Nathan Powers

On October 16, Nathan was in a motorcycle accident when a car pulled out in front of him. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet, which prevented a plethora of other injuries and possibly saved his life! He was taken to Mercy and then air-flighted to Iowa City. We found out that he had a Stage 3 aortic tear (stint put in) , a fractured right wrist (an external fixator with pins), a fractured pelvis (an external fixator with a screw and pins). Once the major issues were taken care of, we also learned that he had nerve and tendon damage in his right wrist (carpal tunnel procedure), mini-fractures in left wrist (in a brace) , internal bleeding in his abdomen (coils) , a torn LCL and possible ACL in his left leg (leg brace), fluid in his chest (thankfully did not need a chest tube), shoulder pain, hematomas throughout his body, low hemoglobin where he needed at least 6 blood and one plasma transfusions, and a few other issues.

Since coming to Iowa City, he has had in total 3 major surgeries and two procedures. At this point, he may need 1 to 3 more surgeries, depending on how things heal.

Right now, we are struggling to find a skilled nursing facility that will accept him as a patient since he is "non-weight bearing" and can't use his right arm. We are still hopeful that things will start looking up and a reputable place will accept him, so that he can keep up with therapy and be as strong as he possibly can be when the fixators come out and he can start to move and continue the next road of his journey. Once he moves out of the hospital, he will most likely have to be transported by ambulance (out-of-pocket expense) back to Iowa City for his upcoming appointments (at least 3 more appts) due to him not being able to sit up completely with the pelvis fixator.

In the meantime, Nathan and his family members have had to take time off work, pay for hotels, food, and their own transportation. On top of the basic expenses, all of the medical bills will be up to the his own health insurance and his family since the driver of the car did not have insurance at the time of the accident.

Nathan will have a long road of recovery ahead of him. 16 days after the accident, and he is still in the hospital. His external fixators will be in for another 4-5 weeks, and then more therapy to get back to moving his right arm and walking (after 6 weeks of not being able to put any pressure on his legs, he will require quite a bit of work)!

All in all, Nate will be out of work for approximately 12-16 weeks, and will continue to accrue many out-of-pocket expenses. If he does ACL surgery right away, that could put him out of work for another 6-8 months, depending on his recovery.

We just got word today that a LTAC center in Davenport is willing to accept Nate. We are just waiting to see if insurance will officially approve it. He should be moving next week sometime! Insurance will cover the ambulance ride to the center, but transportation to his doctor appts in Iowa City might be out-of-pocket. We are hoping that we can correlate appts, so we are not taking more trips than necessary! This is one small step in his journey of recovery!