Friends of Tony Update
This page was last updated on June 20
Since Tony's release from St. Jude's nearly four weeks ago, there have been a few setbacks with his recovery at home. After about two weeks into his release, Tony experienced complications with his feeding tube. The tube had become infected as it separated from the stitches that were holding it in place, making it no longer possible for Tony to receive a steady flow of much needed nourishment. Needless to say, it is difficult for Tony to maintain a nutritional diet that will both satisfy his appetite and facilitate the healing process. Many thanks to those volunteers have helped be part of Tony's meals-on-wheels; others are still needed to help him get over this new challenge.
As things at home have played out recently, the responsibility for Tony's home care has now shifted to Tony and to his family. While his medical plan allows for 78 nurse shifts, the insurance company has authorized only 14 shifts since he came home last month. Unfortunately, the case manager overseeing Tony's medical coverage cancelled his home nurse care after only providing two weeks of coverage. This left the family--already bearing the cost of a fulltime caregiver--with an additional medical expense to shoulder while Tony recovers at home. For everyday working people, when something like this happens to a family member, it's just a matter of time before the extreme medical expenses wipe out a family financially. Average people just can't afford these healthcare costs.
Tony is going to need regular medical care to treat his still extensive wounds, and he requires trained medical practitioners to oversee his day-to-day needs. Sadly, we are at the mercy of an insurance company paying the bills. One has to question the decision not to provide any more nursing shifts as some sort of cost-saving strategy on the part of the insurance company. One also has to question the motives behind their decision to force Tony's early release from St. Jude's into a conditional homecare setup. It seems if anyone ever needed regular care, it's Tony, given his condition.
Quality of Life
For some time now, Tony and his family have been concerned with the scope of services provided by his insurance carrier. While Tony has been admitted to some of the best medical facilities in the area, in particular, UCI Medical Center's Burn Intensive Care Unit, and St. Jude's Medical Center for rehab, there have been a few missteps along the way, and quite a few behind-the-scenes challenges with the insurance company. For example, it was Tony's insurance caseworker who kept him in a less qualified place like Kindred Hospital in Brea. In that particular facility, Tony languished for over a month without proper care and often in an over-tranquilized state. The staff at Kindred were simply incapable of treating someone with the severity of Tony's injuries. It was an appalling set of circumstances and a shameful episode that Tony had to endure until he could be admitted to St. Jude's Medical Center one month later.In a recent development, thanks to the advocacy of the TRD Human Resources team, they saw to it that a new insurance case manager had been assigned to Tony as of late last week. Let's hope that this change is a new beginning.
What Still Needs to be Done?
- Three chronic bedsores; one on each of his heels and another quite severe on his tailbone require him to be connected to a wound vacuum to drain the moisture from this major wound. Once Tony is strong enough to undergo "flap" surgery, a portion of the tailbone bedsore will be "cut out", and then "flapped" over with a patch of healthy skin.
- A large, weeping burn wound on his right side is healing slowly, and requires regular wound care.
- Another challenge that Tony faces is improving the function of his right arm. Tony's right hand was badly burned in the crash and he lost four fingers. There was extensive nerve damage to his right elbow, which has immobilized the joint, not to mention that it's a constant source of pain. Tony will require very specialized orthopedic surgery to restore mobility and strength in the arm without incurring further nerve damage.
How You Can Help?
- Go visit Tony. Even a short visit is much appreciated. You can send email to the family if you have any questions or need more information.
- Volunteer to be one of Tony's meals-on-wheels team. Help him get the nutrition he needs to heal properly. Check out the favorite foods link.
- Consider a much-needed donation to Tony's recovery fund.
- Consider donating blood to UCI in Tony's name.
On a happier note, a couple more names have been added to the friends page and to the Friends-of-Tony Update email list. They are:
Gordy and Linda Johnson
Joe Renteria
Cory Taylor
If you haven't already done so, add yourself to the Friends-of-Tony email list and friends page to find out more about Tony's condition and what you can do to help.
If you would like to read previous FriendsOfTony Updates, they are now available by clicking on the links below.
- June 4, 2005 Friends Of Tony Update
- May 20, 2005 Friends Of Tony Update
Thank you,
Steve Albanese
FriendsOfTony.com
Calendar
June 2005
| Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
July 2005
| Sun | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thur | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 |
June 3 - 5
Friday - Monday
Abilities Expo
At the Anaheim Convention Center
June 20
Monday
Tony spent the afternoon at the dentist.
The work on his crown resumes!
July 9
Saturday
Memorial for Linda Hayden