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Permanent Damage: 35% Leg Circulation, Missing Pancreas, Daily Elevation

Day 4 · 2:09:23 · Glen Motz · Shannon Holmes

  • 🦵 Deep-vein thrombosis required three surgeries; right-leg circulation is 35% and amputation is expected; he is now fully diabetic after the cyst destroyed his pancreas.
  • 🚶 He plans every step, avoids crowds so no one steps on his foot, and many days never leaves the apartment.
  • 🧺 A laundry-basket-and-pillow contraption keeps the leg elevated above heart level for hours each day while he waits for vaccine-injury program recognition.

Lifelong vascular, pancreatic and mobility consequences of the injury.

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Transcript

Glen Motz · 2:09:27

It kept growing. It's the size of a football. Um, no, it was started by a blood clot, right?

Shannon Holmes · 2:09:33

It was. And I should also point out, I've heard a few people mention it, I also had a, um, deep vein thrombosis, I believe it's called. Um, I sent you a picture in my right leg. So my right leg's currently at 35% circulation, and I'm guessing will be amputated one day in the not too distant future. They haven't said it, but you know, I'm fully diabetic now. That cyst took out my pancreas. So you have a tail on your pancreas and apparently mine's missing or disfigured so badly that at my last urologist appointment, he was looking at it and he told me he's never seen a living person with a pancreas like mine. And I just told him, I go, you know, if you look at my medical file, you realize that I'm kind of like the Harry Potter of the place, right? I've, you know, I kind of beat it and I feel very lucky. With the deep vein thrombosis, I had to have 3 separate surgeries to get it corrected. So I guess it was a very bad one. 2 At one hospital, and then halfway through they paused and threw me in a, in a real ambulance and took me up to another hospital where they managed to tackle it.

Shannon Holmes · 2:10:36

So it was a great—.

Glen Motz · 2:10:37

And it, it, that affects the way you walk today because you've only got 35% circulation in that leg. So can you tell us about your walking?

Shannon Holmes · 2:10:46

Um, you know, you have to work at it every day. I don't just walk. I look at where I'm going. I have to be very careful. Um, like some of the other people said, when you go to the mall, I almost have to go like this when I'm walking because if somebody steps on my foot and causes an injury, I'll lose it. So I'm very careful, especially when you go get groceries or you go to a crowded place. I just don't go. I'll just wait in the car and send in, you know, either the person I live with or I'll ask a friend to go in because, you know, somebody steps on your foot, you might not ever have it again, right?

Glen Motz · 2:11:14

And you're limited to how far you can go also, right?

Shannon Holmes · 2:11:17

I mean, I— some days you— I I don't leave my, my apartment. Some days I try and walk around the block. If I have a good day, I'll keep going until it starts hurting. Um, you know, it's a, it's a daily fight.

Glen Motz · 2:11:30

Um, and you have to keep your leg elevated for a long time.

Shannon Holmes · 2:11:34

So at home, um, currently I'm still waiting for the vaccine injuries program, or whatever it's called these days, to acknowledge me. But, um, I've got a makeshift, uh, leg elevation thing. I think I sent you a picture of it, and basically it was a laundry basket with pillows shoved in it, and I sleep with my feet like this. Now it doesn't work that well because as soon as you fall asleep, usually the whole contraption falls over. But you know, it's, uh, it's working, you know, for the majority of the day. I'll sit there like that and I watch a lot of TV, and, um, uh, between, uh, you know, I'll get up and walk for 20 minutes around the apartment, or I'll go walk around the building, then come back in and put my legs back up again to make sure that the the feet are above the heart, which is what they tell you to do to induce circulation, right?

Glen Motz · 2:12:16

And I— you've had kidney damage because of this, you've had liver damage because of this. For a period of time you had to wear diapers.

Shannon Holmes · 2:12:26

Uh, yes, um, there was no control over my body. I know I look fairly well these days, and, uh, your wife even pointed out I look like security. And, uh, you know, it made me feel pretty good because I don't look like that anymore. But, um, yeah, I mean, you, you wouldn't go anywhere. Like, even to this day, um, uh, I have to have a bathroom within, you know, walking, a short walking distance from my room, because in the middle of the night you'll just wake up, and if you don't get there in time, you're doing laundry, you know. And it's embarrassing to be doing that in your 40s. That's something you should be doing in your infant age, and maybe in the end, you know, when you're on your way to heaven. But, you know, at 40, 41, 42, 43, you shouldn't be doing this. It's not normal.

Glen Motz · 2:13:09

And you also feel sick all of the time.

Shannon Holmes · 2:13:12

Yes, I've got borderline chronic pancreatitis now. I'm off dialysis finally. Before I left the hospital, they finished that up. My kidneys and my liver came back. I can't go anywhere near alcohol. Not that I ever did. But, you know, somebody is having a toast. I'm doing it with water. I drink mostly water and The odd time I'll have like a little soda, you know, um, zero sugar thing, but you have to be very careful what you put in. Like if I decide to go over and have a steak, I'm paying for it. And even if I take my little pills I have to eat every time called Creon for my pancreas, you're still sick afterwards. If I eat anything high fat, I'm instantly sick.

Glen Motz · 2:13:54

And you're also in pain?

Shannon Holmes · 2:13:56

Yes, throughout my whole body, my throat went 80% necrotic. My thoracic surgeon was very concerned, apparently, when I was in the hospital that I'd have to have my throat rebuilt and I might just have to have a hole put in because this was all damaged and wouldn't come back. And the last time I saw her, she did the camera down my throat inspection. She said that it actually became grossly normal, whatever that means. So, you know, like certain foods you can't eat, it'll stick in there. Sometimes if I take pills and I don't water them down, I can cough them back up when I'm out walking, which is kind of odd. I'm guessing they get stuck in the ridges in there. So the reason why I'm not wearing a tie today is for that reason, is this is very sensitive and hurts. So if I give this a good grab, I mean, it feels like, you know, like the Terminator grabbed me by my neck and it's extremely painful. The pancreatitis is painful. My leg is painful. And then much like Shannon described, I have that electric— I call them electric seizures. I don't know what the right term for them is, your basic— your nerves all start firing and you start doing the, the jiggle.

Shannon Holmes · 2:15:00

And, uh, it's happening less and less as time goes on, which I'm thankful for. But for the first year, I'd just be walking, I'd fall on the ground and start— sorry, I'd be hanging onto the wall and walking, and then I'd fall over and start doing the shakes. And people think you're having a seizure, and just leave me alone for half an hour, I'll be fine.

Glen Motz · 2:15:18

You know, like half an hour. So Yeah.