. I moved to NC for a year chasing NASCAR dreams, came home, and started my business. I was an avid disc golfer, swimmer, kayaker, and an all-around lover of nature and helping people.
After going home to "ride it out," I woke up one morning paralyzed completely from the waist down. After calling an ambulance and being transferred to Traverse City Munson, it was discovered that I had been sick with salmonella for almost 2 months and was literally on my deathbed. After an emergency back surgery to clean out the crystallized crust that had formed up my spine, from the salmonella somehow infecting my spinal fluid and also creating a large abscess that was pushing against my spinal cord. I was bolted back together with many screws and plates. I spent 2+ weeks in the ICU unaware that I was being watched 24hrs a day because they were still unsure if I would make it. My then fiance spent every waking moment watching me and secretly crying to herself as my family was unfortunately very unsupportive and rarely if ever present during my 3 months hospitalized. I did not, however, regain any movement from the waist down, so I am now a paraplegic and paralyzed for the second time.
I ended up being sent home early, unprepared, unknowingly aware of the challenges that were ahead of me. My relationship crumbled from the stress of it all, and I was overwhelmed with so many things to try and manage with zero help. For the last 6 months, I have been stuck in a hospital bed, unable to see the world, be a part of holidays, or experience anything but loneliness. I SPEND 22HRS A DAY ALONE. My sister Christina Paris has been the only member of my family to be actively involved with my "recovery."
I have, unlike my first paralysis, started being able to, I don't want to say move, but am beginning to be able to twitch certain parts of my body I had long thought I never would again. If there is any chance of even the smallest recovery, it could take many more months and possibly many years. I had to close my business and am struggling to live day to day, pay bills etc. I am a very prideful man and would not ask for help unless it was absolutely dire. Thank you in advance for any help, and please feel free to contact me with any questions, medical, computer-related, or just as a show of support.
I have beaten paralysis once before and I am COMMITTED and DETERMINED to do so again!!!!
Phone#: 231_564_1110 (text preferred)
Email: steve patterson 489 at gmail.com, kalkaska computer at gmail.com
Had to adjust the way I put my phone number and email because apparently they are pickier than I am.
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Organizer
Steve Patterson
Organizer
Kalkaska, MI