The Accident.
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Before | First Nine Months | At Home
The Accident.
Joe had been traveling west when his car left the US 275 in Cincinnati, Ohio, sailed 10 feet in the air, and came to rest in the woods after sheering several trees to the ground. He was able to get out of the car, (he had his seat belt on according to the police report) but was subsequently hit by a passing car head on. Within five to ten minutes an emergency medical team was at his side thanks to a person with a cell phone, and within 30 minutes he was taken by helicopter to the University of Cincinnati Hospital Trauma Unit.
The trauma nurse didn't expect Joe to survive his first night and said so on the phone. She said we had better hurry down to Cincinnati to see him while he was still alive. The doctors said it didn't look good and that there was nothing else they could do. After a week the neurosurgeon stated that it looked worse. It seems the longer a person is in a coma the worse the expected outcome. Joe spent a little over a week in the trauma unit and a week in intensive care.
Joe's Eyes Open for the First Time since the Accident.Joe had suffered a traumatic brain injury (including brain stem shear) and remained motionless for two weeks. On November 28 he opened his eyes and we thought he was out of the coma. Did we have a lot to learn about brain injuries.
Press here to hear Joe's father telephone call telling Joe's older brother Paul the good news. We have this conversation thanks to telephone answering machines and Paul's quick thinking.
Joe needed to be transferred from the University of Cincinnati Hospital to another facility. He had little money or auto insurance. His father called Agnes Mansour, a friend, for help. She suggested he call Sister Mary Yvonne Gellise. Both Agnes Mansour and Sister Gillise are employed by Mission Health and the Mercy Health Corporation. He called and asked Sister Gellise's secretary to ask Sister Gellise for a miracle. He explained his son had been injured in an automobile accident and that he needed to be admitted into a hospital in Michigan as soon as possible. Without even calling Agnes Mansour to see who this person was, Sister Gellise arranged for Joe to be transferred and admitted to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and to Dr. Owen Perlman's Physical Rehabilitation Unit. And so, on December 1, 1995 Joe was transferred to the Physical Rehabilitation Unit at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
For those who have never done a patient transfer like this it is a difficult situation at best. The physicians, administrators and social workers from both institutions must be in agreement before anything can be done. This truly was a miracle for within two days Joe was in Michigan and under the excellent care of Dr. Perlman at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.
Several days after Joe had been admitted to the hospital Joe's father was walking down the hall. He glanced up at the wall and saw the following tribute. After reading it tears came to his eyes and he understood for the first time the wonderful thing that had happened. The plaque reads as follows:
|
Two months
after the accident, Joe's father saw this look in Joe's eyes that
seemed to reflect that he was really seeing us and began to mobilize
his family by paging his sister Sheila. Sheila had a pager and
was serving as the conduit to the rest of the family. When she
returned his call and he told her the good news that Joe was seemingly
more alert she began to cry. She was telling a group of young
persons about Joe and they were about to pray when her beeper
went off due to his fathers call. Everyone was quite surprised
by the timing of the call, and feel that again, it was a sign,
a sign that he was going to join us in time. You have to learn
to look for small signs, signs that there is life and a will to
live.
On January 11, 1996 Joe seemed more alert. His eyes seemed to reflect that he was really seeing us and that he was planning to join us in time.
Joe get excellent physical therapy from Margarita.
The family thought Joe was progressing well. However, he was
not making as much progress 
as
the medical/medical insurance community thought he should be making.
So, in early February he was transferred to InterMed Unit at University
Health Care in Livonia, Michigan. There, Joe got excellent physical
therapy and nursing care but did not seem to get any better. In
fact, his sacral wound got worse as did his contractures. He had
to return to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital for surgery on his sacral
wound and tendon releases on his legs. During the next six months
Joe was either in the hospital for surgery or at the nursing home.
The contractures in his legs got so bad surgery was needed.
After his surgery Joe was returned to the nursing home in July,
1996 and the family began making plans to move him home.
His family consists of two sets
of parents, two half-brothers and three half-sisters. The home
in which he would be living belongs to his father and step-mother.
His mother and step-father had just moved from Ohio and would
be living within 40 minutes of their home.
Joe's wound seemed better, except for one small opening which later proved to be one large opening and again had to be surgically corrected. His trachchiotomy had been removed and his contractures in his legs was better. He still had hetrotropic ossification (bone forming in the muscle) in his left hip but he was medically stable enough for his father's family to take him home.
This decision turned out to be a good one for Joe but a very difficult one for the family. Modifications to the homes physical structure were needed in addition to significant changes in their lifes. Joe and his father are very lucky to have such a wonderful family who are willing to sacrifice so much.
The sun setting on Patterson Lake where Joe and his family live.
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