After a cherry stem nearly killed him, Florida man makes it back to life on the lake

Shannon Trusty still can’t believe that a cherry stem he mistakenly swallowed nearly cost him his life.

The retired welder and millwright, 63, went to an emergency room near his home in South Florida because of unexplained abdominal pain. He was treated and sent home, with no indication of how serious the situation would become. Turns out, the stem perforated his colon. He ended up back at the hospital for emergency surgery. Then complications. Then a second operation. After that, nothing.

“I don’t remember January or February,” Shannon said.

His fiancée, Tammy Holbrook, remembers too clearly how fast everything unraveled.

For six weeks, Shannon was mostly unresponsive, kept alive by a ventilator in the early weeks. His lungs filled with fluid. His kidneys failed, requiring dialysis. When it became evident his recovery would be lengthy, Shannon underwent a procedure to get a tracheostomy (a slit in his windpipe with a tube that delivered air to his lungs) and a feeding tube.

“It was overwhelming,” Tammy said. “Some days we were doing okay. Some days it was one thing after another.”

Recovery begins

Forty-five days after his initial emergency room visit, Shannon transitioned to Select Specialty Hospital – Palm Beach, a critical illness recovery hospital that would further support his healing.

A few years earlier, Shannon moved to Florida from Kentucky to live along Lake Okeechobee. Fishing and boating filled his days. Just before he got sick, Shannon bought a brand-new, fully loaded Chevy Silverado. He never got the chance to drive it.

Shannon remembers arriving at Select Specialty Hospital by ambulance. Although he was now more alert and breathing on his own, he was profoundly weak. He couldn’t stand. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t eat. Even holding a cup was exhausting.

A physician-led multidisciplinary team met with him and Tammy to put together a plan to help Shannon get back to the life they loved.

Small steps, big wins

Shannon no longer needed a ventilator but still received oxygen support through his trach. Therapists introduced a special valve that attached to Shannon’s trach, pushing air through his vocal cords. Using the valve meant he could speak again – and talk with his family in Kentucky.

The valve also improves a patient’s breathing, stamina and the strength of muscles needed to swallow. When Shannon demonstrated in bedside evaluations that he could safely swallow, he began eating again. First ice chips, then applesauce, then pureed food. Then came a big day:

“They told me Tammy can bring me anything I want,” Shannon said. She showed up with a cheeseburger, fries and a cherry slush.

“It felt like a big step forward,” he said.

Rebuilding strength

Meanwhile, physical and occupational therapy were tackling what illness had erased. When Shannon arrived, his leg muscles were so weak he could not stand without help.

Therapists started in bed, stretching and strengthening Shannon’s arms and legs, often with therapy bands. They helped him to sit upright, then transfer to a chair. Standing came later, at first only for seconds and with two people assisting. Then longer. Then steadier.

“They kept doing that every day,” he said. “Each time it was a little bit better.”

The first time he walked, he took just five steps with a walker as therapists held onto him. That turned into laps around his room. By discharge, he was walking several hundred feet.

“One day it just set in,” he said. “That’s when I knew I could go home.”

Shannon credits consistency as much as effort.

“I obeyed all the rules and did everything that was asked, even if it hurt,” he said.

He and Tammy – who traveled from their home nearly every day to be with Shannon – commended the staff for their attentiveness and encouragement, saying Shannon always felt supported and never rushed.

“If I needed something, someone was there,” Shannon said. “I always felt like I was in good hands.”

Back home

After weeks of steady progress, Shannon’s feeding tube and trach were removed. He could breathe, eat, talk, walk and think clearly again. He discharged home with a cane for balance. When Tammy pulled up outside the hospital in the Silverado, it was the first time he had ridden in it.

Now, he walks. He talks on the phone and FaceTimes with his children and grandchildren. The couple enjoys going out for breakfast and Shannon looks forward to getting back in his boat – though he’s still working on his balance, he explained.

Shannon is grateful for the things most of us take for granted in life, the ones that only reveal their weight when they’re gone.

“Being able to walk again. Being able to use my arms again. Normal things you don’t give a second thought to.”

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