Jim's Stroke Recovery: A Family's Plea

Hello! My name is Tabatha and I am the stepdaughter of Jim Kraninger. For those of you who may not know him, he is a beekeeper in his retirement. He spent much of his days traveling within a 300-mile radius of Okoboji to take care of his hives. During the winter, he sends a lot of his bees to other states so they can pollinate there. This was all until one day...

For those of you who don't know, my stepdad had a massive stroke on March 18th. He was found several hours after the initial stroke and was taken to Lakes Regional Medical Center in Spirit Lake. It was determined that he was in critical condition and was life-flighted to Avera in Sioux Falls, SD. Shortly after he arrived, the swelling in his brain began to get worse.

By Friday, March 21st, the family, with guidance from the wonderful neurology doctors at Avera, determined it would be best if they removed a portion of his skull to allow the brain to swell on the good side of his brain. At that time, the right side of his brain was mostly dead due to him laying so long without medical assistance. The surgery went well and the brain got the space it needed. During this time, the doctors were really unsure if he would ever move his left side again, walk, talk, etc. Slowly but surely, he began to become more awake and responsive. At first, he was unable to speak, simply making grunting noises, squeezing our hands, and sort of pointing with his right hand. We did quickly learn he could still write so the family purchased a whiteboard and paper for him to communicate a little better. He was also fitted with a helmet that he would have to wear anytime he wasn't laying down to protect his brain as you can see in one of the pictures.

During the 2nd week of April, he was finally moved from the ICU and brought to a normal recovery room. We knew that as he got better, he would be able to attend a rehab facility to work through motor skills and speech therapy. By the 3rd week in April, after a lot of fighting with his insurance company, we were able to get him into a decent rehab facility where he would be well taken care of. We had to have his feeding tube removed from his nose and to his stomach in order for all this to happen. Due to the nature of him having his skull removed, a lot of places didn't want to take him. He is making nice progress while at rehab. He is able to do basic hygiene (brush teeth, wash face, etc.). He is still unable to eat solid foods as his swallowing is not where it needs to be yet. He is able to talk, but it is difficult to understand him still.

Insurance is only allowing him to stay at rehab until May 4th. Bills have begun to come in for the ambulance ride, life flight, surgery, etc. During his time in Sioux Falls, my mother had stopped working to stay with him every day in Sioux Falls. My brothers, myself, and their families have spent multiple trips in the car to spend time with him on the weekends. Jim's insurance is not the greatest; he has no 401k, no life insurance, or anything to help offset the costs. This is where we are asking for your help! Any amount will be helpful as the bills start to show up and to be able to make payments on those. We are also unsure if insurance will cover any of his full-time care he will need once leaving on the 4th of May and he still has to have his skull replaced which is another surgery cost. Thank you for considering helping out as our family would greatly appreciate it. Please share this with anyone you may know and let's see how far we can outreach! God Bless everyone!