So first off THANKS to all of you with prayers , support , thoughts and comments. For those of you that posted here is where things stand. A quick recap , as we started this last Monday trying to get him into Alpena Hospital with issues where he had terrible pain in his left leg , unable to walk following surgery on his neck In early July. He went from being unable to walk , to following surgery and a week of rehab being able to walk out of the hospital ,with the aid of a walker and hoisting himself into my SUV to take him to his cottage on July 18th. He was pretty much pain free for about 10 days to 2 weeks. He had a follow up visit with his surgeons team in West Branch ( surgeon was in Saginaw ) on August 5th. He was able to get rid of his neck brace , but they wanted him to get X-rays. He had family coming in and didn’t act on the X-rays , and things started to go south pain wise soon after. This past Monday the pain was so bad I put him back into my truck and we took him to the emergency room in Alpena. There were probably 50-60 people in the ER and after 4.5 hours of waiting with about 20 people still in front of him my sister in law loaded him into her car and took him home.
I had to leave Tuesday morning to come back to Annapolis. I stopped by around 7 am , spent an hour and told him he needed to go back to Saginaw. He agreed , but after I left his plan fell apart as he could not get any pain medication from the local clinic. He then left Wednesday for Saginaw in the morning and was admitted after about 3 hours ( All hospital ER’s are a mess right now FYI ). He is there now.
They ran some tests to see the cause of his problems , and the following now has come to light. He has a heart valve issue that they believe is causing the pain issue in his left leg and some pain in his right leg. The cardiac team wants to do this surgery ASAP. It involves going into his thigh using a cow cadaver valve and we were told this is pretty common. However one group ( neurosurgeons ) said that this wasn’t a pressing issue , but they were not sure that was the cause of his pain. They ran tests eliminating things like blood clots , cellulitis , infections as well as X-rays looking at his neck and lower back. They have not concluded the cause of everything . But the cardiac group says it’s the heart valve.
I discussed this with my brother and sister in law and convinced them to move him to AA. We are in the process of getting a cardiologist at U of M to accept him through a referral , as well as we have a call with a spine specialist at U on M on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am. I will say Saginaw is NOT being a lot of help in the paperwork for the referral to U of M but the only other option is the ER route which also has about a 4-5 hour backlog. I have spoken with people there
in the ER. I have a few folks connected with U of M helping. They have been tremendous. So my brother is now awaiting the hopeful move to AA to get admitted Monday.
THANKS AGAIN for everyones help. Also sorry this is so long. PLEASE stay safe. ALSO hospital ER’s are swamped right now and have been in all 3 hospitals for at least the last week to 10 days. I love this place and all your help. BTW. My brother is an alum as well. Please keep him in your prayers.
GO BLUE ......
I had to leave Tuesday morning to come back to Annapolis. I stopped by around 7 am , spent an hour and told him he needed to go back to Saginaw. He agreed , but after I left his plan fell apart as he could not get any pain medication from the local clinic. He then left Wednesday for Saginaw in the morning and was admitted after about 3 hours ( All hospital ER’s are a mess right now FYI ). He is there now.
They ran some tests to see the cause of his problems , and the following now has come to light. He has a heart valve issue that they believe is causing the pain issue in his left leg and some pain in his right leg. The cardiac team wants to do this surgery ASAP. It involves going into his thigh using a cow cadaver valve and we were told this is pretty common. However one group ( neurosurgeons ) said that this wasn’t a pressing issue , but they were not sure that was the cause of his pain. They ran tests eliminating things like blood clots , cellulitis , infections as well as X-rays looking at his neck and lower back. They have not concluded the cause of everything . But the cardiac group says it’s the heart valve.
I discussed this with my brother and sister in law and convinced them to move him to AA. We are in the process of getting a cardiologist at U of M to accept him through a referral , as well as we have a call with a spine specialist at U on M on Tuesday morning at 8:00 am. I will say Saginaw is NOT being a lot of help in the paperwork for the referral to U of M but the only other option is the ER route which also has about a 4-5 hour backlog. I have spoken with people there
in the ER. I have a few folks connected with U of M helping. They have been tremendous. So my brother is now awaiting the hopeful move to AA to get admitted Monday.
THANKS AGAIN for everyones help. Also sorry this is so long. PLEASE stay safe. ALSO hospital ER’s are swamped right now and have been in all 3 hospitals for at least the last week to 10 days. I love this place and all your help. BTW. My brother is an alum as well. Please keep him in your prayers.
GO BLUE ......
Last edited:
