Donation protected
Many of you know my dear cousins, the Byelichs. Four and a half years ago, their lives were forever changed. You will understand this better when you read their attached story. I try to understand what it must be like to live in their shoes, but the truth is, I’ll never know. What I do know is this, Brian and Jessie are two of the most inspirational people I know!
They have worked tirelessly for four and a half years with an incredible amount patience and perseverance. They have navigated through their new drastically altered lives with the most positive of attitudes. Their children, Harrison and Bailey, are two lucky kiddos to have such amazing, motivated, humble and loving parents as role models.
I also know this, they have yet to ask for help. Asking for help is hard, so I am doing it for help for them, because they deserve it! They deserve a healthy life and even though a big chunk of that has been taken away, this campaign, A BOOST FOR BRIAN, can help Brian with his continued therapy! Please join me in helping to bring a little bit of “normal” to the Byelich family!
With gratitude,
Kelly
For those of you who don't know the Byelichs, here is their story in Jessie's words:
Many of You - Many of Us - have been on the receiving end of news that renders us breathless and off balance - and we have the very REAL realization that any challenge we have faced so far, will be nothing compared to what lies ahead. The Glorious mixture of Shock and Fear, and Hope - somehow we continue through what will always remain to be completely inconceivable.
On June 2014, we found out Brian had a Massive brain tumor. A petroclival meningioma, larger than 3" in diameter that was squished between his brain and brain stem. It enveloped crucial arteries that supplied blood to his brain, it cut off spinal fluid circulation resulting in hydrocephalus, it engulfed cranial nerves threatening the loss of eyesight & hearing, it was compressing & displacing Brian's brain stem causing gait & balance issues. The tumor affected many of the motor skills we all take for granted - speech & swallowing among them.
Brian's symptoms were (this is often the 1st question I get asked) sleep disturbances & fatigue, puffy red eyes, and slurred speech. He had very poor balance & coordination, often staggering when walking & unintentionally running into things & people. Basically, he looked inebriated all the time. He would sneeze mid-bite and spray food everywhere - we later found out that happens when you have swallowing issues. He became afraid of heights, something he never struggled with before.
Brian had surgery to remove the tumor in July 2014. We were educated about the surgical risks. We heard the neurosurgeon say that Brian could suffer a massive stroke, hemorrhage, infection - he could even be 'locked in', meaning he was conscious, but completely unable to move or communicate with us. We were hopeful that the worst 'surgical deficit' Brian would face would be double vision. We were hopeful he would simply feel as if 'he had been hit by a truck' for about 3 weeks of recovery, and then begin getting back to his normal life. We were hopeful the tumor could be removed completely, and not cause any more problems.
Brian came out surgery having suffered a CVA - cerebral vascular accident. He could not breath on his own. The left side of his body was paralyzed. He could not swallow, or speak. To communicate, we used a board with letters on it that Brian could point to - but unfortunately he had severe ataxia making it very hard for him to point to the letter he was going for. We would have thought he had lost his mind if we couldn't so clearly see & feel his frustration when we couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.
Brian spent 12 weeks at Mary Free Bed inpatient Rehab at Sparrow Hospital.
https://www.maryfreebed.com/brian-byelich-mary-free-bed-at-sparrow/
The staff is Amazing, they gave us Hope when we felt utterly helpless and defeated. We found out that the tumor is benign, as we had hoped, and classified as slow growing. Just over half of the tumor was removed. As for a second surgery to remove the remaining tumor, we have elected to 'watch & wait', rather than risk the possible deficits that could result.
This whole experience, it is still so clear in my memory. I gave birth to our beautiful, perfect, healthy baby girl three days following Brian's surgery - but I will stop here for now. I don't need to keep going. If you want to know more you can check out Brian's Caring Bridge site.
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brianbyelich
Four and a half years later, Brian is a contributing employee at work everyday. He has some minor accommodations - like voice activated software, so he does not have to type much, or write, which he is not able to do legibly. He has a very supportive work family that helps him throughout any given day with any number of things .. transportation to & from work, or re-tying his shoes for example.
Brian has continued with physical, and occupational therapy - as much as our health insurance will cover. There are sometimes lapses in between visits because of insurance authorizations, and he is only allowed a set number of sessions. This does not stop him, he is constantly (and I mean CONSTANTLY) working to improve himself. He has a full library of rehab exercises he cycles through. He is amazing. Not once has he felt sorry for himself. He is Grateful to be Here everyday. And maybe most importantly, he is an incredible & loving Dad.
You might notice the first thing I do when talking about this, is reassure you that Brian is OK. We are Ok. Because we are. I will give you the 3 positives to the 1 negative. 'Brain tumors solve all sorts of problems .. like arguing over who empties the dishwasher more.' We do laugh, we have to. The alternative is self-defeating. You may catch me on a day when I am desperately waving a white flag, and you hear me say, "I don't know if I am coming or going." And that is true too.
The cliche, 'asking for help is the hardest thing to do'. I disagree. In my humble experience, it is accepting the fact that you need help .. after you've worked so hard not to need it .. that is tough.
We have been working toward, and saving for an Endless Pool for our home, and also for an adaptive bicycle for Brian. In order to take advantage of the generous special needs discount, offered by Endless Pool, we need to move forward with this project in the next couple of months.
If you know Brian, you may have called him Big B, like we do, and you know he is not someone that is thrilled to be sitting in a chair all day. As soon as Big B came home from inpatient rehab, we started going to the YMCA pool. It was a great way for Brian to stand & walk without the fear of falling. The pool provided a great strength & cardiovascular workout too. As Harry & Bailey got older, they wanted to come with us. Being in the pool is wonderful (if you know me, you know I tried to live in a pool when I was younger), it is a great way for us to be an active family together. Going to a public pool presents many challenges for us. Brian requires some minor help getting showered and dressed, so that leaves me showering & dressing 3 people in addition to myself - when we are lucky enough to find an accessible family changing room available.
We would be Grateful for, and humbled by your help. We want to be an active family together. Brian continues to work so hard, we would love to have as many tools as possible to help him continue in his recovery.
What we are Grateful for:
LOVE. Love from family. Love from close, dear friends. Love from acquaintances. Love from people we don't even know!
MRI test results that begin with the word 'Stable'. We are on year 4 of Stable MRI results, and we have a new year ahead of us!
They have worked tirelessly for four and a half years with an incredible amount patience and perseverance. They have navigated through their new drastically altered lives with the most positive of attitudes. Their children, Harrison and Bailey, are two lucky kiddos to have such amazing, motivated, humble and loving parents as role models.
I also know this, they have yet to ask for help. Asking for help is hard, so I am doing it for help for them, because they deserve it! They deserve a healthy life and even though a big chunk of that has been taken away, this campaign, A BOOST FOR BRIAN, can help Brian with his continued therapy! Please join me in helping to bring a little bit of “normal” to the Byelich family!
With gratitude,
Kelly
For those of you who don't know the Byelichs, here is their story in Jessie's words:
Many of You - Many of Us - have been on the receiving end of news that renders us breathless and off balance - and we have the very REAL realization that any challenge we have faced so far, will be nothing compared to what lies ahead. The Glorious mixture of Shock and Fear, and Hope - somehow we continue through what will always remain to be completely inconceivable.
On June 2014, we found out Brian had a Massive brain tumor. A petroclival meningioma, larger than 3" in diameter that was squished between his brain and brain stem. It enveloped crucial arteries that supplied blood to his brain, it cut off spinal fluid circulation resulting in hydrocephalus, it engulfed cranial nerves threatening the loss of eyesight & hearing, it was compressing & displacing Brian's brain stem causing gait & balance issues. The tumor affected many of the motor skills we all take for granted - speech & swallowing among them.
Brian's symptoms were (this is often the 1st question I get asked) sleep disturbances & fatigue, puffy red eyes, and slurred speech. He had very poor balance & coordination, often staggering when walking & unintentionally running into things & people. Basically, he looked inebriated all the time. He would sneeze mid-bite and spray food everywhere - we later found out that happens when you have swallowing issues. He became afraid of heights, something he never struggled with before.
Brian had surgery to remove the tumor in July 2014. We were educated about the surgical risks. We heard the neurosurgeon say that Brian could suffer a massive stroke, hemorrhage, infection - he could even be 'locked in', meaning he was conscious, but completely unable to move or communicate with us. We were hopeful that the worst 'surgical deficit' Brian would face would be double vision. We were hopeful he would simply feel as if 'he had been hit by a truck' for about 3 weeks of recovery, and then begin getting back to his normal life. We were hopeful the tumor could be removed completely, and not cause any more problems.
Brian came out surgery having suffered a CVA - cerebral vascular accident. He could not breath on his own. The left side of his body was paralyzed. He could not swallow, or speak. To communicate, we used a board with letters on it that Brian could point to - but unfortunately he had severe ataxia making it very hard for him to point to the letter he was going for. We would have thought he had lost his mind if we couldn't so clearly see & feel his frustration when we couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.
Brian spent 12 weeks at Mary Free Bed inpatient Rehab at Sparrow Hospital.
https://www.maryfreebed.com/brian-byelich-mary-free-bed-at-sparrow/
The staff is Amazing, they gave us Hope when we felt utterly helpless and defeated. We found out that the tumor is benign, as we had hoped, and classified as slow growing. Just over half of the tumor was removed. As for a second surgery to remove the remaining tumor, we have elected to 'watch & wait', rather than risk the possible deficits that could result.
This whole experience, it is still so clear in my memory. I gave birth to our beautiful, perfect, healthy baby girl three days following Brian's surgery - but I will stop here for now. I don't need to keep going. If you want to know more you can check out Brian's Caring Bridge site.
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brianbyelich
Four and a half years later, Brian is a contributing employee at work everyday. He has some minor accommodations - like voice activated software, so he does not have to type much, or write, which he is not able to do legibly. He has a very supportive work family that helps him throughout any given day with any number of things .. transportation to & from work, or re-tying his shoes for example.
Brian has continued with physical, and occupational therapy - as much as our health insurance will cover. There are sometimes lapses in between visits because of insurance authorizations, and he is only allowed a set number of sessions. This does not stop him, he is constantly (and I mean CONSTANTLY) working to improve himself. He has a full library of rehab exercises he cycles through. He is amazing. Not once has he felt sorry for himself. He is Grateful to be Here everyday. And maybe most importantly, he is an incredible & loving Dad.
You might notice the first thing I do when talking about this, is reassure you that Brian is OK. We are Ok. Because we are. I will give you the 3 positives to the 1 negative. 'Brain tumors solve all sorts of problems .. like arguing over who empties the dishwasher more.' We do laugh, we have to. The alternative is self-defeating. You may catch me on a day when I am desperately waving a white flag, and you hear me say, "I don't know if I am coming or going." And that is true too.
The cliche, 'asking for help is the hardest thing to do'. I disagree. In my humble experience, it is accepting the fact that you need help .. after you've worked so hard not to need it .. that is tough.
We have been working toward, and saving for an Endless Pool for our home, and also for an adaptive bicycle for Brian. In order to take advantage of the generous special needs discount, offered by Endless Pool, we need to move forward with this project in the next couple of months.
If you know Brian, you may have called him Big B, like we do, and you know he is not someone that is thrilled to be sitting in a chair all day. As soon as Big B came home from inpatient rehab, we started going to the YMCA pool. It was a great way for Brian to stand & walk without the fear of falling. The pool provided a great strength & cardiovascular workout too. As Harry & Bailey got older, they wanted to come with us. Being in the pool is wonderful (if you know me, you know I tried to live in a pool when I was younger), it is a great way for us to be an active family together. Going to a public pool presents many challenges for us. Brian requires some minor help getting showered and dressed, so that leaves me showering & dressing 3 people in addition to myself - when we are lucky enough to find an accessible family changing room available.
We would be Grateful for, and humbled by your help. We want to be an active family together. Brian continues to work so hard, we would love to have as many tools as possible to help him continue in his recovery.
What we are Grateful for:
LOVE. Love from family. Love from close, dear friends. Love from acquaintances. Love from people we don't even know!
MRI test results that begin with the word 'Stable'. We are on year 4 of Stable MRI results, and we have a new year ahead of us!
Organizer and beneficiary
Kelly Wooters
Organizer
Grand Rapids, MI
Jessie Byelich
Beneficiary