October 2017:
Many of you know part one of Dave’s story, the past year and a half of neurological recovery from a very serious brain tumor. His family is busy growing while he has been getting strong, back to work, and back to living life again.
Sadly, on October 14th, 2017, Dave was in a very serious single car accident while driving on Highway 99 near Madera on his was to a family event in Southern California. He had a seizure while driving, lost consciousness, and crashed. He was transported to a hospital in Fresno and was diagnosed with two fractured vertebrae in his neck and a dissection in his vertebral artery. They were told neither required surgery and he was sent home in extreme pain and immobility the following Wednesday night. After a difficult few days at home and trip to the ER, he eventually got transported to UCSF Neurosurgery on Saturday night, a week after the accident. Imaging showed a bone fragment impinging a nerve, in addition to the cervical fractures. Surgery happened on Friday, October 27, where they decompressed the nerve and fused vertebras C5-C7. Surgery stabilized the neck fractures, removed the agonizing pain and improved the weakness and numbness on his right side. He is expected to make a full recovery but recovering from spine surgery will be slow with lots of follow up at UCSF.
Due to the trauma of his brain surgery and radiation in 2016, Dave was on a maximum dose of anti-seizure medication. His seizures were well controlled and there was no reason to be concerned. He had resumed most of his regular activities and had been doing well, so the accident has been a tragic and difficult development to his story.
November 2017:
Dave is recovering at home and has completed his home health visits. He will continue to wear the neck collar for a few more weeks until his follow up appointment with his spine surgeon at UCSF. His shoulder pain, weakness, and numbness continue although should eventually go away. Thank you all so much for your support, prayers, and help. They are bringing us though another difficult time.
Post surgery at UCSF with Dr. Lee Tan.
C5-C7 fusion