Sunshine-- Sneak Peak

This is part of the first section of my new book, "Sunshine", available now at Lulu and Barnes and Noble!

On December 4th, 1999, Verna was working a late shift on the assembly line when a woman, who was not trained on a Hi-Lo, dumped 1600 pounds of car parts on top of her. Verna laid in a puddle of blood as first responders took her to the the Detroit Receiving Hospital. Verna’s spine was split, a head injury, and other body injuries due to the weight that fell on her. She went through multiple surgeries with one that put a metal rod in her back. Doctors were unsure if she would live, but she did. Verna would be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of her life. 

Verna was at an inpatient rehabilitation institute from December of 1999 to March the next year. She was then discharged to an apartment in Dearborn with 16-hour aide care to assist with transfers, basic and advance ADL’s, and bladder and bowel programs. Due to an increase in the amount of care that she needed, she moved in with her mother at her Detroit home in 2001. The family had to transform a guest bedroom into the best possible handicap room with a hospital bed, television, and a place to put multiple types of medical supplies. The home was narrow, making it hard for Verna to get into a wheelchair and have some independence. Nurses would come to the home for wound care and bladder and bowel programs. 

By June that year, she was transferred again to Special Tree, a residential living home. She would receive rehabilitation services while in their care. 

And finally, by March of 2002, Verna was able to find a home in Westland, Michigan that was converted to fit her medical and handicap needs. She would live just a few blocks from her sister, whom was part of her everyday care. 

During all this moving, Verna was fighting the insurance company and Workmans Comp. She had to fight for them to provide a powered wheelchair and pay for numerous medications that helped with her extensive medical care. They would fight her on the house that they would purchase, stating all the handicap accessible places were out of budget. When they finally found a home, construction needed to be done to make it handicap accessible. The construction company did such a poor job, she would eventually fall through her bedroom floor while she was in her chair. 

Verna would fight for her medications, such as for her diabetes, pain management, and mental care. She would struggle with anxiety and depression over the accident, death, and trusting those around her. She was worried about the care she would receive from her nurses, being very harsh to them until she felt she could trust them. Her case manager, Gerry, was the only one she would trust with her Workmans Comp case and she would eventually have to fight to get her back on her team. She was unsuccessful. 

Therapists and doctors would have to talk to her and give their reports to the courts. Many reports stated she was agitated, untrusting, obese, non agreeable, and intimidating. This would not help her in the fight for a settlement or further care. 

Verna would be financially burdened, not having a way to work due to her condition. She would send bills to Workmans Comp for them to reimburse her for toilet paper and paper towels because the nurses would have to use a lot for her care. 

The courts were wanting to rehabilitate her so she could work a job and make some income. Verna was interested in a typing position and wanted to find something that would allow her some independence. Unfortunately, due to the hours it took in the morning for wound care, a bowel program, settle in her chair, and finally the drive to her potential employer, she would arrive late and exhausted. Due to the lack of movement she was able to do, they viewed her stamina as poor. They would test her typing skills, and she would not type fast enough; given the time and financial situation of the family, she was never able to learn to type. This outlook on Verna would look bad to the courts as they questioned why she was unable to work. 

Over time, Verna’s diabetes would worsen bed sores that she would develop from being bed ridden and consistently sitting in a chair. Her sores got so bad on the bottom of her heels and butt, that some were deep enough to the bone. 

Verna would eventually get infections due to a catheter and bowel accidents that would infect her bed sores and would eventually get two ostomy bags for pee and poop. Many of these types of surgeries would leave her bed ridden for months at a time. 

It took years to fight Workmans Comp for a settlement. Verna yearned to be free of the courts and wanted to live the rest of her life with her family and not be financially tied. 

It took her denying settlements for the courts to deny her medication, including her diabetes medication. She went a while without, until she finally settled as one of the top Workmans Comp cases in the State of Michigan. 

Buy the full book, "Sunshine" on Lulu and Barnes and Noble! (This is my first book and I am so excited! Any and all support is appreciated. I am so grateful and humbled by the support I have been given.)

Lulu Paperback

https://www.lulu.com/shop/megan-levinsky-and-lauren-levinsky/sunshine/paperback/product-m2w78ev.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Lulu Hardcover 

https://www.lulu.com/shop/megan-levinsky/sunshine/hardcover/product-w4v5687.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sunshine-megan-levinsky/1146182196?ean=9798331456238