Kevin Sitki

Dear Friends and Family,

My dad, Kevin Sitki, suffered a massive ischemic left hemisphere stroke in June– 5 days before my wedding. Prior to this event, he was healthy, active (walking 4 miles almost everyday), and had no pre-existing conditions. He is only 54 years old and is a non-smoker.

He was discovered unresponsive by my mom the morning of the stroke and she called 911. My dad was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in Springfield, Ill. and, upon arrival, was rushed into surgery to remove two large clots that had cut-off blood flow to the left side of his brain.

Results of a scan showed a large damaged area on the left side of his brain. So large that the neurologists said my dad would likely never be able to eat, walk, or talk again. The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing as well as movement on the right side of the body.

Surgeons then removed a portion of his skull on the left side to give the brain room to swell and attempt to prevent damage to the right side of his brain.

For more than a week after the skull removal, his eyes were swollen shut, he was on a ventilator, and the brain swelling continued.

The swelling was so severe that a drain was then placed in his brain to drain out the excess fluid build up and relieve some pressure.

As the days went on, the ventilator was removed since my dad was breathing on his own, but he was unable to follow any commands, track anything with his eyes, and was, for the most part, unresponsive. The only way he could interact with others was by squeezing their hands. It was hard to tell if he was aware of anything at that time and the right side of his body remained totally paralyzed.

The doctors recommended we place him on comfort care and transition him to hospice since he had shown no improvement in the two weeks he was in the ICU. All of the machines were removed and my mom, siblings, and I tried our best to make dad feel loved and at peace. However, over the course of a few days, it was as if he started to “come back to life.”

We gave him sips of water and he began to swallow a bit so we tried some protein shakes and he was able to take small sips of those as well. After a few days he began to follow people with his eyes as they walked past him. He even began to smile a bit, though still not following any commands.

The day before we decided to place him back on full care, I was holding his hand when he started a “thumb war” with me… and he won. It was the first glimpse at his personality that any of us had seen in nearly a month. My dad’s a competitive guy.

Once placed back on full care, a feeding tube was placed since his swallow wasn’t strong enough. That next day, the hospital began daily physical and occupational therapies.

As the days went on he showed some progress with the therapies and was accepted into Memorial Hospital’s rehab program. There is where he really began to shine.

His speech therapist worked with him on his swallow and he was placed on a pureed diet and has since “graduated” to a regular diet. He is now able to interact with his family and shows a broad range of emotions, including laughter, eye rolling, and even crying when he gets a visit from someone he hasn’t seen in awhile. Though he only has functional use of his left (non-dominant) hand, he is able to throw a ball back and forth, assist with transfers to and from his wheelchair, dress himself with minimal assistance, and so much more. He is relearning how to read and write and has remembered how to solve basic math equations.

During his last week and a half in Memorial’s rehab program, he began to have some movement in his right leg, giving him the ability to walk with assistance of a walker and another person to stabilize him. He also started to make his first attempts at speech and rediscovered his love of music.

My dad has always been a huge music fan– the kind of huge fan that listens to and appreciates entire albums– so he has a large library of song lyrics memorized. We began playing some of his favorite artists and he began singing along, trying his best to pronounce the words. We have even played him songs that he doesn’t know all that well and he still sings along nearly word for word. If he is going to be able to regain his speech, music is going to be the ticket.

Kevin is a very hard worker, always focused on a project, DIY home update, or helping out a neighbor, so it goes without saying, this is painful for him to be forced to slow down (the day before his stroke, he and a friend installed an in-ground swimming pool liner). He retired in 2018, but couldn’t sit still, so he worked several different jobs, finally settling on Nelson’s Catering– a job that he really enjoyed.

Kevin is a loving husband and father of three– his youngest child just started seventh grade. His shoes are large ones to fill and there is a lot of work and upkeep to be done around his house and yard. For this reason, family members have been looking after things while Kevin recovers.

While these times are incredibly difficult, he and his family trust in God and remain hopeful and prayerful every day.

It goes without saying that hospital stays are very expensive, especially when they involve months of inpatient treatment and ongoing therapies. In addition, his family is now faced with carrying out home modifications to ensure their house is accessible when Kevin returns. They are beginning the construction of a wheelchair ramp in the coming days and will then move onto widening doorways and re-doing their bathroom. Vehicle modifications may also be in the future.

We are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses. We have chosen to fundraise for them, in part, because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button. And please share Kevin’s campaign on your social media platforms.

For more information, contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

If you are unable to donate at this time, please keep our family in your prayers.

Thank you so much for your support! God bless!