Support for Drake's Medical Bills

My boyfriend, Drake Kent, and I have had a terrifying week. It has been a week that we never excepted to experience.

Sunday afternoon while we were at church, Drake began to feel a slight pain in his jaw. We didn't think much of it. By Monday evening, his jaw and the left side of his face was noticeably swollen. Since he has no health insurance, we decided to wait until Tuesday morning to see if the swelling became worse.

 When Drake woke up on Tuesday morning, his face and jaw were twice as swollen as they had been the night before. I was really worried that something was wrong. I asked him if we should go to urgent care that morning. He had a recording session for his music studio that morning and a show with his band Beket in Greenville, SC that night. Since he was so busy, we both decided we would go to urgent care on Wednesday morning.

I left work and called him to see how he was feeling. He told me that his jaw hurt and he had been having more severe anxiety than usual. He said he felt okay other than that. I wasn't far from home, so I told him I would see him when I got home.

I walked in the living room and immediately knew something was wrong. I saw our dog, Beef, was calmly sitting on his bed staring at the couch. Beef is a giant pit bull. Beef's never calm.

I saw Drake lying on the couch. He looked like he was asleep, but he never takes naps. I was scared now. I walked up to the couch slowly and tried to wake him up. He couldn't sit up. He was extremely disoriented. He told me he wasn't asleep and he had no idea what had happened.

I tried to get him to sit up and he started screaming that his shoulder was killing him. The left side of his face was swollen to about three times it's normal size. I knew something was seriously wrong. Regardless of whether he had health insurance or not, I had to get him to the emergency room.

We arrived at the emergency room and checked in. The entire time he had no idea what was happening. He was having trouble deciphering what simple things on his paperwork.

A nurse took us to an exam room. A doctor came in immediately to examine Drake. The doctor told us that it looked like he had a soft tissue infection in his face. Antibiotics should clear it up and take the swelling down. I felt relieved. The doctor want to take a CT scan just to make sure nothing else was wrong.

We were transferred to another room. A nurse gave him an IV and then took him to have his CT scan. 

When he came back, he was still complaining about his shoulder hurting. Other than that, he was starting to act like the normal Drake. He was joking around and we were talking about what we were going to eat for dinner when we got out of the ER.

He told me that he was having little anxiety attacks. I helped him breathe through one and he was fine for about another ten minutes.

I noticed he was looking anxiety-filled again. I took his hand and tried to help him breathe though it again. I saw his pupils dilate. He took about four really shallow breaths and began to have a seizure. I screamed for help. I ran to the nurse's station. I screamed that he was having a seizure and we needed help.

I ran back in the room with all the doctors and stood there in absolute shock watching Drake has the seizure until a nurse pulled me out. She helped me calm down. I asked her why he had blood running out of his mouth. She told me that he had most likely bit his tongue while he was seizing.

I immediately thought back to when I found him on the couch. He had a little bit of blood in the corner of his mouth. I told her this was his second seizure of the day for sure. I told her how he was acting and what I had seen in the living room. She helped me confirm that he had definitely had two seizures that day.

At this point, I began to panic. I called anyone I knew who could provide me comfort while he slept off the medication the doctors had given him to stop the seizure. 

About thirty minutes later, he was back to talking. All he could say what that his shoulder was killing him. He asked me what happened to him. I explained that he had two seizures that day, but I had no idea what was going on with his arm. 

When the doctor came in, I asked what was wrong with his arm. He said that sometimes seizures could cause a stroke-like paralysis which is what could have happened. Other than that, he had no idea what it could be.  I wasn't accepting that answer. That answer meant that he could never regain use of his left arm. Drake is a drummer and bassist. He loves music and playing for churches. He's worked so hard to be able to live off of making music. I knew that there had to be something else wrong.

After about an hour, the doctor told me he wanted to keep Drake for the night. He wanted to monitor him incase he had anymore seizures and he needed IV antibiotics.  He told me the infection in his jaw was four times worse than an infection that a doctor would be worried about. It was the worst infection level that this hospital had ever seen. 

We were transferred to the ICU where they could closely monitor him and help him get rid of the infection. 

His shoulder was still killing him. He couldn't receive pain medicine. The doctors wanted to keep him completely coherent so that mood changes (indicating another seizure) could be detected. 

His infection improved dramatically after two rounds of antibiotics. I still was so worried about his shoulder. He couldn't move his arm at all. I needed a better answer than seizure paralysis.

I was constantly at the nurse's station that night asking what could be wrong with his shoulder. One nurse told me there was no way he would be in that much pain if he didn't have a trauma injury. She said maybe he could have broken his arm. She ordered an x-ray for his arm so we could see if he had any trauma that would cause that much pain.

Drake screamed in pain all night with no medication.

After the x-rays were read, it was obvious that Drake dislocated his shoulder falling into the couch during his first seizure at home. With in a few hours, the doctors put him under local anesthesia and relocated his shoulder. He was feeling much better and in much better spirits after that.

We had to stay another night in the ICU due to lack of bed space on the main hospital floor. He also still needed more IV antibiotics to make sure the infection was almost gone.

The next morning we were told he was okay to go home. The doctor believes that the seizures were a cry for help from Drake's body. His body knew the infection was at a threatening level, so it did the most dramatic this it knew how to do.

He will be in a sling and taking antibiotics for a week.  The infection was so rapid, we want to make sure it doesn't come back. He also has to be on anti-seizure medication for a month.

He has to see a neurologist to have an EEG. We want to make sure he isn't prone to seizures and he can't drive until he is cleared to do so.

He has to see a orthopedist about his shoulder so he can be able to play the drums. As far as we know, Drake will be out of work for about a month.

If you find it in your heart to donate, we appreciate you so much. Since Drake has no health insurance, we are standing in front of thousands upon thousands of dollars owed due to a freak accident and a rapid infection.

We both appreciate all for your thoughts, prayers, and donations in advance. You all mean the world to us.

- Jenn Morey