John Strong's Spinal Recovery

Brief overview: Dad broke his neck and has a very long recovery period ahead of him. His mobility is currently very limited and we have no idea how much movement he will regain as the swelling around his spinal cord goes down. We will likely need to make necessary renovations to my parents' house to be wheel-chair friendly (although we are hopeful that if a wheelchair is necessary, it will be an intermediate step on his healing journey).

Long Story: On Thursday, February 1, John Strong was in the backyard on a ladder, tearing down our childhood treehouse. A piece of wood came loose, knocking him off of the ladder, where he fell, landing on his head and breaking his neck at C5-C6. After emergency, rods were placed down his spine to stabilize it. His spinal cord is in-tact but severely damaged. Dad is currently in the Trauma ICU at UPMC's Presbyterian Hospital. He is currently on a ventilator through a tracheostomy. Because of this, he developed pneumonia and other bacterial infections in his lungs. These are common in the ICU and are slowly clearing up. PT visits him every day to test the strength and movement of his body. Currently, he can move his arms and wrists in certain directions, and can occasionally squeeze someone's hand or move a thumb. As soon as he is off of the ventilator and his pneumonia resolves, he will be moved to spinal recovery unit at UPMC's Mercy Hospital, where he will likely stay for several weeks, although we do not know how long. The doctors informed us that we won't know the extent of dad's physical abilities for months as his body slowly heals.

We currently are beginning to plan what, when, and how to renovate their home to best suit his abilities. We are also considering what type of vehicle or modifications to an existing vehicle need to be made. It appears that dad will only be at Mercy for a few weeks, perhaps up to six, although the timeline is very unclear, so we are worried about making these renovations in such a short time period. Our insurance will not cover any of these things modifications.