Steve Bouchard: ICU & Recovery

My Dad, Steve, means the world to me. When asked about my greatest fear, I've consistently answered that it's something bad happening to him - because I can't fathom life without the comfort of knowing Dad is never more than a phone call away, even now as an adult. He embodies qualities like kindness, generosity, hard workmanship, honesty, humour, and intelligence - all wrapped in humility (plus a few endearing quirks!). But most importantly, he's the most amazing and loving father anyone could possibly dream of.

While I've heard about the risks of surgery, it never struck me as something that could affect my family. It’s that whole concept of “it won’t happen to me”... except it did happen to me.

Well, more specifically, it happened to my Dad.

On August 1st, my dad had a scheduled Posterior Lumbar Decompression Fusion in hopes to alleviate him from chronic pain he’s experienced due to issues with his spine. For more than a decade his pain has stopped him from working, traveling, and enjoying a lot of the little things in life we take for granted - so he was relieved when he felt great during the first week of recovery. But, although he felt great immediately following the surgery, it was noted that he suffered a minor complication during the procedure - the dura around his spine had been damaged slightly. Initially this didn’t seem to pose much of a problem, only causing him headaches for the first few days. However after about a week he began leaking excessive amounts of spinal fluid and was readmitted to hospital under suspicion of a spinal fluid leak (CSF).

In the days that followed, my dad experienced increasing pain, restlessness, and severe delirium - all while his medical team was trying to figure out what was going on and what to do about it. They ultimately decided to do a second surgery with the assumption that he was suffering from a bad infection in his spinal cavity. During surgery they confirmed he did, in fact, have a major infection and they proceeded to clean it out. CT scans haven’t shown infection in his brain, however the current medical opinion is that the damage to the dura surrounding his spine likely provided an avenue for the infection to travel upwards - hence the severe delirium and uncontrollable pain. Since the surgery, the infectious disease specialist at the hospital has identified three separate types of bacteria present in his spinal cavity and has been working towards figuring out exactly the right combination of antibiotics to rid Dad's body of this awful infection.

As bad as that already seemed to us at the time, our real nightmare began the following Wednesday when my dad was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) post-op because his body wasn’t responding to coming off intubation after that second surgery.

I don’t know how to explain it - he just wouldn’t wake up.

My Mom and I were told he would rest overnight and they’d be able to wake him up the next morning, but that didn’t happen either. Immediately our lives became completely surreal and we began living out of the ICU, just waiting for him to wake up. Every day was consumed by discussions with his medical team and watching for any new movements or signs that Dad was still in there somewhere. We would celebrate the tiniest changes, like the twitch of a finger or an elevated heart rate in response to touch. But we also dealt with new fears being thrown at us on the daily - such as the day they began discussing the possibility of Dad needing a tracheotomy if he wasn’t able to get off the breathing tube by day 10, or the term “stroke” that started being thrown around when his left arm lacked movement.

On day 6 we were incredibly relieved when Dad’s body began to “wake up”, and we felt this relief again on day 8, when Dad was able to have the breathing tube removed successfully. Following this, plus a few other major milestones, Dad was transferred out of the ICU on day 13 and was placed on the neurosurgery unit - which is where he’s currently still residing.

We’re so incredibly thankful to have Dad back and for all the progress he’s made since that first night in the ICU, but we’re coming to terms with the reality that he still has a long road of recovery ahead of him. He’s been going through high levels of confusion and his body needs to relearn how to do almost everything it did before, which certainly doesn’t happen fast.

With that, Mom and I have been off work and basically living at the hospital to support Dad since the middle of August. His medical team actually explained that having close family by your side can make a significant difference in a person’s recovery. Though as much as staying with Dad was a no-brainer, there are still obvious challenges that come along with the decision - specifically ones related to finances. Both myself and my Mom are experiencing a major loss in regards to our income, plus there are a lot of cumulative expenses associated with staying at the hospital (even in Canada). Expenses such as food, parking, and travel seem to add up very quickly! Furthermore, even once Dad has been discharged, there are some future anticipated expenses related to medical equipment and pharmacy items not covered through benefits.

Because of the financial challenges associated with our family’s current predicament, I’ve set up this GoFundMe with the intent to alleviate some of the costs being incurred. We appreciate every little bit of help so incredibly much and, knowing my Dad, he’ll do his very best to personally thank each and every person who contributes (once he’s well enough).

Thank you for taking the time to read our story, and for supporting my Dad and our family during this incredibly difficult time.

With love,

The Bouchards

*Note - We’ve always had a tonne of respect for nurses and the work they do, however this experience has given our family a whole new appreciation for the incredible care that these individuals give towards their patients every single day. The nurses here have always shown my Dad the utmost respect and provided him with the best care they could, which I’m certain has made all the difference to him. But just as importantly, the nurses have made all the difference for my mom and I too. We feel very fortunate to have such competent and wonderful people as a part of Dad’s medical team, many of which have made a lasting impression on our hearts and deserve more appreciation than we could possibly show!

Therefore, any funds collected that end up exceeding what our family requires to cover Dad’s hospital-related expenses will be put directly towards supporting all those hard-working nurses we appreciate so very much!