Dan’s Story

Site created on June 16, 2018

On Thursday evening (6/14), Dan was in a motorcycle accident involving an 18-wheeler. He suffered several traumatic injuries, but he was wearing full gear which, along with the excellent care by paramedics and hospital staff, saved his life. He's currently in critical but stable condition.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Meredith Reeves

Well. I've really been slacking on updates, haven't I?

Slow and steady has been the name of the game. The biggest news is that he received his prosthetic for his left leg back in January. He started out on a walker but quickly found forearm crutches to be more comfortable. Now it's just a matter of practice, improving balance, and building muscle in his legs and core. The problem right now is his right leg. He's had some arthritis in his knees for as long as I've known him, but he's also contending with the loss of muscle from early on in his recovery and leg spasms that can become painful and almost violent at their worst. We're working with his doctor to treat the spasms with muscle relaxers and CBD oil (which is honestly helping more than the muscle relaxers) but we haven't found a solution that stops them completely. Still, he's been pushing through and making great progress with the help of his physical therapists.

For the first few months of this year, Dan had been receiving occupational therapy through Piedmont Home Health, although they had come to the conclusion that he was ineligible for physical therapy because his recovery has progressed past what they could provide. The OT was great though, and she helped Dan get some strength and flexibility back in his left arm and hand. Not a ton, but enough that he started moving it on his own without having to lift it with his right. It's improved a lot since then, though it still has a long way to go.

Once he passed the level of care that home health OT can provide, she referred him to a hand specialist who happens to be in the same building as his physical therapy. After making a nerve map of both arms, the doctor discovered that some of the reduced hand function is being caused by restricted nerves in both his arms and his left shoulder. A couple weeks ago, he had cubital tunnel surgery on his right arm and we'll likely schedule surgery for his left soon. We're cautiously optimistic about the outcomes - dealing with nerves is iffy and we won't know for sure how well it's worked (if at all) for about a year because of how slowly nerves take to reconnect.

Next up on the agenda, however, is dental work. I knew from the beginning that some of his front teeth had been broken during intubation the day of the accident. However I hadn't realized that during the accident, likely either during the impact with the semi or with the ground, his back teeth had been shattered. Our dentist said it's not uncommon with auto accidents, particularly motorcycles, because the force of the impact can cause a person's jaw to slam shut. He has an appointment tomorrow to have the teeth that can't be salvaged extracted, then we're looking at a combination of caps, root canals, dental implants, and partial dentures. So while the medical bills have subsided due to out-of-pocket maximums, we'll be facing some hefty dental bills soon.

So here we are, still in Athens, still making the best of our situation. We're trying to get out of the house more to keep Dan from going stir crazy. We're also so grateful for all of our friends and family - you've all stuck with us through this journey and have made us feel so supported and loved.
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