Labor of love: Islander awarded judgement on behalf of ailing wife
A Pine Islander known for his public service recently won a battle much closer to home — a $150,000 judgement on behalf of his ailing wife.
Michael Dreikorn alleged that his wife, Darlene Soler, did not receive proper treatment while in respite care provided by Hope Hospice and Community Services, Inc. after falling and breaking her arm.
In October, pursuant to an arbitration decision and award dated Aug. 19, a final judgement of $150,000 was awarded on Soler’s behalf, according to records filed with the Lee County Clerk of Courts.
Hope Hospice said it could not comment.
“In the interest of patient privacy, Hope Hospice chooses not to discuss the care of a patient and the organization remains committed to its mission of providing quality care to the communities we serve,” Hospice said in a statement.
Promise made — promise kept
When Matlacha fire commissioner Michael Dreikorn decided to make a bid for the District 1 seat on the Lee County Commission, he also made a promise to his then-girlfriend, Darlene Soler, that he would take her down to the Caribbean if he lost the race in 2018.
He fulfilled that promise in a big way- despite Soler’s declining health, the couple now find themselves enjoying sunsets in Puerto Rico where they currently reside.
Soler had been diagnosed with Huntington’s disease in 2016 after Dreikorn’s noticed what he thought might be a mental health issue.
The unexpected illness changed their life path.
“At that time we’d been together 13, maybe even 15 years. She went to see a psychiatrist, who referred her to a neurologist. He took one look at her and — the disease manifests, not only in behavior, but you start to look a little different, you have jerking movements in your body, your eyes start to wander a little bit. He took a look at her and said, we have to do a DNA test,” Dreikorn said.
The DNA test was to assess whether she carried the gene for Huntington’s disease. Her mother had died of the disease and there is a 50% chance of inheriting it from a parent, he said.
Months went by with no change in her behavior.
When Dreikorn asked about it, Soler confessed she had been diagnosed with Huntington’s, but hadn’t told him because she feared losing him.
He told her she must be thinking he was a different man.
Three months later they were married.
“She can get all my military benefits — she’s got the best care in the world,” Dreikorn said.
For the next few years, life continued and they traveled the world, as they had always done, however, he saw her decline more and more on each adventure they shared, until, on a trip to Cancun, Dreikorn found himself rolling her around in a wheelchair.
Soler wanted more than anything to be with their friends and family, he said, trying to describe her zeal for life.
“She refused to give up. When there was dancing going on, she was still kind of able to stand up, so we would cradle her in our arms and dance with her,” Dreikorn said.
Although Dreikorn admitted he had only changed one baby diaper in his life before handing his baby back to his wife, he now found himself changing six to eight diapers a day in addition to feeding and bathing Soler.
Although he was unwaveringly committed keep the promise he’d made to his wife — to see her through until the end of her days — Huntington’s disease has symptoms he finds himself describing as aggressive.
“When a Huntington’s patient goes through certain phases, it’s almost abusive. Aggression comes out. Strong aggression, as they are acting out,” Dreikorn said.
When good help was not to be found, he reached out to Hope Hospice and Community Services, Inc. After an evaluation and discussion as to whether they would admit her since her life expectancy from what ultimately is a terminal condition was then unknown, Soler was admitted.
Dreikorn said Hospice told him something that resonated: “We are now your safety net. If anything happens, you call us first. We’ll be here to help you.”
After what the couple had been through, this came as quite a relief.
“After feelings of helplessness and despair, all of a sudden I felt like I had a resolve. God gave me a path forward through this organization called Hope Hospice,” Dreikorn said.
He said their reality, though, was less than expected.
While Hospice provided some much-needed equipment, including a bed and wheelchair and weekly nursing care, Dreikorn said the wheelchair first provided did not have an anti-tipping device or a seatbelt, which is necessary due to the involuntary bodily movements sometimes caused by Huntington’s disease.
“So, Darlene had some falls. She fell out of the wheelchair frequently. I had to strap her into the wheelchair and I hated doing that, but it took literally 8 months for them to give me a seatbelt and anti-tipping devices for the chair. Meanwhile, Darlene had bruises and scrapes and they didn’t care. That was frustrating, but it should have been an indicator. The fact that they wouldn’t provide the equipment, when they knew. Eventually, the only thing that worked was strapping her to the bed at night. It was the only safe thing to do,” Dreikorn said.
Dreikorn said he also sought out other resources to supplement care provided by Hospice — anywhere and everywhere he could imagine — including hiring “a revolving door of caregivers,” which did not work out as some stole her prescription drugs as well as her jewelry.
“I ended up having to put Darlene into respite at Hope Hospice in 2021. They told me that her condition is not at a rate of decline that would allow them to keep her in the program. It was a great surprise,” Dreikorn said.
At the suggestion of Hope Hospice, Dreikorn kept Soler in the respite care facility through a business trip he had to take.
While on the trip he received call from that Soler had fallen, but was OK. He said he was told that she had hurt her arm but he shouldn’t worry about it and that if anything else happened they would call him.
Dreikorn said when he dropped Soler off at respite care, his wife walked in with his help. When he picked her up five days later it was a very different story.
“When I picked her up, she looked disheveled, like a street person — hair hadn’t been combed, she was wearing only a diaper and her bed was full of blood,” Dreikorn said.
Dreikorn said he had to roll her out of that facility, as Soler could not walk from that point on. She was holding her arm and mumbling for the next three months and had an unexplained 45- pound weight loss, he said.
Although he said he asked continuously what was happening with his wife, Dreikorn said he received no answers.
“I said, she’s complaining about pain and losing all this weight and she’s still bleeding profusely, from an open wound on her elbow. The nurse said, ‘That’s OK, we put special bandages and it’s part of the disease and the decline,'” Dreikorn said.
By January 2022, he took note of a bulge in his wife’s arm that he demanded be X-rayed. Hope Hospice brought a portable X-ray to their home.
A break was detected, an older one Dreikorn said had already begun to heal.
At the advice of Hospice, Dreikorn took Soler to an orthopedic physician.
She underwent surgery about a week later on Feb. 9, and then a second surgery that March, which included a bone graft.
That was when Dreikorn filed a lawsuit against Hope Hospice and Community Services, Inc. on Soler’s behalf, alleging negligence.
On Oct. 2, as Soler’s husband and power of attorney, he was awarded the final judgement of $150,000, plus interest.
Dreikorn said it was more than he wanted before filing the suit.
“Had they just said, sorry, I wouldn’t have done anything. That would have gone a long way. There was a complete denial that this happened on their watch. They did not provide Darlene the dignity that she deserved,” Dreikorn said.
He then decided this was the time to live his promise to head south, chase sunsets and be pirates, a plan had been delayed by the condition with her arm when they had hoped to be in Puerto Rico back in December 2021.
They made it back and are there now, enjoying the sunsets.
“I just wanted to move on. I had given Hope Hospice every opportunity to say I’m sorry. Had they said, ‘I’m sorry, we recognize what we did here,’ I would have never filed a lawsuit,” Dreikorn said.
“This experience significantly impacted Darlene’s final chapter of life and has scared me forever. My priority in life has now become about peace and tranquility, and I have no clue what I will become once Darlene does pass,” Dreikorn said.
To reach PAULETTE LeBLANC / pleblanc@breezenewspapers.com, please email