RUSSELLVILLE | Two heart attacks. Multiple strokes. Numerous embolisms. It’s the “in sickness” part of marriage vows most young couples cannot fully grasp – and it’s been the primary constant in the life of Randy and Shannon Pike.
Twenty-three years ago, a genetic condition Randy Pike did not know he had nearly killed him – and he’s been on a rollercoaster of disabling health conditions ever since. It’s been a journey for Shannon, too, as she quit work to be his full-time caregiver. It was either that or put her husband, then in his late 20s, in a nursing home. That decision and the 23 years of faith they have both lived on as Randy has battled one health crisis after another is the very definition of “for better or worse.” This year, they celebrated their 31st anniversary, and it’s a miracle Randy has lived to tell about it.
Pike, a Red Bay native living in Russellville, has been in and out of the hospital this year as compounding autoimmune disorders have had doctors and specialists searching for answers to get him relief. He has most recently been battling hypogammaglobulinemia, a disorder caused by low serum immunoglobulin or antibody levels. Immunoglobulins are the main components of the humoral immune response and able to recognize antigens to trigger a response and eradicate the infectious source. He also was confirmed to be battling Lupus. Compounding those issues, he has been battling fungal and bacterial infections, on top of living with the hidden condition that was first diagnosed after two strokes and a heart attack – all prior to age 30.
At age 27, Pike suffered a heart attack. Not knowing the underlying cause, doctors placed stents to alleviate the situation. Then came May 2002, when one morning Pike’s life changed forever after what he thought was a complex migraine turned out to be a stroke. After receiving treatment and rehab he and his wife, Shannon, thought everything was fine. Then, after being home a month, Pike started having difficulty talking and swallowing. He was taken back to Huntsville, much worse off than from the previous stroke – and doctors were convinced he was not going to live.
“When he had the second stroke, Dr. Harris came in and told me I would have to make a decision to either put Randy in a nursing home or find around-the-clock care because he was bedridden in a wheelchair,” Shannon said. “I thought he was too young for a nursing home and they wouldn’t give him the proper care. And he wouldn’t do well there because of his age, and we had Ryan, who was in kindergarten, and he needed his daddy. So, I went to the altar and I prayed about it and God said, ‘I’ll take care of it; just trust Me.’ So, we were at Huntsville Hospital and I called Riverbend; I was working for them as a social worker. And I said, I can’t come back to work. I’ve got to make a decision to put my family first and Randy’s, health needs first. And that’s what I’ve done for 23 years. I’ve not worked since then. I’m listed as his full-time caregiver because anything could happen at any moment.”
That anything also means anywhere. There was one time the Pikes were in church when Randy passed out.
“If it hadn’t been for an EMT there who dropped (Randy’s) shoulders on the floor and dislodged the clot, he probably would have died at the church,” Shannon said.
The cause of the heart attacks and strokes, as it turns out, was a disorder discovered not long before Randy’s situation arose. It is called Protein S deficiency. It is a blood clotting disorder that increases the risk of developing blood clots, particularly in veins. In Randy’s case it was genetic, and he’d had it all his life.
“When I was a little kid all the way until I graduated high school, I participated in all kinds of sports and did the things I wanted to do and the doctors told us that with my blood condition, there’s no way I should have been able to do these things,” Randy said. “Especially football, basketball, and baseball. Even tennis, of all things. They said just falling and getting a bruise could have produced a blood clot that went to my heart and killed me.”
Pike has good days and bad days. He said with the autoimmune disorders he battles he might look fine outwardly some days, but it’s all he can do to move or function. He said his own condition has made him an advocate for those fighting autoimmune disorders.
“On the inside, my body is constantly fighting against itself,” Pike said. “I have nothing to fight off infections.”
Though it has been a trying journey, one of the greatest things to come of it was seeing one of their early doctors, who was not a believer, come to know Christ after seeing Shannon’s faith at work in taking over as Randy’s caregiver. Shannon tells of how the doctor told her Randy was not going to make it through and she bluntly told him, God had not told her Randy was going to die yet. She said she would pray over it. The doctor more or less dismissed her faith then, but after Shannon and her prayer chain went to work and Randy pulled through, the doctor asked Shannon to tell him a little more about her God. She gave him a bible, which he took with him. When they encountered him years later, it turned out the doctor started reading the bible, visited a church in Huntsville, accepted Christ and now serves as a deacon in the church where he and his family attend in San Antonio, Texas.
Through the years the Pikes have seen God’s provision for their needs time and time again. They’ve not been on a vacation trip in ages. They live within their means. They’ve paid their bills as best they can – the stack of bills received in one week from Randy’s recent medical treatments is, no exaggeration, more than two inches thick. Through it all they’ve seen churches, friends, and family members be the hands and feet of Jesus to them, and they are forever grateful. Pike has been able, in times where his health has allowed, to preach and fill the pulpit at area churches, enabling him to share God’s word and his own story of hope.
One way friends are helping the Pikes now is through a fundraiser to help with his medical expenses. Tickets are on sale now for dinner plates from Swamp John’s for Tuesday, July 29. They will be available for pickup at Cornerstone Church of God in Red Bay or at Southside Baptist Church in Russellville, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Fish, chicken tenders, shrimp or combo plates are available for $15 each. Tickets can be purchased locally be seeing Rena Kent at Tiffin Appliance in Red Bay or by calling Randy Pike (256-436-3422) or Shannon Pike (256-460-5276).
