darren good - post stroke recovery fund

hi my name is jackie good.

my husband darren suffered a major stroke on august 4, 2022. at the time he was at home in nanaimo, bc. and i was on a lacrosse tournament trip to san jose california with my 2 daughters. at about 930 pm aug 4, darren called me slurring. saying that he thought he was having a stroke. i told him to hang up and i called my kids to call 911. the ambulance showed up within 15 minutes and began working with him to get him ready to go to emergency. we tried to race back to canada to be by his side. but we were late for the last ferry boat on friday aug 5. we finally met up with him just as the were flying him to victoria general hospital. he spent 10 days in victoria icu and then was transferred back to nanaimo to the HAU for 2 weeks. he then spent 10 days in a regular ward waiting for a spot the rehabilitation unit.

upon first diagnosis in victoria he was not supposed to walk or talk. but darren fought his way back. before leaving victoria he defied the odds and began moving his right side and his left leg. he used the alphabet board to communicate. the day we were leaving victiria on aug 16 he said his first word “more”. he amazed the doctors and icu staff. he was intubated prior to victoria and on aug 11, only 5 days at icu he was extubated. and they performed a tracheostomy so they can still help him breath but allow him to start healing from the invasive intubation.

when he moved to nanaimo, all his medical tubes and equipment were slowly being removed. by august 29 the tracheal tube, the heart monitors, the catheter and feeding tube was all removed over a period of 13 days.

he was seeing occupational therapists, speech therapist, a nurse specialist that assesses his ability to swallow properly.

he spent one final week in rehabilitation and has come a long ways. he can speak and communicate. he can now eat dolid foods. he is learning how to walk. he has climbed stairs. he can sit up, stand up with aid and we are now officially at home.

to date we have had to dip into credit to keep up with regular bills. and we are still waiting on disability as well.

we are hoping to recover the debt and then have some to get us by on the daily until we know what happens in the future.

right now, we do not know if he will ever make it back to work. our financial situation has now become something else to worry about.

until now our focus has been just him and the hospital.

i have daily updates on my facebook that date back to august 8.

we are humbled to reach out for help. i continue to do updates every other day now that he is home. the goods, thank you in advance