Joe's Medical and Life Expense Fund

Thank you in advance for your Support and Prayers for Joe.

My name is BJ Hickman. Joe Augustine (age 42) is my cousin. Joe is one of the 7 cousins, we all grew up together and we have all been more like brothers and sisters to each other.

Our Family is trying to raise money to help Joe  during his recovery due to a catastrophic accident. He fell in the kitchen on September 16 2016 and hit his head on the wall and and was rushed to St.Clair Hospital and then Life Flight took him to Presbyterian Hospital.  They operated and removed a bone from his spine and took the cap off his spinal column and fused the vertebrae back together. He is diagnosed with acute and incomplete quadriplegia: C-1 – C4 level spinal cord injury with central cord syndrome, without evidence of spinal bone injury. For now he is a quadriplegic. He is also suffering from spastic bladder and may at some point need surgery for it. He also has reflextic bowel. He suffers involuntary spasms in his arm and legs which he is being treated with Baclofen orally. The problem with that is it affects his brain function because of a closed head injury he suffered 1994.  We are hoping to get a Baclofen Pump inserted into his abdomen, so the medication would go straight to his spinal cord. The case manager at the hospital does not think the insurance will cover any of the surgeries he may need.  He has was recently fitted and trained to use a wheel chair that he can move with the use of his head. He is trying very hard to regain movement of both his arms and legs, with the help of physical therapy.  The doctors gave us no hope of Joe having any type of movement in his arms and legs, but with God’s help and everyone’s prayers and Joe’s willpower, we believe he will come through this.

Joe was moved to Mercy Spinal Injury Rehab. September 28, 2016 and received excellent care and rehabilitation. At this point his insurance would no longer approve a longer stay. He was receiving multiple physical therapy sessions during his stay there. He has some movement of his left fingers. With someone helping him to get started he has some movement in his arms and legs.

He has been recently moved to Manor Care in Peters Township, to continue the physical and occupational therapy. The insurance will only cover three weeks of care, and then they will send him home with six outpatient therapy sessions. He will not receive the same intense therapy that he received at Mercy and Manor Care but something is better than nothing.  While he is at Manor Care we are desperately trying to get the house ready for Joe when he is released in 3 weeks.

There are few of the things that we need to accomplish prior to Joe coming home;

We need to build a bathroom with a shower that will be wheelchair accessible. We need to widen many of the doorways and build ramps. At some point we will also need to purchase a vehicle that we can transport him in, for doctor’s appointment and therapy and also to just get him out of the house to enjoy life.

We are asking for donations to help with the above and also to cover the medical expenses such as co-pays, co-insurance and out of pocket expenses that are not covered by his insurance. It is critical that he have intense physical therapy at home and we are hoping to be able to fund it.

This is the second tragedy that has struck Joe. When he was 20, he was in a car accident and had a closed head injury. He had an operation to reduce the swelling on his brain and was in a coma for a few weeks.  The doctors at that time said the he would most likely be a vegetable. He is a fighter, with a lot of prayers, hard work and determination he did learn to talk and walk again. He was often depressed but overcame it and tries his hardest to lead a normal life.

He recently found love and became engaged to Sue Dickerson just this past year. Sue has stayed very dedicated to Joe during this time and they are still planning to be married in December 2017.  She has been a rock for him. We are all very happy and thankful she is in Joe’s life. They are truly in love with each other. It shines in their eyes.

Joe has a long road ahead of him and we are praying and supporting him every step of the way. We are hoping that he will regain use of his arms and legs down the road. We know he did it before and he is determined to do it again.

He is one of the kindest souls I know. He always has a smile on his face, even thorough all of this.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR PRAYERS AND DONATIONS FOR JOEY AUGUSTINE

VIRGINIA MUENSTER FAMILY
PEG HEINEN FAMILY
JOE AUGUSTINE FAMILY
DON FEIGLEY FAMILY