Tim is out of surgery, looks like the stent that was placed on the 15th was partially occluded but there are still concerns about a gallbladder infection. Doing additional testing today/tomorrow morning to check. May require surgery again this week to remove it if they find that it's infected but it's complicated with placement of some tumors. Tim's stronger than he was at this stage than he was last time but so far feels all too familiar to this last hospital stay which is scary. He's being placed in ICU after recovery so they can keep a close eye on him but please keep the prayers coming for him...
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Back at the hospital
Brought Tim to the ER this morning for an elevated heart rate and a fever. They started him on antibiotics and anti-anxiety meds and are now thinking the infection that was in his colon has reoccurred. They are taking him into surgery within the hour and checking his gallbladder to see if that may be the source and may need to be removed, also rechecking the stent that was placed on the 15th to see if it has migrated or been blocked. Please keep him in your prayers.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
My Side Of Things
Jenny has done an amazing job of keeping everyone up-to-date on how things over these past 2 weeks have been going for me. I thought that I would try to piece together the things that I remember and how I thought that they happened.
On Friday it was a normal day when I woke up. I woke up a bit earlier than usual and went a slept for about another 45 min on the couch just so that I wouldn't wake up Jenny. We both then woke up at the same time and I stripped the bed and put the dirty sheets in the laundry and then came back to watch a few more minutes of tv while Jenny finished getting her shower. I don't remember being cold or having the chills until I got into the shower that morning and I couldn't get the water hot enough to warm me up. I had to have stayed in the shower at least 20 minutes before forcing myself out. I was still shivering cold, so I got dressed quickly and got into my car turned the heat on high and started off to the cancer center for my bloodwork.
I got to the cancer center and was met by Lynn and she could tell something was wrong and took my temp really quick and it came back at 99.7. She got me 2 heated blankets and sent me over to iTOR to get my blood drawn. From there they took the blood samples that they needed and then started a bag of fluids to see if that would help any. By the time that the fluids were finished about an hour later my temperature had risen to over 103 and I was bundled under 12 or 13 warm blankets still freezing cold and not able to catch my breath.
At this point Dr. E and Julie decided that I needed to be admitted to the hospital to have a closer eye on my situation. They moved me to floor 5-D which is the cancer ward of the hospital. Met the great nurse and before I was in there for 15 minutes she was already calling the emergency response team. My pulse was beating at about 130 - 150 beats per minute and I couldn't catch my breath. At this point they decided to move me to ICU.
Here is where the story gets a bit washy for me and I don't remember too many details. I remember being wheeled out of ICU up to the operating room for my surgery. I remember meeting the doctor who was very nice and very tall. The next thing after that I remember is waking up in the recovery room having a dream that there were 10 of us in there and we were all fighting and I woke up feeling terrible because I thought that I had hit a nurse. Thank goodness I didn't.
Back in ICU I didn't sleep very well due to the nut job that was next to me yelling and screaming all night.
Saturday morning I woke up and everyone must have thought I was doing much better and I was able to be moved back up to the cancer ward of 5-D. I was there and things were going well from what I though until on Monday and this is where I have a huge lapse of memory. I don't know why I was moved back to ICU, I think that it has something do with me breathing out of control, and not being able to catch my breath. Later after the fact I was told by Jenny that they said to her that if she had anything she wanted to stay to me to go ahead and say it then as well as to get my final wishes and my preferences about being intubated. I think that is the scariest part of this whole ordeal. I wish that I had known about this because there would have been things that I wanted to say as well.
I stayed in ICU again that Monday night and got the best night of sleep that I received the entire stay of the hospital and by the morning I was a completely different person. They yet again moved me out of ICU to a room on the 4th floor where I would stay until my departure on Friday. Tuesday through Friday were pretty boring from what I remember with not much excitement.
I guess that I wanted to writing this today because it helps me deal with this ordeal. It is a very scary thing to find out that you almost died at one point. It makes you look back and see what you could have done differently in our life. I am glad that I have been give this second chance at life. I am going to try to make the most of every situation.
I can't begin to thank everyone enough for all of your thoughts at prayers during this time for me. I am convinced it is the only what that I made it through. There is still a long battle left for me to fight so please keep them coming.
I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart,
Tim
On Friday it was a normal day when I woke up. I woke up a bit earlier than usual and went a slept for about another 45 min on the couch just so that I wouldn't wake up Jenny. We both then woke up at the same time and I stripped the bed and put the dirty sheets in the laundry and then came back to watch a few more minutes of tv while Jenny finished getting her shower. I don't remember being cold or having the chills until I got into the shower that morning and I couldn't get the water hot enough to warm me up. I had to have stayed in the shower at least 20 minutes before forcing myself out. I was still shivering cold, so I got dressed quickly and got into my car turned the heat on high and started off to the cancer center for my bloodwork.
I got to the cancer center and was met by Lynn and she could tell something was wrong and took my temp really quick and it came back at 99.7. She got me 2 heated blankets and sent me over to iTOR to get my blood drawn. From there they took the blood samples that they needed and then started a bag of fluids to see if that would help any. By the time that the fluids were finished about an hour later my temperature had risen to over 103 and I was bundled under 12 or 13 warm blankets still freezing cold and not able to catch my breath.
At this point Dr. E and Julie decided that I needed to be admitted to the hospital to have a closer eye on my situation. They moved me to floor 5-D which is the cancer ward of the hospital. Met the great nurse and before I was in there for 15 minutes she was already calling the emergency response team. My pulse was beating at about 130 - 150 beats per minute and I couldn't catch my breath. At this point they decided to move me to ICU.
Here is where the story gets a bit washy for me and I don't remember too many details. I remember being wheeled out of ICU up to the operating room for my surgery. I remember meeting the doctor who was very nice and very tall. The next thing after that I remember is waking up in the recovery room having a dream that there were 10 of us in there and we were all fighting and I woke up feeling terrible because I thought that I had hit a nurse. Thank goodness I didn't.
Back in ICU I didn't sleep very well due to the nut job that was next to me yelling and screaming all night.
Saturday morning I woke up and everyone must have thought I was doing much better and I was able to be moved back up to the cancer ward of 5-D. I was there and things were going well from what I though until on Monday and this is where I have a huge lapse of memory. I don't know why I was moved back to ICU, I think that it has something do with me breathing out of control, and not being able to catch my breath. Later after the fact I was told by Jenny that they said to her that if she had anything she wanted to stay to me to go ahead and say it then as well as to get my final wishes and my preferences about being intubated. I think that is the scariest part of this whole ordeal. I wish that I had known about this because there would have been things that I wanted to say as well.
I stayed in ICU again that Monday night and got the best night of sleep that I received the entire stay of the hospital and by the morning I was a completely different person. They yet again moved me out of ICU to a room on the 4th floor where I would stay until my departure on Friday. Tuesday through Friday were pretty boring from what I remember with not much excitement.
I guess that I wanted to writing this today because it helps me deal with this ordeal. It is a very scary thing to find out that you almost died at one point. It makes you look back and see what you could have done differently in our life. I am glad that I have been give this second chance at life. I am going to try to make the most of every situation.
I can't begin to thank everyone enough for all of your thoughts at prayers during this time for me. I am convinced it is the only what that I made it through. There is still a long battle left for me to fight so please keep them coming.
I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart,
Tim
Monday, August 25, 2014
The Plan & Unsolicited Advice
As most know I was starting nursing school as of last Thursday. With everything going on with Tim I asked USCU if I could defer (technically my mom did) and they've been very supportive and helpful through all of this so provided all goes well, I should be starting in January. I will say that it is a nice break to be able to put all of my focus on getting Tim better rather than having to spread my attention.
The current plan is for Tim to start the clinical trial Wednesday and to otherwise keep working on getting better. He's anxious to get back to work but I think we're going to try to get him back in slowly. He gets really anxious whenever anything changes (including leaving the house or adding something new to his routine) but is trying so hard to work past all of that. Any time your struggle to breathe your first instinct is to panic though. He's been amazing about trying to learn to calm himself and is already making significant steps in improving his abilities though.
There are many things that I haven't had the time to fill everyone in about over the past week and I'm actually working on putting more of it all together both for you all as well as for Tim and myself to keep from forgetting. One of those things is that I was told to get Tim's final wishes and to say everything I wanted to get out to him a week ago today. It was traumatizing for me that day and it's been hard for him to hear about and process after. I was able to talk to him about his wishes for intubation with lots of help from Julie Martin (his NP from iTOR) and to let him know how much I love him and that I couldn't be more grateful to have him in my life but i couldn't bring myself to talk to him about what his final wishes were or to say good-bye. It was a combination of not being able to bring myself to tell him that the prognosis wasn't good and some self-preservation as it felt like as soon as I said it, it would be true and I would lose him. Which was and still is unfathomable to me.
I say all of this to urge all of you to have a conversation now with your significant other, parents, etc. about what your final wishes are. It's not a fun conversation to have but I promise that it is a lot easier now than getting into a situation like ours was a week ago. I remember feeling like my world was crashing down around me but I also remember feeling terrified that I may have to plan Tim's funeral and I didn't have a clue as to what he wanted.
We do appreciate your thoughts and prayers and they have been supporting us through the past week. Please keep them coming as we have a long road of recovery ahead of us as we process the events that unfolded and try to process them in a healthy manner. Tim's still inching forward in his physical recovery but he also still has a ways to go as right now he's pretty dependent upon oxygen. He's worked his way up to managing short distances without it already but it's easy to see that he is frustrated he hasn't made more progress and doesn't see how amazing he already is.
Thank you all!
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Rough Night
Being back "home" has been an adventure in and of itself already. Our new house is undergoing renovations so we came to stay at Tim's parents house for a bit. His oxygen tanks and machine were set up yesterday evening, we had some dinner and headed to bed. Unfortunately one of his medications caused some difficulties which led to a not so restful night. We've both been sleeping all day and he is currently still sleeping so I'm hoping tonight should be a lot more laid back and restful. We both have a long road ahead of us as we navigate these new physical challenges for Tim as well as we try to navigate the emotional repercussions of the events that unfolded last week. Please pray that Tim can see some improvement in his breathing difficulties as he really needs that encouragement right now. Thanks all!
Friday, August 22, 2014
Going Home!
@tdbright8 is being discharged!! We've got a long path for his full recovery but are so grateful for all of you and your support over the past week. Please keep praying for Tim's continued recovery and that the clinical trial he is about to begin will be the break we've been waiting for. Please also keep the mom of a friend of ours in your prayers as she is now in the ICU herself. We will update with more information about everything soon, today we will rest. Thanks again!!
Thursday, August 21, 2014
My Big Brother
I left Tim and Jenny a little while ago, and I told Jenny that I would give her the night off from posting a blog so she could get some much deserved rest. I am happy to say that when I left Tim tonight he was doing well. As Jenny described earlier, his breathing is doing much better. I would even say that his breathing tonight at the hospital was better than I have seen it in some time (including the weeks leading up to today). To say the least, it is great to see.
The main reason that I asked Jenny if I could post an update on Tim was so that I could try my best to explain the gratitude that I have for all of the support Tim has received from all of his friends and family. If you could have experienced the transformation in Tim from Monday to today, you would agree with me that what I witnessed was nothing short of a miracle. I believe it is a miracle that took place in large part because of all of the prayers, support, and thoughts that were sent up for Tim, and for that I thank ALL of you.
I also want to share a couple of stories and thoughts that I have about Tim. Four and a half years ago I was told by my father that they found something on Tim's colon that the Dr. believed was cancer. I called Jenny before calling Tim later that same day because I didn't want him to sense my sadness. The first thing that Jenny said to me was "all he wants to know is how you are doing. He is worried about you". That will tell you everything you ever need to know about Tim.
As Tim's younger brother, I have always known him to be the best brother and also my best friend. What I have learned over time is that Tim is also my hero. If you look up hero in the dictionary, it is defined as someone who is admired for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. In my opinion Tim's picture could be next to that word. I believe that God places people in situations where He knows they can/will excel. It takes a hero to accept a tough situation, and to the best of their abilities, accept the hardship and excel despite it. Now that we are working together I am with Tim every day, and not one time have I ever heard him complain about the hand that he has been dealt. What he does is live every day with courage, happiness, and thankfulness for what he has been given. There is not a night that goes by that I don't thank God for the day he gave us Tim.
What Tim does for me every day, and I'm sure what he does for a lot of people that he comes in contact with, is show them that life is not about what you have, but rather how to excel with what you have been given. He has also shown all of us what toughness really looks like. It looks like Tim. Again, thank you for all of the support that each of you have shown for Tim the last couple of days. He appreciates it more than you will ever know.
Steven Bright
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