Kevin Engelmann

On the afternoon of Thursday, July 2nd, Kevin had an accident on a ladder that resulted in a traumatic brain injury. He was taken to Olympia fields hospital, and shortly after was air lifted to Stroger Hospital to receive a surgery that would take pressure off of Kevin's brain. As he arrived the surgeons did a quick assessment and felt they had time to take a another CT scan in order to get a better picture and prepare a plan for a craniectomy surgery. This involves removing part of the skull (in this case, Kevin's right side of the skull) and placing it in his belly to preserve it until they can place it back on at a later date. This will help alleviate swelling and inflammation and allow the brain to start healing. They also placed a tube to drain any excess fluids. The surgery went well and as planned. Our next steps are to keep Kevin sedated and intubated so that he can start the healing process without movement and agitation. They want him to keep still. He is in the Neuro ICU and is unable to accept any visitors at this time. Even I am unable to see Kevin at this time due to covid protocols. I have been getting updates via phone.

(Updated)
Later, while at Stroger Hospital Kevin had another surgery to place an EVD (external ventricular drain) this was to help eliminate excess fluid that Kevin’s brain was unable to absorb. After a two week stay at Stroger Hospital in the ICU Kevin was stable enough, breathing on his own for a transfer to Silver Cross Hospital closer to home. His stay at Silver Cross was in the ICU. A little over a week at Silver Cross Kevin’s EVD was removed and replaced with a shunt. This was a two hour surgery. Several days after having his shunt Kevin was ready for rehab and transferred to Shirley Ryan downtown, Chicago for rehabilitation. He is working on his recovery. This will take quite some time, but we are hopeful and keep our faith in God’s hands for a full recovery.