Help Us Make Our Home Wheelchair Accessible

As most of you know, Nelson was hospitalized on July 2nd because of paralysis in his arms and legs. After a week in the FSJ Hospital where we got no answers he was transferred by air ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital and diagnosed with a staph infection in his bloodstream that had caused severe compression in the C3/C4 part of his spine as well as a mini stroke.

He underwent emergency surgery where they removed the affected areas and installed hardware, and noticed a leak that they cleaned but they couldn’t find a source. A week later he was doing well and had more feeling and movement back in his limbs, but then a couple of days later a CT scan of his neck along with blood work showed inflammation and fluid so he needed surgery again. This time around the infection was so severe that surgeons had to debride and get rid of a lot of dead tissue as well as wash out the area twice. Because of the tissue damage it was unsafe to close the wound, so a vac dressing was placed on it and the plan was to go back in within 48-72 hours to close it with plastic surgeons now involved. This got pushed back though so it wasn’t until last Tuesday, July 24th that they were finally able to close the incision. Plastics needed to do what’s called a ‘trapezoid muscle flap’ (or trap flap, as we call it) which involves taking the trap muscle and flipping it over so that the incision had some healthy tissue to close and heal with. Nelson is doing well after this third surgery, although he’s had more soreness in his left shoulder/arm because of it.

During this time it’s become evident that he will have a long road to getting back to regular function….and there’s no guarantee that he will, since doctors say the damage might be irreversible. He is unable to walk and has a lot of weakness in his upper torso. He is learning how to use his left arm again which is the stronger one, and the right will take a lot of rehab to be able to use normally again. He will remain in hospital until the end of August to continue a heavy regiment of IV antibiotics, but after that he’ll be able to come home. However, there is a lot of ‘gear’ we will need in order to make coming home possible for him.

We will need:

-a power wheelchair that reclines and has neck support, because Nelson cannot sit up straight for long

-a portable lift and sling to transfer him from bed to chair

-a stair lift or stair crawler to bring him upstairs from the front entrance

-a lazy-boy style chair that lifts up and also reclines flat

Those are the main BIG items, and then there are numerous other smaller items required for his daily care. I hate having to ask for help yet again but this is the only way we’ll be able to bring Nelson home!

Any help is so appreciated

~ Cindy and Nelson

(& the kids)