Mark’s Journey: Conquering Amputee Challenges-Medical Costs

Dear friends and family,

As some of you may be aware, my brother, Mark, was in the hospital for a month and last week was moved to a rehab facility, learning how to cope and manage his new life. He never married and never had any children. He never has had a pet but loves our dogs immensely. He has always been a humble person and a giver, giving his time at work and working holidays so families could be together as well as donating to multiple charities. He is a Navy Veteran and loves the Michigan Wolverines.

His story begins the week of April 1st, 2025. He was taking the garbage out and mistook a shadow for a step on an apartment landing, causing him to stumble and feel a “pop” on his right foot. A day later, he noticed a blister where he felt the pop. He did what any of us would do and doctored it. He pushed through his week of work, celebrating his 58th birthday on April 3rd, and on April 4th, his work family celebrated his 30 years with GM, where he is a firefighter and coordinator for one of their testing tracks. By the weekend, he was feeling fatigued and dizzy with the blister worse and not healing, so he knew he had to get it looked at.

Sunday, April 6th, he tried to get his affairs in order, and that evening he called into work for Monday, letting them know he would be going to the ER and would let them know what they said. He never made it.

Monday, April 7th, he was weak and passed out on his living room floor. He could hear his phones ringing but was in and out of consciousness.

Tuesday, April 8th, I got a phone call from his boss while I was at work in Alabama, asking me if I had talked to him because they never heard from him and he didn’t call or show up for work. I knew immediately something was amiss, so I called his apartment complex office while his boss called the area hospitals. We both, at the same time, called the Sheriff’s Dept to conduct a well-care check. When they arrived at his apartment, they knocked several times and were about to get the keys from the office when Mark answered the door and collapsed, saying he needed an ambulance. He was told that I, along with his boss, had called to have a well-care check, so when I got a call from my brother’s phone, I was hesitate to answer because I didn’t know if it was him. I did answer and was so glad to hear his voice so, he let me know what was going on. I could tell he was weak, and he told me then that, “It’s bad!” During the time he was in the ER, I was in contact with the nurses, and they explained to me everything that was going on and if he would not have made it to the ER when he did, he wouldn’t be here. That evening, Mark called to tell me they were taking him to surgery. It was then that I knew we had to leave for Michigan. We left in the middle of the night, and around 1:30 am, the Vascular Surgeon called me asking to place a Central Line and an Arterial Line, and of course, I told them to do whatever they needed to. When Mark woke up in SICU, he would be recovering from a below-knee amputation.

We arrived on Wednesday, April 9th, and I will never forget how I felt. There lay my big brother with IVs wherever they could put one, a Central Line, an Arterial Line, and part of his leg was gone. How could this happen to him? He didn’t take any prescription medicine, ate healthy, worked hard, and was active. He was healthy, or at least we thought. You see, when he made it to the ER, his white count was over 31,000, and his Blood Sugar was almost 700, so he was very sick. He had a ravaging infection, so they had to figure out what kind and quick, so they rotated several antibiotics every 4 hours until they knew. He was on an insulin drip to bring his Blood Sugar down, pain meds, IV fluids, a blood thinner, and probably some things I can’t remember.

April 10th, Mark would go back into surgery so they could debride (clean) what they had already done, and at this point, they needed clean margins, so the decision was made to amputate his leg 4 inches above the knee. He would remain in SICU for a few more days.

Saturday, April 12th, they had figured out the infection…it was Streptococcus agalactiae which caused Necrotizing Fasciitis and also had Bacteremia (infection in the bloodstream), which made him septic, so he was changed to one antibiotic every 6 hours.

Monday, April 14th, he was stable enough to be moved out to their Surgical Stepdown unit and would remain there until they could move him to the Inpatient Rehab unit.

Monday, April 21st, Mark was moved to Inpatient Rehab, where they started his PT and Occupational Therapy. His Blood Sugar was under control, and he had been doing great.

April 25th, no more antibiotics, and they were replacing his insulin shots with a pill; all of his labs were good.

May 4th, he got his staples removed and has been waiting for placement at a Rehab Facility where he will continue PT and OT.

May 6th, he was moved to a Rehab Facility where he currently remains.

Everyone has asked what they can do, and I felt with all that he is going to need help with, this was what would benefit him the most besides continued prayers.

Currently, we do not know what all his insurance will pay from his hospital stay of over a month or what they will cover in the Rehab Facility. We do know he will need a prosthetic and the constant adjusting of that, a wheelchair, a device for his vehicle so he can drive since this was his right leg that was affected, he will be on medication for the rest of his life since this has caused him blood pressure issues with a femoral amputation, he will have multiple physician visits, and we have to find him a new place to live. He currently does not have any income since he is not working, and they don’t offer long-term disability. We have to start paying his insurance premiums so he will have insurance. He is afraid he will lose everything.

This has been traumatic for him, and he knows his life will never be the same. He knows some tasks that were easy will be challenging, but he’s a fighter, and his mind and body are up for the challenge. He has a new lease on life. While he was in the hospital, he told our mom that he felt different and felt as though he could feel the many prayers that have been sent on his behalf.

We often ask ourselves, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” but only God knows that answer.

I know we all serve a purpose in this life of ours, and one of my favorite scriptures is Proverbs 3:5-6:

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Thank you so much if you feel led to donate, and if you are a praying person, please remember to lift him in your prayers!

Sincerely,

Michelle Phillips (Mark’s sister)