O' Brother, My Brother

Good day all. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read this. I've decided to create this blog for several reasons, but for right now, the main reason is to keep all who have been inquiring about my brother Bill and his current condition updated on his status.

As some of you already know, Billy was found to have a small mass on the left side of his brain in early September that is requiring very attentive and serious care. Currently he is being held in an ICU at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. 

From my own personal standpoint, the outpouring of love and support has been amazing and overwhelming. It has shown everybody in my family-especially Bill-how much you all really care for his well-being, but more importantly, how much he has meant to you and his community. 

I will give you a quick timeline of events as they occurred, along with a quick synopsis of his status. I hope to update you as much as I can. 

Please understand that I would love to speak to you all on a personal level, but doing so requires a lot of time and emotion and it can be (and has been) quite taxing. I hope you all understand. I feel that this is the best way to appease all who are asking about Bill and wishing and praying for my brother Bill to make a speedy recovery. 

Thursday, September 4th

Bill and I head up to Taylor Hospital because Bill had not been feeling like himself as of late. He had complained of headaches, loss of coordination, and he mentioned that the right side of his body felt 'heavy', so he wanted to get checked out. After a Cat Scan, it was revealed that there was a small mass found on the left side of his brain. The attending Dr. recommended that Bill get further testing and was sent via ambulance to Thomas Jefferson Hospital. 

Thursday September 4th-Thursday September 11th

Bill spent a week at Thomas Jefferson going through an array of tests. Cat scans, MRI's, blood work, Spinal Taps-you name it, they ran a test for it. Unfortunately, all the tests came back negative. Another MRI was scheduled and completed Thursday the 11th. Since the results would not be available for another week and Bill was showing no signs of immediate medical attention, he was released to spend the next few days at home.

Tuesday, September 16th

I received a call from my father a little before 10 am. Bill had fallen victim to a seizure. In fact he had two. My mother called 911 and he was rushed to Crozer Hospital where he was placed in emergency care. After the attending Dr. ran another test (which was protocol to get him transferred to another hospital), Bill was transported down to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. 

Thursday, September 18th

I went and visited my brother who was now awake and alert in his hospital bed. The Dr.'s had decided to do a biopsy on the mass the following day, Friday, so they could finally do some testing on the mass that was affecting my brother. I left Bill around 8:30 pm, and he was in good spirits. Of course he was scared as to what was going on, but we all tried to stay positive given the situation at hand.

Friday, September 19th

I receive word that the biopsy went as planned and that Bill resting comfortably while recovering in his room. Results of the biopsy wouldn't be known for a lengthy time, about 5-10 days. That day was my wife's birthday, so even though our main concern was Bill, we decided to go out to dinner as planned to get our mind off of things. There really wasn't much I could do, plus Bill needed to rest. I had planned on visiting him within the following days. 

Saturday, September 20th

I was resting at home when I received a call around 5:30 pm. It was my mother. She relayed to me that the swelling in my brothers brain was not subsiding, and an emergency surgery was scheduled to reduce it. The surgery lasted about an hour or so. After the surgery, I received a call from my father letting me know that everything went as planned, but Billy was placed into a self-induced coma to give the swelling time to expand so it did not add any more pressure against his skull and hopefully begin to reduce. Once again, there was nothing I or anybody could do but give Bill the time to rest and recover.  

Sunday, September 21st-Tuesday, September 23rd

Bill rested comfortably at the hospital, and finally came out of the self-induced coma sometime Sunday or Monday. I finally got down to visit Tuesday morning and to my surprise, Billy was awake and alert-a good sign. The Dr.'s had decided to start him on a regiment of steroids to help get his strength and hunger back. Bill responded well to the treatment but was obviously not out of the woods. I spent about 6 hours down there and for most of the day he was doing well. I left around 4 pm with a positive frame of mind after seeing him progress in only 48-72 hours after serious brain surgery. The Dr.'s and therapists were also very pleased with his progress. Finally, some sort of comforting feeling. 

Thursday, September 25th

I drove down to the University of Penn around 11 am. Again, he was up, alive, and awake. The good news was that I could tell he was getting stronger and was much more chatty than the previous day. Bill had also been moved out of the ICU and into a lesser ICU for patients showing progress. The bad news was that results from the biopsy were still unavailable keeping us at bay and still feeling helpless. After 3 weeks to the day, the Dr.'s still do not know what caused this or what this exactly is. That has been the most frustrating part of the whole ordeal and has been testing the very patience of my entire family. I spent about 3 hours down there with him, just chatting and letting him know of all who have contacted me and all that are pulling for him. 

I can tell you this, he is a fighter and I know he will continue to do so until we get this under control. But I can also tell you that he is scared. All of us are, mainly because of the unknown. We are extremely eager to know what this is so we can get him the help he needs, the help he deserves, and get him back on his feet. I have come to realize that there is no scarier feeling in the world than the feeling of helplessness. I've never been much of a religious man, but I pray everyday that there is a happy ending to this story. 

So, that's been it in a nutshell, but a rather big nutshell. Now that you know what has happened up and until this point, I will continue to visit him and keep everybody updated on his status through this blog. I have reserved to keep my personal feelings about the matter to myself; mainly because you'd be reading this forever and it's probably best that those feelings be saved for another day. I certainly did not want to make a spectacle of it by announcing everything on Facebook, mainly because I hate Facebook (which will certainly be a subject of another post) but I figure this was the best way to reach out to everybody. You can visit this site as much as you want, but until I know something, I can't update you on anything. Right now, you know as much as I know. And it's nothing against anyone, as I would love to speak to you all, and if you catch me in the streets I'd be glad to give you an update, it's just that I, along with the rest of my family, have been receiving so much love and support it's been tough to keep track of it all and not knowing where we last left off makes telling the story over and over again mentally exhausting. Please don't take that the wrong way, my family has been so appreciative of all the love and support, it just breaks my heart to see my little brother going through it all. So stay tuned, stay well, and continue to keep my brother in your hearts at night. I realize that life is never guaranteed, and you must try to enjoy it to the best of your ability. It's been tough, but I know we will get through it. Until next time. -JM