Help Mitch reclaim his life with shoulder surgery

My name is Mitch Numark. I'm a professor and a rather private person, and I never imagined setting up a GoFundMe fundraiser. Those who know me know that I don’t ask for help. But my medical crisis has changed everything for me—forcing me to involuntarily disability retire from my tenured professorship at California State University Sacramento and leaving me homebound.

As a result of a botched surgery, I have become severely disabled. I am effectively unable to use my arms or move my neck, which means it's impossible for me to live independently and care for myself. I must therefore swallow my pride and ask for the financial assistance that will enable me to undergo surgery and pay for the specialized physical therapy and home care that will allow me to live, regain the use of my arms, reclaim my life, and return to the things I love: teaching and writing.

Four years ago, an orthopedist recommended that I have cervical spine surgery. I had the surgery in July 2018. Instead of relieving my symptoms, the surgery damaged nerves and left me severely disabled. I required revision surgery and, as a result, four of my cervical vertebrae had to be fused (see photo below). After the first surgery, I began to suffer from spasmodic torticollis, a condition in which my neck painfully twists involuntarily, as well as a severe case of bilateral scapula winging, which is also known as STAM (Scapula Thoracic Abnormal Motion).

Despite years of painful physical therapy, my right shoulder and arm are basically hanging off my body. The muscles that keep the scapula in place are extremely atrophied due to the nerve damage from the cervical spine surgery, which is why you see my scapula in the pictures below. It is terribly painful and worse than it looks.

Every day I am in severe pain, unable to do what most people find so easy and reliant on others to meet my basic needs. I can hardly move my shoulders and arms. I cannot keep my head up or look down. Everyday tasks—brushing my teeth, shaving, tying my shoes, dressing, eating, typing—are either impossible to do or done with extreme pain. (Someone else typed this for me.) Consequently, I spend over 90% of my day in bed or in a zero-gravity recliner. I feel as though I have no future.

But there is light at the end of this long, dark tunnel. With the help of my cousin Andrew, I flew to Boston to consult with the foremost expert on my extremely rare condition, Dr. Bassem Elhassan, a professor of orthopedic surgery at Harvard Medical School. Later this year or next year, Dr. Elhassan will perform a complex surgery on me: a scapulopexy, stabilizing my scapula by attaching donor tendons to my scapula and rib cage and releasing my pec tendon transfer from my scapula and reattaching it to its original position on my arm. Dr. John Itamura, the LA Angels' team physician, and Southern California’s leading expert on scapula and shoulder issues, noted that he believes Dr. Elhassan “is probably the only surgeon who is comfortable with doing [a] surgery of this magnitude.”

To have this surgery, I must rely on the kindness and generosity of my family, friends, colleagues, and community to help me with some specific expenses that will not be covered by insurance and that I cannot pay for myself.

These expenses include the out-of-pocket medical costs to meet my deductible not covered by insurance, transportation for me and a caretaker to and from Boston, accommodations while I recover after surgery until I can fly back to California, a personal care attendant for post-surgical needs, and intensive physical therapy for at least two years after surgery.

Any amount that you can contribute to this fundraiser will be greatly appreciated. I will need additional surgeries down the road, but this is the BIG ONE that can give me my life back and enable me to work and live independently again.

My sincerest thanks and love,

Mitch