- R
- B
Many of you know him as Coach Strasser, some of you know him as Don the brother, Uncle Don, or even that guy who is at church every Saturday in the same pair of sweatpants he wore last week. Yup, that's the guy we know as dad. Regardless of how you know him, there is no doubt that in some way he has been an influence on your life.
On February 17th of this year, dad was not not feeling very well. He was struggling to stand on his feet, very lightheaded and could not stop himself from vomiting uncontrollably. It was to the point that mom had to call 911 and have an ambulance take him to the hospital. We all initially thought that he just had a bug that was going around and after recently getting out of the hospital after contracting covid-19, figured that it was hitting him harder than most because his immune system was weakened. It at first seemed like that may have been the case, until the results on his CT scan came back and showed that he had bleeding within his brain. Not long after that, he was taken by flight for life to St. Luke's hospital in Milwaukee where he underwent emergency brain surgery to stop the bleeding and drain as much blood out as they could. The doctors then informed us that we would not know more until he woke up. He finally started coming around and waking up the following night into the morning, but could not speak much and could not remember anything that had happened. The bleed in his brain was in a very uncommon area that it made the doctor's job more difficult to figure out exactly what was the cause of the bleed. After almost two weeks of surgeries, other procedures and tests, they were finally able to determine that he had suffered a brain aneurysm, and on March 5th the doctors were able to go in and block the area that had been bleeding.
At first after the surgery, dad struggled to put thoughts to words, his short term memory was essentially non-existent, and he barely had the strength to open his eyes most days. As the blood and fluid in his brain was drained more and more, he slowly began to get better and better each day. His speech improved, though there were some words and phrases that he still could not get out, and little by little he began regaining his strength. The hope was that they would be able to take the drain out of his head and his body would be able to eliminate the excess fluid in his brain on its own. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Due to this, he had to go through one final surgery in which they put a shunt in his head, which essentially helps the body remove the brain fluid at a quicker rate than what his body was doing on its own. Once he had this done, his recovery began to get even better. He is currently still in St. Luke's within their rehabilitation center going through a multitude of therapies for his speech, memory, and physical ability such as walking, eating, using stairs, taking showers, etc. His speech has gotten incredibly better to the point that majority of words, he is able to say with no problem at all. His walking has also gotten much better that he can almost walk up and down stairs without any help. The main area of concern, while it has gotten much better, is his short term memory. We've been told that there is a possibility that he can get his memory and everything else back to fully recovered, but at the same time there is the possibility that it does not and we are too early yet into the recovery to know that answer for sure.
Another positive is that his tentative release from the hospital is April 6th, which happens to be his 65th birthday. While that is definitely great news, the concerning part is that he is not ready to be at home on his own. His best chance of recovering is getting back into an area of familiarity and where he is comfortable, but he will still need assistance. We are all trying to help as much as we can, but it is very difficult to find a way to be home with him at all times when we have our lives and jobs to do as well. While we are trying to find in home care for him, insurance will not cover it because it is not therapy-related care. On top of this, there are the many other medical bills from everything that has had to be done to him that insurance was unable to fully cover as well.
Mom has been the strongest, most resilient individual I have ever seen during this time from being at the hospital almost every day, going to school and teaching her students, taking care of her three dogs, and continuing on with everything else that life normally throws her way. Unfortunately, once dad gets home she won't be able to be there every waking moment, because she has students depending on her and needs to be at work to make sure that the bills are still getting paid. Us kids have been trying to do our part as much as we can, but unfortunately can't always be there all day, every day even though we wish we all could be. The old saying that life does not stop for anyone has hit home more so now than ever with all that has transpired, and it makes every day closer to him coming home more worrisome with the thoughts of what could happen.
As I mentioned at the beginning, many of you know him as Coach Strasser. Dad LOVES football. Always has. He has coached youth football for about 35 to 40 years and has almost 10 years of coaching youth basketball as well. He has dedicated countless hours to many young kids with the dreams of becoming professional sports stars, and not only taught them how to play the game, but how to love the game and apply the lessons from the game into every aspect of life. Us kids were raised the same way and while it was never easy (and every individual that has played for him can attest to this) he always found a way to bring the best out in you and make you not only a better athlete, but a better person. Our goal is to see him have the ability to do what he loves again and that is coach football, go golfing, and live what time he is blessed to have left at the fullest ability, but it will take a lot of work and a lot of help.
While us kids have created this page to help not just dad, but both of our parents in this tough time, we also made it to show dad that all of those individuals that he gave his time to and dedicated all he had into making them better in all facets of football, basketball and life, are still here, still remember how much he has meant to their lives, and how much they remember and thank him for everything he has done.
You all are truly the best and I have told dad many times how much thoughts, love and prayers you all have sent his way and he thanks you all for them. I got the chance to see him in the hospital on Monday, March 22nd, and he told me that without all your support, prayers, and miracle works of God, he would not be here today, and his goal is to get better so he can see you all and personally say thank you for everything.
Thank you all,
Josh, Noah, Sarah, and Zach Strasser
On February 17th of this year, dad was not not feeling very well. He was struggling to stand on his feet, very lightheaded and could not stop himself from vomiting uncontrollably. It was to the point that mom had to call 911 and have an ambulance take him to the hospital. We all initially thought that he just had a bug that was going around and after recently getting out of the hospital after contracting covid-19, figured that it was hitting him harder than most because his immune system was weakened. It at first seemed like that may have been the case, until the results on his CT scan came back and showed that he had bleeding within his brain. Not long after that, he was taken by flight for life to St. Luke's hospital in Milwaukee where he underwent emergency brain surgery to stop the bleeding and drain as much blood out as they could. The doctors then informed us that we would not know more until he woke up. He finally started coming around and waking up the following night into the morning, but could not speak much and could not remember anything that had happened. The bleed in his brain was in a very uncommon area that it made the doctor's job more difficult to figure out exactly what was the cause of the bleed. After almost two weeks of surgeries, other procedures and tests, they were finally able to determine that he had suffered a brain aneurysm, and on March 5th the doctors were able to go in and block the area that had been bleeding.
At first after the surgery, dad struggled to put thoughts to words, his short term memory was essentially non-existent, and he barely had the strength to open his eyes most days. As the blood and fluid in his brain was drained more and more, he slowly began to get better and better each day. His speech improved, though there were some words and phrases that he still could not get out, and little by little he began regaining his strength. The hope was that they would be able to take the drain out of his head and his body would be able to eliminate the excess fluid in his brain on its own. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Due to this, he had to go through one final surgery in which they put a shunt in his head, which essentially helps the body remove the brain fluid at a quicker rate than what his body was doing on its own. Once he had this done, his recovery began to get even better. He is currently still in St. Luke's within their rehabilitation center going through a multitude of therapies for his speech, memory, and physical ability such as walking, eating, using stairs, taking showers, etc. His speech has gotten incredibly better to the point that majority of words, he is able to say with no problem at all. His walking has also gotten much better that he can almost walk up and down stairs without any help. The main area of concern, while it has gotten much better, is his short term memory. We've been told that there is a possibility that he can get his memory and everything else back to fully recovered, but at the same time there is the possibility that it does not and we are too early yet into the recovery to know that answer for sure.
Another positive is that his tentative release from the hospital is April 6th, which happens to be his 65th birthday. While that is definitely great news, the concerning part is that he is not ready to be at home on his own. His best chance of recovering is getting back into an area of familiarity and where he is comfortable, but he will still need assistance. We are all trying to help as much as we can, but it is very difficult to find a way to be home with him at all times when we have our lives and jobs to do as well. While we are trying to find in home care for him, insurance will not cover it because it is not therapy-related care. On top of this, there are the many other medical bills from everything that has had to be done to him that insurance was unable to fully cover as well.
Mom has been the strongest, most resilient individual I have ever seen during this time from being at the hospital almost every day, going to school and teaching her students, taking care of her three dogs, and continuing on with everything else that life normally throws her way. Unfortunately, once dad gets home she won't be able to be there every waking moment, because she has students depending on her and needs to be at work to make sure that the bills are still getting paid. Us kids have been trying to do our part as much as we can, but unfortunately can't always be there all day, every day even though we wish we all could be. The old saying that life does not stop for anyone has hit home more so now than ever with all that has transpired, and it makes every day closer to him coming home more worrisome with the thoughts of what could happen.
As I mentioned at the beginning, many of you know him as Coach Strasser. Dad LOVES football. Always has. He has coached youth football for about 35 to 40 years and has almost 10 years of coaching youth basketball as well. He has dedicated countless hours to many young kids with the dreams of becoming professional sports stars, and not only taught them how to play the game, but how to love the game and apply the lessons from the game into every aspect of life. Us kids were raised the same way and while it was never easy (and every individual that has played for him can attest to this) he always found a way to bring the best out in you and make you not only a better athlete, but a better person. Our goal is to see him have the ability to do what he loves again and that is coach football, go golfing, and live what time he is blessed to have left at the fullest ability, but it will take a lot of work and a lot of help.
While us kids have created this page to help not just dad, but both of our parents in this tough time, we also made it to show dad that all of those individuals that he gave his time to and dedicated all he had into making them better in all facets of football, basketball and life, are still here, still remember how much he has meant to their lives, and how much they remember and thank him for everything he has done.
You all are truly the best and I have told dad many times how much thoughts, love and prayers you all have sent his way and he thanks you all for them. I got the chance to see him in the hospital on Monday, March 22nd, and he told me that without all your support, prayers, and miracle works of God, he would not be here today, and his goal is to get better so he can see you all and personally say thank you for everything.
Thank you all,
Josh, Noah, Sarah, and Zach Strasser
Organizer and beneficiary
Juliana Strasser
Beneficiary