Steve Dickerhofe's Road to Recovery

On April 30th, Steve was a healthy 53 year old man who was blindsided by a stroke that affected the right side of his brain. As a result of this, he has lost many of the functions of the left side of his body and spent the better part of a month in ICU on a ventilator and mostly sedated as the swelling in his brain subsided. Steve was eventually transferred from the ICU to a stepdown unit where he made progress to get off of the ventilator and started PT/OT. Finally on May 28th, Steve was accepted by and transferred to the Shepherd Center rehab facility. Steve could not be in a better place as he continues this long road to recovery, and to eventually come home to his family. With COVID restrictions and visitor limitations, Steve's 3 teenage children have only been to see him the day after this happened (5/1/21). Each location's COVID visitor policies have been strict, and only 1-2 caregivers have been able to visit him & advocate for him while he was undergoing surgeries and his extensive stays in 4 hospitals. During the tentative first few weeks the rest of his family has waited in the dark for updates on Steve's progress and video messages via text. Steve's rehab process at the Shepherd Center will last for an extended period of time, and then continue with outpatient rehab & stroke follow up appointments.

Since the day this event occurred, Steve hasn't been able to work and his wife, Sandy, has been by his bedside, his number one supporter through all of this. As you can imagine, the financial burden of all of the medical bills from 4 different hospitals, multiple ambulance rides, numerous specialists, and his rehab institutions will be substantial--not to mention possible home modifications that might be needed. Our goal in starting this page is for friends and family to have an opportunity to support Steve on his road to recovery through financial means. If we could relieve even a portion of this financial burden, it will help the family (and hopefully Steve too!) get back on their feet. Please feel free to share this with anyone who knows Steve and/or Sandy through the many organizations they are involved with or anyone who might be willing to help. Thank you!