Jim has always worked hard for his family. He kept running his business in Florida after he and his family moved to GA in 1992. He sacrificed time away from everyone while he traveled back and forth, sometimes being gone from home for weeks at a time. He suffered with diabetic neuropathy for years and then he was diagnosed with Sharcot Foot (a rare but serious complication that can warp and deform the shape of the foot) which caused him to have a major bone removed from his foot. This event caused Jim to be disabled and wheelchair-bound, the condition of which Jim remains to this day.
Jim continued to travel back and forth to Florida with his manual wheelchair and eventually was able to travel with his power chair. He was able to do this until 2008 when the building industry and economy were hit hard. Sadly, Jim lost his business of 32 years in 2009. FAST FORWARD: Over the years Jim has been in and out of the hospital for many health reasons. The latest event has been very difficult for him and all of his family.
On March 15, 2021 Jim seemed a bit off. He had a visiting home health care worker draw blood and he just wasn’t himself. Tuesday came and he was still not himself. On Wednesday morning at 3:00 a.m., Jim’s wife, Linda, heard a call to come downstairs, only to find that her husband didn’t have enough strength to move from the bathroom. His body had completely shut down. Linda immediately called 911 for help. Jim was later helped back to his recliner, where he sat for the entire next day. He just didn’t seem to be getting any better. Linda called his doctor and was advised to call an ambulance.
On March 17th, Jim left his house by ambulance to be taken to Paulding Hospital. He stayed there for two weeks, and was diagnosed with Non-Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the liver. This condition was shutting his body down. From Paulding Hosptital, Jim was transferred to a rehab in Fulton County (the only place that had a bed available.) Since most nursing homes do not allow visitors due to Covid restrictions, his family never got to see him while he was there for two weeks. Unfortunately, Jim’s stay at the rehab was not very pleasant. He got an infection under his arm and suffered anxiety because he felt that the staff was not treating his wound properly. Ativan was administered to help with the anxiety, which only escalated the situation because the medication affected his liver.
There were many calls to the house to report that Jim had fallen out of bed…four times in nine days, in fact. One time, Jim was sent to Grady Hospital where he was then discharged and sent back to Fulton. Two days later, he was sent back to Grady after his fourth fall. By this time, Jim’s family realized that something was terribly wrong. The meds were making him irrational and his body was further declining. At Grady, the doctors found that Jim’s body and brain were full of ammonia from the Ativan anxiety mediation. He spent two more weeks at Grady Hospital to detox his liver. The family now had to find another rehab that would accept Jim as a patient. One facility that was available was one hour south of Macon. That plan fell apart, but another facility came up in Conyers, GA where Jim is currently located. No actual rehab was done for Jim since leaving Paulding Hospital because of all of these issues.
As of August 2021, the staff is still working on getting Jim to be able to at least transfer from one chair to another and to the bathroom. (The good news is that he has lost 70 pounds which will help him with the transfers, when he reaches that point.) Jim’s family members have had very few visits with him over these past five months. That has been the most difficult part for all of them, especially Jim. He desperately wants to be out of his rehab facility and home with his family by this Thanksgiving. All of the Shortley family is hoping and praying that this blessing will be possible.
Jim’s loving and devoted wife, Linda, is also still the full-time caregiver to their adult daughter, who has MS, and is also in a wheelchair. Linda and Jim and their family thank you all from the bottom of their hearts for your support and prayers, and are so grateful to be honored by HOG again this October!
Thank You, The Shortley Family
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