We update this page once every month or two. The
additions are at the bottom of the page, with the oldest information here at
the top. Dane loves the sport of Paragliding and hopes to get back to it soon.
On April 17, 2005 Dane Gomm fell over 100 feet in
turbulent winds while paragliding. Three other paragliders witnessed his
fall and were able to get help for him. He was life-flighted to the
University Of Utah Surgical Intensive Care Unit. His pelvis was
shattered and disconnected from his spine. To make things worse, his sacrum
(located at the bottom of the spine) was driven into his pelvic region.
Things were touch and go for 36 hours, then he went into surgery for
eight hours where two doctors argued with each other as they pulled
Dane's spine back out of his sacrum using visegrip pliers. A third
doctor acted as a referee during the surgery. Dane was bolted back together and his prognosis is quite
good. He has been transported to a convalescent home to wait for his
bones to knit and then he'll be taken back to the University of Utah for
some rehab.
On
April 30 Dane's sisters had a bake sale and carwash to raise money for
Dane. The helicopter flight to the hospital was almost 8 thousand
dollars and Dane doesn't have any insurance. We are hoping that Medicaid
will pick up some of the medical expenses, but it is uncertain at this
time. We raised about $500 at the bake sale and with other donations
from friends , family and the community, we have about $1300 towards
expenses. Friends who enjoy the sport of Paragliding have sent up a fund
and requested that we get a PayPal account so that folks who are on-line
can donate.
We appreciate all that has been done in Dane's behalf.
On Monday, May 2nd, Dane was seen and
evaluated by doctors at the U of U Medical Center. They have decided
that he will need to wait another month before any rehab can begin, they
need to let the bones knit together more. This news was a bit of a
setback in Dane's mind. He was looking forward to beginning the rehab
process. Dane broke his back about 6 years ago in a motorcycle accident
which partially paralyzed him for about a week, but after the
trauma of surgery, he was able to begin rehab two weeks after his
accident. They knew that he might have some nerve damage on his left
side. They confirmed that today, feeling is slow in returning and he
can't feel his left big toe. Feeling may return, it's just too early to
tell. Generous people who participate in the sport of Paragliding have
donated nearly $500 to Dane (see PayPal button below). We really
appreciate all the kindness that has been extended to Dane and towards
our family.
It's been two weeks since Dane last saw his
doctors (1 month since his accident) and things are sometimes a little
confused because one doctor has one opinion and the other has another
opinion. The consensus is that he will have to wait another 6 weeks
before even thinking about trying to put weight on the pelvic bones. He
does a little therapy each day, but it's surprising how much your muscle
mass is lost after a few weeks of inactivity. Just simple leg lifts are
a serious workout.
Last Monday, Dane was really down because he
realized how much muscle mass he's lost in his legs. They are the size
of sticks and he looks very skeletal. He was also in a lot of pain on
Thursday, he has a bladder infection and we're very concerned that he's
not getting very good care where he's at.
Saturday,
May 28th, he was in great spirits. A Spanish speaking therapist came and
helped him with some better exercises and he was very happy from that.
Also he's on antibiotics to combat the infection and he felt like he
wasn't sick for the first time in two weeks.
Monday, June 07, Good News today. Dane was taken
to see his doctor, who gave him a complete exam. He is very encouraged
with the way Dane is knitting back together and says he will be allowed
to sit up to 90 degrees and try to get vertical in two weeks.
He
showed Dane and his Mom the x-rays of his pelvic area when he was first
admitted to the hospital and described the surgery. They were shocked to
see the x-ray of his pelvis which was obviously broken in half, and his
spine was pushed into the pelvis. The doctor said that much of the time
in surgery was trying to decide what to do. They would try one thing and
then another trying to get the spine back in place and pulled out of the
pelvis. They had to use vise grip pliers to pry the spine back into
place.
Dane only complaint right now is
that two of the screws holding him together are very close to the skin
and cause some discomfort. His doctor said, "Well, I'm sorry to say
it, but your just screwed!" He's supposed to try to bulk up and
gain more weight in the next couple of weeks.
June 20, 2005 Monday was a great day for Dane. He
had a rough night the evening before and only got an hour of sleep, so
he was exhausted. His therapists knew his night had been hard, so they
were going to wait on therapy till another day. When his mom heard this,
she asked if she could talk to Dane first before they made a decision.
They agreed. She reminded Dane how long he’d been waiting to have a
chance to be able to try to sit up and he got fired up to have the
chance to try this first step. The therapists came in and got him up in
a sitting position, which he stayed in for twenty minutes. Now that
might not sound like much, but remember that this is the first time he’s
sat up in over 2 months. The blood drained out of his head and he felt
faint and nauseous and he was in danger of passing out. They kept asking
him if he wanted to lay back down, but Dane wanted to try to keep
sitting up as long as possible. His feet began to turn purple because
the blood was going downhill and his body wasn’t used to the extra
work.
On Tuesday, he was able to get into a
wheelchair. Dane had been very worried about getting in one the day
before because of the dizziness and nausea, but just one day later he
was able to sit in one and it felt pretty good. They got him to the
rehab room and with the help of three guys, got him in a standing
position for a few minutes. Most of the time, his weight was on his arms
until they pointed that out to Dane and then he was able to take most of
his weight on his legs. He said he can tell that he has very little
strength in his legs, but he feels that he might be able to begin to
walk in the near future instead of some far distant time in the future!
He had me take a picture of his "skinny,
shriveled, twinkle toe, pencil legs." So he'll have something to remember when
he's recovered. His therapy is going so well that they plan to let him
try a walker on Thursday.
They got him up and using the walker last week and
his progress is amazing to us, who have waited for any results for the
last couple of months. Below are the two men doing the majority of his therapy.
What you don't see in the pictures are all the
internal problems that Dane yet has to overcome. But it's especially
encouraging that he can lift his feet well, which indicates that he has healthy
nerve endings in his feet and legs.
On Wednesday, they gave him a haircut.
Saturday, July 9th was Dane's 27th birthday. He was
able to use a walker to leave the care facility and get to a car which
took him a couple of blocks to his sister Sarah's house. We all met
there to celebrate Dane's birthday and his continuing progress. He had
to be very, very careful to keep his balance and sat in a firm chair.
When the party was over, it was hard to return to the care facility.
Things are going well for Dane, but the system may
work against him. The rules of Medicare state that he has to be disabled
for more than a year for them to cover Danes expenses. Now it may look
like he's doing well, because he is. He's able to walk a short distance
with a cane. He can walk a lot more with a walker. So his bones are
getting stronger and his muscles are getting stronger. But there are
hidden issues. It may be as much as four years before his bowels and
bladder work properly (if ever). Right now, the nerves in that area just
don't work, so he's not normal in that respect. But it was quite great
to see him walk with a cane for the first time the other day.
Dane would like to get back into classes at Provo
College, but is quite concerned about his ability to sit through a
class. His stamina is low and the screws holding the bones together kind
of poke the skin on his back out and causes a painful rubbing point that
is a problem.
August 19, 2005 -4 months and 2 days after his
accident, Dane is coming home! He still has a lot of rehab and we still
don't know anything about how his nerve damage will recover, but this is
a real milestone.
Jeanne left to pick up Dane at 9 this morning and
they got home at about 11. His dog was so happy to see him that she wet
all over the sidewalk as she danced about and greeted him.
Dane dressed up on Halloween by putting on his
reading glasses and demonstrating how to walk with a cane. He clowned
around recently while getting ready to go swimming. His brother,
Christopher comes to pick him up and take him to the pool once or twice
a week. As a former lifeguard, Dane really feels inadequate since his
abilities are so limited.
He has been home for months and recovery is
very slow. He is in great pain and has to take heavy medication to
alleviate the pain. His spirits are good but he is having a hard time
since recovery is so slow. Medicaid and Social Security have both turned
him down and he is appealing their decisions. But in the meantime, he
can't work or really do anything to earn a living. His doctors are
hopeful that he will continue to mend, but it's pretty hard to maintain
a positive attitude when things move so slowly. We're kind of surprised
that the government has a system in place which regularly turns citizens
in need down, rather than being proactive in helping them.
In February 2006, Dane just felt that he needed to
go camping. He said, really since I can't walk very well, I'm not so
much going camping, I'm just going somewhere else to watch TV. So he put
some things in his truck (including his portable DVD player) and went
down to the Moab area to "camp out". He did get some pictures
of a slot canyon, you can see Tiga exploring with him in one shot.
It's April, 2006 and the anniversary of Dane's
accident. Dane was told that he would only qualify for
Social Security and Medicaid if his injuries were going to last over a
year. His doctors ALL wrote in their notes that his recovery
would be at least a year. But Medicaid turned him down. pretending that
he wasn't hurt that badly. In trying to get them to reconsider,
they point to social security and say that if he isn't picked up
by them, they can't help. He is caught in a "Catch-22". We
plan to start writing to congress and legislative representatives. It's
time that the system starts to acknowledge Dane's needs. He is in
constant pain, managed only with the help of heavy medications which
barely help him to deal with the pain which he deals with constantly. He
still has internal injuries which may never heal, nerve damage, bladder
control and other problems.
If you have ideas that we might explore to get
help for Dane, e-mail us and we'll be happy to try them.
Dane took a dayhike in July, 2006. He was able to
hike a short distance. It was very slow and stressful. His progress is
interesting, he has better strength in his legs, but he can't stand up
for very long at a time.
In June he was pulled over by police in Pleasant
Grove for a headlight that had gone out. The officer decided to give
Dane a blood alcohol test since he'd had a beer four hours prior to
driving. When he passed the balloon test, the officer decided he needed
to do a drunk test by walking in a straight line. Dane can't walk in a
straight line any longer and he needs to lean on something for balance.
All this caused the officer to haul him off to jail for additional
tests.
Blood tests revealed that Dane had some sort of
substance that was related to heroin in his bloodstream. WHAT A
SURPRISE! He takes methadone twice a day to manage pain! No one cared or
even listened to Dane's reasonable explanations to the fact that he
couldn't perform the tests they were giving or the fact that he had a
prescription for the medications they found in his bloodstream.
Now Dane will have to go to court to fight for
his driving privileges.
The courts in their wisdom decided that Dane might
have a drug problem, even though his pain medication was prescribed by a physician
and he has to see his doctor each month to get it renewed!
So they set him up to visit with a counselor who
would evaluate his case. They got along great the first couple of visits,
but when he missed an appointment, she decided he must have a problem so
he was forced to have drug testing for six months. All because he was legitimately
taking medication to manage the pain he will probably have for the rest of
his life due to the injuries suffered in his paragliding accident.
September 2006, Dane decided to see if he could
paraglide again. We went along to witness the event. He had to climb the
hill and it took so long that he only had a chance to do one flight. He
didn't crash, but flying isn't as much fun. He says that he gets startled
by every sound and jerk of the para-glider. It's like he fears that he may
crash at any moment.
One year later, September 2007, Dane packed up his truck and headed
to Riverside, California. He's taking a college class. He can only handle
one at a time, but it's progress.
Good News! Dane had a Social Security hearing 2
months ago and will begin to receive a small income.
Now we'll be able to talk to Medicare to get all
those surgical bills paid. It's like a catch-22, but we finally see an
end to the bill struggle.
The legal system!
Dane was supposed to pay a fine to the court and
medical bills because he and Laura had a fight and the police got
involved. The bills were paid by medicad and Jeanne mailed a monthly
payment until the fine was paid off. But in February, 2008 a notice came
warning that the entire bill hadn't been paid and none of the fine had
been paid. The courts had lost the document that showed the medical bill
had been paid, so they had taken each of the payments for the fine that
Jeanne had paid and sent them to Laura. So now Dane has to pay the fine,
which was already paid once, or risk more legal proceedings.
The moral to the story, never get the government
involved in your life if you can avoid it!
It's March 2010 and Dane is getting ready to try
school at a community college in Washington. He's been staying with us
since August 2009, saving up to get a car. His truck was totaled by a hit
and run driver in California. Insurance wouldn't pay. His BMW motorcycle
was stolen, then recovered and then the wrecked bike was taken by someone
who thought it was abandoned. It took months of negotiating with his insurance
company, when no one thought he'd ever see a dime on that claim, he
finally got a settlement which allowed him to get another bike. This one
is a Suzuki and is a very comfortable ride. He still has to be on meds to
manage his nerve pain and he isn't able to work, but he is able to ride a
motorcycle. Things keep looking up for him.
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