Laurie & Lee's Ride to Recovery

On Sunday December 10th Lee and I were leaving the Joe Dimaggio Toy Run after a beautiful day of donating toys on the Harley approaching a traffic light to make a right turn when we hit a large, unexpected pot-hole.

The hole was so deep it swallowed the front tire of the bike and Lee and I were tossed off separately. Thankfully, I did not lose consciousness and was able to manage to get over to Lee. When I got to him I noticed his color was blue and not breathing - one of the scariest moments of my life.

By standers and bikes behind us stopped and helped while calling 911. Thankfully, after a few moments Lee's color came back and he was breathing.

They were initially going to Medivac Lee but the helicopters have since been grounded for BSO after that terrible helicopter crash. So they had to transport him by ground which took a lot longer to get him to Memorial hospital in Hollywood to get the care he needed. The paramedics showed up and took Lee and I in the ambulance and we were rushed to Trauma units.

I ended up with lots of road rash and banged up quite a bit but no broken bones thankfully. God must have been right by my side because he knew the strength I would need to help Lee. I was discharged later that evening. However, Lee was not so lucky and they admitted him to trauma ICU floor.

As of right now we know Lee has multiple very deep wounds, road rash and bruises, fractures in neck, arm, back and ribs. He initially had a slow brain bleed which believe has resolved and he has lost vision in his left eye and partially in the right. The doctors are optimistic he will regain some vision in the right eye. He is on very heavy pain meds and they have been keeping him sedated to help with the agitation and he is intubated on a ventilator.

They have been trying to get him off the ventilator however things have not gone as planned. On Tuesday morning the 12th they successfully removed the endotracheal tube and Lee started to do great. It was the first time I had spoke to him and he was joking around and being this amazing man I love. I was so happy to see things going in the right direction.

Sadly, that did not last long, Lee took a turn for the worst and started becoming very aggressive to the point they had to put restraints and sedate him heavily. Then that evening he went into respiratory failure and his oxygen dropped down to 40% when they called a code. They were able to stabilize him and re intubate for the second time. They also started feeds through an Orogastric tube so he can start to have some nutrition.

On Friday the 15th the plan was to try and take the endotracheal tube out again to get closer to our goal of getting home since he seemed to be stable again. When they took the tube out, they noticed his saturation levels started to drop AGAIN and they quickly re-intubated him for a third time. Now they are discussing the possibility of placing a tracheostomy because of so many unsuccessful attempts. While doing that they also mentioned they may place a PEG tube for feedings.

This is all so overwhelming emotionally and physically for me as both Lee and I do not have family in Florida with us to lean on or lend help. Without our amazing friends I would have not been able to get this far. So, thank you.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am pretty tough. Ii have been walking around all bandaged up and hurting and I am trying my best to be a good caretaker and positive while also very uncomfortable, but I would do anything for this man.

The conversations I have had with the trauma team are very sobering.

I am starting to realize that my hopes to have Lee back home quickly and back on his feet are not going to happen as quickly as I would love. He may even need to be transferred to an outpatient rehab facility for some time. We will eventually need to get a home health nurse and lots of equipment and we live in a two-story townhouse. I will need to learn things like taking care of a trach and peg tube -things I never imagined honestly.

Lee is an independent contractor and pays out of pocket for his insurance so as you can imagine that is very costly. I have not been able to work due to my injuries and being Lee's caretaker at this time and I am so thankful for my job being so understanding.

Anyone who knows me knows I am not the type of person to ask for help and I am usually the one who is trying to go above and beyond to help others. So as the tables have turned It is difficult for me to ask for help but I honestly don't have a choice because I want Lee to have everything he needs while still maintaining our household maintaining the role of Mom and Dad.

Many of you have asked how can you help? So here it goes anything you can do to help will be used to assist in Lee's long road to recovery. I love and appreciate you all. I will do my best to keep everyone updated but please know I am juggling a lot at the moment. I wish you all a beautiful holiday and the best Christmas present I have is having Lee here with us.