Bringing Tony Home

Many of you may know the Scutella Family, and even if you don't their story is one of heartbreak and survival. I am a close friend of the family and find it hard myself to grasp onto what they have been through. But, they have remained by one another's side through it all. Please take the time to read their story. 

Tony Scutella is a 35 year old, who has spent the last 25 years of his life being a Juvenile Diabetic He has endured a life of challenges due to his disease. He is a devoted young father of two and husband. Despite all of the medical obstacles that have gotten in his way, he has continued to be supportive and loving father and husband. 

In December 2018, Tony, a Juvenile Diabetic since the age of 11 was given the news that he was in end stage renal failure.  He needed a kidney transplant, immediately. He remained on the donor list for six months while receiving dialysis. Through that time many friends and relatives tested to be a donor. His sister was a perfect match and they were in the process of moving forward with the surgery. He was advised however to take a kidney/pancreas deceased donor if one came up in the meantime. On September 13, 2019 Tony received that fateful call. There was a donor that matched. The next day Tony underwent the 10 hour long, double organ transplant. The surgery went very well, or so the family thought. For the first time in 24 years Tony was no longer diabetic, they were elated. That was shortlived. A surgery that was meant to be life saving, quickly became a nightmare. Tony was not recovering, he was getting worse by the day, sepsis and weakness set in. He went from an independent 35 year old to barely being able to speak or move. Ten days after his surgery he became unresponsive and was taken to surgery to repair a leak from the pancreas. The family was again hopeful as the pancreas continued to function. Hope was  shattered once again when 10 days later he again had a leak. This return to surgery was devastating as they had to remove the new pancreas. He was back to being a diabetic and still critically ill. Tony needed to be on a ventilator, have a feeding tube, and numerous iv antibiotics to  fight the sepsis. He developed critical illness myopathy, leaving him without the use of his lower extremities.  Four weeks post surgery, he coded, and needed to be resuscitated. Thankfully, he recovered from that life threatening moment, but it left him needing a tracheostomy, yet another  devastating setback. Tony was on the vent and in ICU for 2 months in Pittsburgh. All the while his parents stayed there with them away from their jobs and burdened with thousands of dollars in lodging expenses. His wife would drive back and forth throughout those two months with their young daughters. During the weekdays they would stay with their aunt.  He finally came back to Erie to an inpatient rehabilitation  center, with a trach and feeding tube. He had lost 50 lbs and was extremely debilitated. He stayed there for 7 weeks .  During that time he had to learn to eat, breath, and speak again. He slowly regained strength in his upper extremities, but still could not use his legs. He was then transferred to a nursing home for a week.  When everyone thought he would soon becoming home, on January 8th, Tony suffered another setback. He needed yet another surgery to remove a severe infection that had reached his spine. He was back in Pittsburgh for another two weeks and lost all the progress he had made. Tony then again transferred back to a local rehab to begin that process all over again. He has been in the hospital back home for almost three weeks. By the Grace of God, after 162 days in the hospital, away from his family, wife and children, he is coming home!  He is now having to deal with life in a wheelchair and has a long road of recovery still ahead.  He requires around the clock care, rehabilitation, and assistance that his insurance will not cover. His dad is taking an unpaid leave of absence to be his caregiver until he is able to be more independent. As anyone can imagine this has not only been an emotional struggle, but a financial one as well. He has medical expenses for almost 6 months of inpatient hospital stay, medical supplies, equipment, copays, lost wages and these expenses will only continue to grow as he continues his recovery. Coming home adds more challenges and expenses as renovations to the home are needed to make it wheelchair accessible for Tony.  Finances should be the last thing this family has to worry about.

Please help me make the rest of this long road a little bit easier for this family that is so deserving. Any little bit will go a long way in helping. 

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Laura Figurski