Hi, my name is Amber Chandler. I'm married to Johnny Chandler! I'm making this in hopes to take some stress off everyday life and bills off him and me.
Johnny is our main source of income and hasn't been able to work since June 10th, 2026!
On June 12th, 2026, him, our daughter, and I went to Kingsport to have dinner. On the way home, he started having full-body muscle spasms that looked like seizures, which led him to go unresponsive in the car on me. I got him to come back to, so I turned my hazard lights on and called my best friend, Kala Moore, to call the hospital and 9-1-1 and let them know what was going on. She did all this while he went unresponsive 2 more times before arriving at the hospital in Big Stone Gap! Once at the hospital, they got him out of the car and ran blood tests, did an X-ray, and a CT scan! By this time, he was still having the seizure-like episodes and had now lost his memory. He didn't know anyone but me, didn't know who he was, where he was, or what he did for work. He couldn't read or write. They came in and told us they would be transporting us to HVMC because they were not sure what was going on, that Johnny was not a 'textbook case'.
At 6 am on June 13th, 2026, we got loaded up and transported to HVMC ICU where we waited all day to see someone other than a nurse. Finally, late that evening, we saw the hospital's neuro doctor, who told us Johnny has serotonin syndrome, which was caused by his doctor prescribing too many medications with serotonin in them! The next day, June 14th, 2026, we saw just a regular doctor, and she told us the same thing, that she agreed with the neuro doctor that Johnny has serotonin syndrome and we are just basically going to have to ride it out. Mind you, this is day 3 of him having the seizure-like episodes and memory loss. She told us she was going to move us out of ICU and into a regular room! That evening, they came to move us rooms, and the nurse in the new room assessed Johnny and called a code stroke due to left side weakness. But once further assessment was done and his doctor came in to see him, it was determined he hadn't had a stroke (thank God), it was just part of the serotonin syndrome!
As the days go on, we have fewer seizure-like episodes, but his memory is still scattered. One minute he can remember, the next he can't, and the next he can only remember certain things! On Monday, June 15th, 2026, we got to see the neuro doctor from UT, and she even said she thinks it's serotonin syndrome and told us also that we would just have to ride it out. It could be 2 days, 2 weeks, or longer, but he would get better and would make a full recovery! She told us we could go home Tuesday, June 16th, 2026!
We are now home, been home since Tuesday. We have good days and we have bad days.
If you find it in your heart to help us, it would be greatly appreciated. If you can, please share and send prayers our way!