Craig Flickinger is an honest and hardworking husband and father of two. He’s the kind of person you consider a brother more than a friend because he’s always got your back and always willing to help. He’s the kind of guy who you can always call when you’re in a bind and no one is able to help you out and he’ll come right over and help you out even if it means he has to stay up all night then go to work when the sun comes up and work a full day. Craig is the head painter at Imperial Auto Body in Rockville MD and he’s the guy who goes in on a Saturday not to work on his own project but those less fortunate them him. You’ll likely find him helping put and engine in are car to give away for the wounded warrior project. I know I can think of a million times he’s been there for me and just about every other person that I know. I can tell you this with 100% certainty there’s only one Craig (some of his close friends call him Meatball) and I have no idea what I’d do without him. Well that became a realization to many of us this past Saturday when we found out he was in Baltimore shock trauma and his condition was life threatening.
I’ll back track for the last month and a half or so he was complaining of back pain. He was seen by a doctor and they told him they were going to do injections in his back the following Friday. By Sunday he couldn’t even get out of bed to go to the bathroom. He tried to rest all day In hopes of trying to go to work on Monday. Well Monday came around and that definitely wasn’t happening so his wife took him to see the doctor again they told him that he had a herniated disc that was so bad that the injections wouldn’t help him and the only choice at this point was a minimally invasive surgery to go in and clean up the mass around his disc that was pushing on his nerves causing him tremendous pain and basically making him immobile. They immediately admitted him into Georgetown Hospital where he underwent surgery and the doctor was pleased that things had gone well. He seemed to be making good progress until Sunday morning when he was standing up and suddenly lost balance and fell over. Thankfully he wasn’t home alone and his wife and kids witnessed what happened so they quickly called 911 and first responders showed up immediately and took him to Frederick Memorial Hospital where doctors there immediately suggested he be flown to Baltimore shock trauma because he has a blood clot that traveled to his lung (pulmonary embolism). Once he arrived at shock trauma they immediately put him on an ecmo (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine to bypass his lungs and heart. This machine basically works in place of his heart & lungs, taking the pressure and stress off his heart & lungs which are effected by the clot blocking the movement of the blood. He is admitted into the cardiac surgery ICU and subsequently the cardiac surgeons performed an pulmonary embolectomy to remove the large clot covering his lung (a saddle PE). He also has a number of other DVTs (blood clots) in his left leg. The cardiac surgery went very well due to his age and no additional complications. They have taken him off of the ecmo machine but still have breathing machines to help repair his lungs. Tomorrow he will have IVC filter placed inside of the vena cava to stop any other large clots from doing the same thing. He will be continuing on a course of heparin as well to avoid the development of future clots. He will be spending a few more days in ICU and will then be moved to a regular room and start physical therapy to regain strength and mobility. Craig has survived a very serious medical emergency and is lucky to be alive today.
Craig has a few months of rehabilitation to get through. Please help him and his wife Shelby and their 2 kids, Cheyan and Johnny, to care for Craig during this difficult time. He’s given so much to friends and even strangers that don’t even know him in the community throughout his life, it’s our turn to open up our hearts and give back to a great friend who has selflessly done so much for so many others. Please donate as much or as little as you’d like, but most of all please continue to pray for Craig’s recovery.
I’ll back track for the last month and a half or so he was complaining of back pain. He was seen by a doctor and they told him they were going to do injections in his back the following Friday. By Sunday he couldn’t even get out of bed to go to the bathroom. He tried to rest all day In hopes of trying to go to work on Monday. Well Monday came around and that definitely wasn’t happening so his wife took him to see the doctor again they told him that he had a herniated disc that was so bad that the injections wouldn’t help him and the only choice at this point was a minimally invasive surgery to go in and clean up the mass around his disc that was pushing on his nerves causing him tremendous pain and basically making him immobile. They immediately admitted him into Georgetown Hospital where he underwent surgery and the doctor was pleased that things had gone well. He seemed to be making good progress until Sunday morning when he was standing up and suddenly lost balance and fell over. Thankfully he wasn’t home alone and his wife and kids witnessed what happened so they quickly called 911 and first responders showed up immediately and took him to Frederick Memorial Hospital where doctors there immediately suggested he be flown to Baltimore shock trauma because he has a blood clot that traveled to his lung (pulmonary embolism). Once he arrived at shock trauma they immediately put him on an ecmo (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine to bypass his lungs and heart. This machine basically works in place of his heart & lungs, taking the pressure and stress off his heart & lungs which are effected by the clot blocking the movement of the blood. He is admitted into the cardiac surgery ICU and subsequently the cardiac surgeons performed an pulmonary embolectomy to remove the large clot covering his lung (a saddle PE). He also has a number of other DVTs (blood clots) in his left leg. The cardiac surgery went very well due to his age and no additional complications. They have taken him off of the ecmo machine but still have breathing machines to help repair his lungs. Tomorrow he will have IVC filter placed inside of the vena cava to stop any other large clots from doing the same thing. He will be continuing on a course of heparin as well to avoid the development of future clots. He will be spending a few more days in ICU and will then be moved to a regular room and start physical therapy to regain strength and mobility. Craig has survived a very serious medical emergency and is lucky to be alive today.
Craig has a few months of rehabilitation to get through. Please help him and his wife Shelby and their 2 kids, Cheyan and Johnny, to care for Craig during this difficult time. He’s given so much to friends and even strangers that don’t even know him in the community throughout his life, it’s our turn to open up our hearts and give back to a great friend who has selflessly done so much for so many others. Please donate as much or as little as you’d like, but most of all please continue to pray for Craig’s recovery.