Today is my "Golden Birthday"- 31 on the 31st, and being a twin that means that it is also Matthew's Birthday! When I sit back and think that I am 31 years old- I almost don't believe it! This year I feel like there is much more than another year to celebrate- but Matthew's life and health! He is currently in the hospital in Lihue, recovering from a bacterial infection, Strep A- below is his story.
Matt was in Indonesia for 3 weeks on a surfing trip with a friend that started at the beginning of the month. While there he scraped up his ankles/legs on reef, coral- nothing unusual with surfing. Indo is a 3rd world country with lots of bacteria, and Matt had been walking through creeks, streams, and some bacteria entered his body in those open cuts/scraps. Upon his arrival home last Wednesday Matt sprained his ankle unloading the back of his truck at home. His ankle swelled and the broken blood vessels causing the bacteria in his body to spread. He went to the doctor on Thursday and they took a look- said was a bad sprain and he would be okay. Matt went home but his ankle continued to swell, and he spike fevers of 104. Calling the hospital to report his symptoms, they still were not concerned, therefore, being a guy he thought he would be okay. While his foot continued to worsen and he was feeling more sick, he didn't want to be sent home from the hospital again.
Sunday evening a friend of his- came over- took one look at his foot and told him they were going to the hospital. At the hospital they decided it was cellulites- and were going to take him into surgery-clean it out and take some labs to determine what the infection was. Those labs would take a few days to culture and we would know more in a few days. The surgery (am Monday Hawaii time) went very well- said that there was minimal cleaning needed, there was some puss and lots of fluid that they would clean and drain but that he would be okay- GREAT NEWS for now. We would need to wait and see what the cultures showed, but this was best case scenario they could have found. A few hours after surgery (midnight Ohio time-6pm in Hawaii) I got a call from his friend, Clark, that his blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, and he was in the ICU. His body was going into shock from the infection, which was now in his bloodstream and he was on 4 different antibiotics, a vasopressor (a medication to raise his blood pressure) as well as pain meds. It was NOT looking good. This was the scariest part- being thousands of miles away- not knowing what was happening- how he was- and what was going to happen. Google is a scary thing at 1am!!! I called my parents and they were on the phone with Clark and then immediately looking for flights to get out there ASAP- based on the information we had at the time.
Tuesday am (late night Monday Hawaii time) he wasn’t doing much better. He was still on the blood pressure meds, and was having trouble urinating. They had given him 11 liters of fluid and he wasn’t giving them anything back! They were concerned he was going into kidney failure. When I talked to him (on my way to work yesterday) he was trying to pee so they didn’t have to put in a catheter….which he didn’t want! When I asked how it was going his respond was “its kinda hard to take a piss when you are talking to your sister” …..still had his humor! I let him go and got a text 30mins later that read: they tried to pull that line. No way. I got on my keens in my bed and took care of it. That DEF made me smile and I was happy he was able to produce urine. I called the RN later that morning, and he said that Matt wasn’t producing the urine the needed and they were VERY concerned. They had been planning to wean the bp meds but needed to wait- give it more time to pump the blood to his kidneys and other organs (his liver was another concern). They would start running labs for the day at 5am (it was around 4am there at this time) and they would know more.
His lab results from Tuesday showed Strep A- a very serious, but treatable infection. Once they knew that they changed up his antibiotics and he did a 180 within a few hours. It was amazing! The doctors were even saying how impressed they were with his turnaround….he is a fighter!! Matt has been weaned off his blood pressure medication since Tuesday morning- and remains and will remain on strong IV antibiotics for a few weeks. A 2nd surgery on Tuesday to clean the wound, flush with more antibiotic fluid and confirm all the infection is gone went very well. The doctors are confident they got it all out. The next surgery (unsure of when this will be) should be a skin graft.
As of today, May 31st Matthew is out of the ICU and in a regular room on the same floor of the hospital. His lab results continue to show improvement and Matt is feeling stronger every day. He still has a long road to recovery, but his prognosis is VERY GOOD! The support, and prayers from family and friends have been UNBELIEVABLE! The staff at the hospital, doctors, surgeons and nurses are all AMAZING! Matt is receiving EXCELLENT care!! This has been a heck of a few days and I know that the support and love from everyone is overwhelming. We are all feeling grateful and blessed to have Matthew with us. My parents are with him now in Hawaii and will be for a few days. PLEASE keep the prayers and well wishes coming!
Matt wanted me to remind everyone "God is Good, All the time" Thank you all from the bottom of the Leimbach heart.
AMEN!
Matt was in Indonesia for 3 weeks on a surfing trip with a friend that started at the beginning of the month. While there he scraped up his ankles/legs on reef, coral- nothing unusual with surfing. Indo is a 3rd world country with lots of bacteria, and Matt had been walking through creeks, streams, and some bacteria entered his body in those open cuts/scraps. Upon his arrival home last Wednesday Matt sprained his ankle unloading the back of his truck at home. His ankle swelled and the broken blood vessels causing the bacteria in his body to spread. He went to the doctor on Thursday and they took a look- said was a bad sprain and he would be okay. Matt went home but his ankle continued to swell, and he spike fevers of 104. Calling the hospital to report his symptoms, they still were not concerned, therefore, being a guy he thought he would be okay. While his foot continued to worsen and he was feeling more sick, he didn't want to be sent home from the hospital again.
Sunday evening a friend of his- came over- took one look at his foot and told him they were going to the hospital. At the hospital they decided it was cellulites- and were going to take him into surgery-clean it out and take some labs to determine what the infection was. Those labs would take a few days to culture and we would know more in a few days. The surgery (am Monday Hawaii time) went very well- said that there was minimal cleaning needed, there was some puss and lots of fluid that they would clean and drain but that he would be okay- GREAT NEWS for now. We would need to wait and see what the cultures showed, but this was best case scenario they could have found. A few hours after surgery (midnight Ohio time-6pm in Hawaii) I got a call from his friend, Clark, that his blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, and he was in the ICU. His body was going into shock from the infection, which was now in his bloodstream and he was on 4 different antibiotics, a vasopressor (a medication to raise his blood pressure) as well as pain meds. It was NOT looking good. This was the scariest part- being thousands of miles away- not knowing what was happening- how he was- and what was going to happen. Google is a scary thing at 1am!!! I called my parents and they were on the phone with Clark and then immediately looking for flights to get out there ASAP- based on the information we had at the time.
Tuesday am (late night Monday Hawaii time) he wasn’t doing much better. He was still on the blood pressure meds, and was having trouble urinating. They had given him 11 liters of fluid and he wasn’t giving them anything back! They were concerned he was going into kidney failure. When I talked to him (on my way to work yesterday) he was trying to pee so they didn’t have to put in a catheter….which he didn’t want! When I asked how it was going his respond was “its kinda hard to take a piss when you are talking to your sister” …..still had his humor! I let him go and got a text 30mins later that read: they tried to pull that line. No way. I got on my keens in my bed and took care of it. That DEF made me smile and I was happy he was able to produce urine. I called the RN later that morning, and he said that Matt wasn’t producing the urine the needed and they were VERY concerned. They had been planning to wean the bp meds but needed to wait- give it more time to pump the blood to his kidneys and other organs (his liver was another concern). They would start running labs for the day at 5am (it was around 4am there at this time) and they would know more.
His lab results from Tuesday showed Strep A- a very serious, but treatable infection. Once they knew that they changed up his antibiotics and he did a 180 within a few hours. It was amazing! The doctors were even saying how impressed they were with his turnaround….he is a fighter!! Matt has been weaned off his blood pressure medication since Tuesday morning- and remains and will remain on strong IV antibiotics for a few weeks. A 2nd surgery on Tuesday to clean the wound, flush with more antibiotic fluid and confirm all the infection is gone went very well. The doctors are confident they got it all out. The next surgery (unsure of when this will be) should be a skin graft.
As of today, May 31st Matthew is out of the ICU and in a regular room on the same floor of the hospital. His lab results continue to show improvement and Matt is feeling stronger every day. He still has a long road to recovery, but his prognosis is VERY GOOD! The support, and prayers from family and friends have been UNBELIEVABLE! The staff at the hospital, doctors, surgeons and nurses are all AMAZING! Matt is receiving EXCELLENT care!! This has been a heck of a few days and I know that the support and love from everyone is overwhelming. We are all feeling grateful and blessed to have Matthew with us. My parents are with him now in Hawaii and will be for a few days. PLEASE keep the prayers and well wishes coming!
Matt wanted me to remind everyone "God is Good, All the time" Thank you all from the bottom of the Leimbach heart.
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| Matt in action |
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| Hospital Day 3 |
wow, what a story. so happy to hear he's doing so much better! happy birthday to you both and yes, God is good. xxx
ReplyDeleteBeautifully told. Your words give me a better glimpse of what he is going through. Thinking about you Matt. That surfing shot is incredible.
ReplyDelete