Kevin Schulenberg 2021
Little did Kevin Schulenberg know when he left his home on May 19, 2020, it would be 62 days before he would return. That was the day he suffered a heart attack but received life-saving care from the staff at Scribner Medical Clinic and Franciscan Healthcare, prior to being transferred to Immanuel Hospital in Omaha. He was transferred to Bergan Mercy for triple bypass surgery on his heart the following day. Due to complications with that surgery, he was started on dialysis as his kidneys began to fail. Within hours, he had to undergo a second open heart surgery where his chest was left open for ten days and he was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. The complications for Kevin just kept coming! The next day his heart stopped, requiring quick action to put it back in rhythm with a heart pump.
On June 5, Kevin underwent an above the knee amputation of his right leg. This was a result of lack of blood flow following the removal of his heart pump. He, as well as his wife Shelly, recall him being too weak to hold his head up, hold a cup of water, or even feed himself. Kevin then went to Select Specialty and Methodist Hospital for further care and rehabilitation. On July 21, 2020, the long awaited 62 days were finally over, and Kevin was able to return home! “When I found out I could come home and go to West Point for therapy, that was everything!” He stated the therapists in Omaha felt comfortable and relieved knowing he was “only twelve miles” from rehabilitation services at Franciscan Healthcare.
He began outpatient physical and occupational therapy, with his main goal of being able to walk his daughter, Amber, down the aisle at her wedding. The big day had been postponed from August to April of 2021, in hopes that this goal could become a reality. Kevin recalls needing a wheelchair when he first began therapy. “I wasn’t able to stand up on my own, even one time, but in about two weeks I could do it fifteen times in a row!” He remembers the therapy team trying a lot of different activities. “They were all fun! Bouncing a basketball, picking up objects from the floor, nothing was repetitive.” Kevin was fitted for a prosthetic leg and had to learn how to walk and complete daily activities over again. The rehabilitation fun even included having Kevin practice walking members of the therapy team, arm-in-arm down the aisle. He attributes his success to the push and investment he felt from his team. “You can’t beat it!”
The rehabilitation staff would say it was their push combined with Kevin’s determination, positive attitude, and persistence that he was able to walk his daughter down the aisle! You can imagine there was not a dry eye in the church that day!
