The rest of the story

This story is continued from last week.

It was around this time that Dennis Bishop started experiencing severe hospital-acquired delirium. All of that time spent in the hospital bed, staring at the same tile on the ceiling, in excruciating pain, unable to communicate, it was all taking its toll.

"I was in non-stop terror," Bishop recalled.

"Lizards were coming out of the sprinkler systems. Everything was trying to kill me everyday. I mean it was real. They sent a psychiatrist down. She told me about delirium. She said you've got a very bad case and the things I was saying that were so devastating to me were not true. She guaranteed me they weren't true."

Trish Bishop made a "coming back to life packet" for her husband, something to help remind him who he was and what was real; facts about his life.

"He's married and has five kids, lives in Ekalaka, loves to farm, loves his friend Harlan Mehling . . ."

Slowly, Dennis' body and mind began to heal. By the first week in January, Bishop was able to speak on the phone with his wife.

On January 28th, Trish said that she, her mother, and her aunt were supposed to head to a birthday party at the family ranch when she got a call from the hospital telling her to prepare for the worst. The entire team fighting for Bishop's life had met earlier that day. Dennis had been dealing with GBS for eight weeks and was still on a ventilator and PLEX treatments. They tried not doing PLEX for a week and he wasn't getting better.

Instead of celebrating that evening, Trish says the family spent their time at the kitchen table, taking turns praying for things to get better.

In February Bishop was still very ill but began doing in-bed therapy, moving his legs and arms. On March 11th Trish visited. Bishop was finally able to leave his hospital bed in a wheelchair for the first time. He left the ICU again.

By March 25th he was in a standing frame, in an upright position for the first time since December.

"I can't tell you how good that felt," he said, "even though my blood pressure was dropping and I kept passing out a little bit."

On April 15th Bishop was able to go outside, with assistance, in his wheelchair and on a portable ventilator. He went outside often after that, and even got a sunburn on his face one day.

Trish Bishop, meanwhile, was back home pouring over countless hours of research on GBS. She called one of the world's leading neurologists, Dr. Allen, about Dennis' case. Dennis said his wife was the best advocate he could have had.

"She was telling him things even he didn't know about GBS. She had done so much research."

Trish then called a neurologist on Dennis' team and asked if they could reach out to Dr. Allen. As it turned out, Dr. Allen had mentored Dr. Thomas while she was in medical school. She had taken classes from him.

"It all became so easy. That kind of stuff just doesn't happen in a million years by accident," Bishop said.

By April 29th the entire team was excited. Bishop was able to sit independently on the edge of his bed. On May 20th he was in acute physical therapy for six hours per day, and making great progress towards recovery. He was also weaning himself off of a ventilator and was able to go 18 hours per day without one.

Then, another setback. On May 21st Bishop started a fever as a result of contracting C. Diff. again. The fever lasted three days. His body temperature reached 107 degrees, and when he returned to the ICU with a fever they were going to put him back on a ventilator full-time.

"I told them I'd sue if they did. I'd have rather died than been back on the vent again. Being on it's like sucking air through a dirty mop."

The high fever caused some short-term memory loss, but Bishop said that the brain is like any other muscle. He is recovering, getting better every day, and he hardly has any memory loss now.

By July 28th, he was recovering well again. In physical therapy, he could pull between 28 and 40 pounds about 30 times in a row.

Around the first of August, Bishop wanted to come home and continue his recovery in Ekalaka.

"I based my decision to come home on the new hospital. It's still not open now and they told us August. Thank God for the Carter Charter, it's a wonderful service but it's too rough on these roads for me to travel for therapy. The staff here, the people here are great. I put my trust in them and switched them to my primary care."

On August 5th a private jet flew Bishop to Baker where a local ambulance picked him up and brought him the rest of the way to Ekalaka. A welcome home parade was organized on short notice, and when Bishop entered Ekalaka his wife joined him at the head of Main Street. Together, with the rear ambulance doors open, they traveled down Main Street and were greeted by the townsfolk they love.

Unfortunately though, the new facility is not open and Bishop says he has not been able to access the physical therapy he needs. And though he has the means to travel now, the trips are too hard on his body. He says his recovery hasn't progressed since returning.

"I wouldn't have left there for another five months if I knew I couldn't get into the hospital here. When I can get into physical rehabilitation here with an aide or a nurse helping me, I can guarantee you within five months I'll be able to walk. I haven't moved forward since I've left because I haven't been able to exercise the way I need to. I'm not going backwards or forwards."

For now, Bishop is at home receiving help from family and friends. His mother-in-law and his niece help him around the house while Trish is at work. Donations and volunteer labor, including labor from his brother-in-law, made it possible for Bishop to be at home. A tiled, zero-clearance shower and wider doors were installed to accommodate his needs. His friend Mehling purchased the chassis for a van. The VA helped with the mobility upgrade and put a new wheelchair ramp outside. A donation account was set up through his local church. Several friends and family have cooked meals for him. So many have helped in some way.

"It's harder to accept help than it is to give it," Trish said.

But Bishops are so grateful for all of it.

And, Dennis is especially thankful for his wife.

"I can find no fault in her. In thirty years of marriage she's been a wonderful, wonderful woman. She kept me alive through this deal."

Bishop's road to recovery is far from over, but thanks to his medical team, his faith, his family, and the townsfolk he loves, it's a road he's traveling on. When asked what was the most difficult part of the fight for his life, Bishop said it wasn't everything he's physically endured. Rather, it was the solitude.

"It's a weird part of our medical history when your loved ones can't be in the room with you, when they can't be there or even do things like pull up blankets or get you a drink of water. Even the most minute things came from nurses wearing gloves and face shields. Not having any human contact was hard. They kept my door closed. There was so much hell in this thing, the pain and the delirium, but loneliness will kill you faster than anything else."