Help with bills during recovery.

Hello. My name is Andrea Poirier. On Saturday, March 2nd around 5:30pm I received a call from Froedtert Hospital. My younger brother Scott Poirier was hit by a car while walking across the street. The car was traveling over 50mph. The person driving did not have a license. The driver was arrested at the scene. Scott had went through the windshield of the car and needed to be cut from the vehicle.

Scott has been in the Neuro Intensive Care Unit at Froedtert Hospital since this happened. He suffered multiple facial fractures, multiple skull fractures, multiple brain bleeds and one broken rib. He was immediately taken to emergency surgery for a craniotomy. He had bleeds on both sides but only one of them needed to be operated on. The bleeding needed to be stopped and evacuated. The surgery was about four hours and around 9:30pm while I was waiting in the family center the surgeon came down and said surgery went very well. They were able to stop the bleed and evacuate the excess blood. They also placed a drain in his skull to help with the bleeding. He had a feeding tube down his nose to give him food and some medicine as well. The NICU doctors are going to keep an eye on the other bleeds to ensure they didn’t get bigger.

Scott has been making amazing progress since brain surgery. He was initially on a ventilator and heavily sedated. While on the ventilator he was initiating his own breaths and the machine was doing the least amount of work. He was also responded to the drs commands! They would turn the sedation down, wake Scott up and say, almost yell “Scott can you give us the thumbs up with your left hand,” and he did!!! As well as squeeze their hands and wiggle his toes. Multiple CT scans were done of his brain to watch the bleeds as well during this past week. The one that was operated on looked good and they were able to take the drain out. The one on the other side didn’t get any bigger which is what they were looking for.

By Tuesday he had the breathing tube out and was doing great breathing on his own. He is also able to talk. His speaking is very quiet and sometimes mumbled. He is very confused from the medication and as well as the traumatic brain injury. He even sat up in the bed with the help from physical therapy.

Then on Saturday the 9th he had a swallow study done to see if he could eat on his own. He partially passed and they are allowing him to drink from a syringe and eat minced food. Not ideal but it’s wonderful news. He was very happy to drink some ice water for the first time in seven days and even had a few syringes of Pepsi. Physical therapy has also been working with him as he has shown the drs he is so strong during their daily exams. Scott with PT walked me down the hall when I was getting ready to leave and he gave me hug! His walking is very slow and his steps are short but it’s amazing he can walk. Occupational therapy had him up and brushing teeth. Scott will need physical therapy and occupational therapy for awhile.

This was not the news we needed as a family and we are asking for everyone’s prayers and thoughts during this time for Scott’s recovery. This will be a long road for him but the doctors are confident he can regain his normal life again. The nurses and doctors are amazed with what happened, that he is able to walk and talk.

Prior to this, Scott was living on his own and working full time. Scott will eventually go to the regular neuro floor at Froedtert and then probably to some type of rehab facility. Now that he is out of work he does qualify for short term disability but this won’t cover all his bills as it’s only 60 percent of his income and only last for a short period of time. He did not have insurance but is still within the enrollment period at his job so they are trying to sign him up still. This will be six months to a year recovery process the doctors are saying. He has a very long road ahead of him and not having to worry about his bills during this time would be such an amazing thing for him. We are raising money to help him pay his rent, as well as any other bills he may have during his recovery process. His rent is about $800 a month. We want to make sure Scott has his home still when he is able to be discharged and we want him to focus on healing and recovery. Thank you for reading our story and please if you’re able to share this with your friends and family that would also be just as amazing as a donation. Thank you again.