Patient Rides Out Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Hospital
Growing up in Florida, Michael Warren and his wife, Kelly, are no strangers to hurricanes. But this was the first time the pair weathered not one, but two storms in a hospital room.
Warren, an orthopedic surgeon, was a healthy 34-year-old when he was diagnosed with leukemia.
Michael was diagnosed with leukemia just before Hurricane Helene hit the state. The orthopedic surgeon went to the doctor after experiencing shortness of breath and noticing swollen lymph nodes. He thought it could be aftereffects from COVID but was shocked to learn it was cancer.
“It was pretty devastating at first,” he said. “You never think you will be 34 with a 2-year-old and get a cancer diagnosis.”
Michael began inpatient chemotherapy immediately, hunkering down inside Moffitt Cancer Center as Hurricane Helene made landfall. Their home in Sarasota suffered minor damage, but Michael’s parents’ home in Clearwater wasn’t as lucky and the family was dealing with major water damage.
Then came Hurricane Milton. Michael was still hospitalized receiving treatment with Kelly by his side.
“I feel like we had some anxiety because we had both been admitted for the last three weeks,” Michael said. “We were just hoping our house was OK and were waiting to hear from the neighbors.”
“We were just crossing our fingers,” Kelly said.
Even harder than not knowing the fate of their home was sending their daughter, Elle, to Jupiter to ride the storm out with Kelly’s family.
Warren is most looking forward to being reunited with his daugther, Elle, after a three-week hopsital stay. Elle stayed with family in Jupiter during Hurricane Milton.
“It makes me cry thinking about being away from her,” Kelly said. “The hardest part about being admitted for all these weeks is that Michael hasn’t been able to see her, then having her on the other coast was challenging. But we know she was in good hands.”
They were able to FaceTime with Elle throughout the hospital stay and were relieved to hear Milton didn’t do any major damage to their house — a broken window and some missing roof shingles.
Michael received his last inpatient dose of chemotherapy the Monday after Hurricane Milton and is ready to return home and reunite with Elle.
He still has a long road of treatment ahead of him, but hopefully it is without any more bad weather.
“Each day becomes easier to cope with the diagnosis,” Michael said. “I am more grateful for the simple things, more grateful for my wife and daughter and just ready to get back to how my life was just a few weeks ago.”
