MY DAD NEARLY DIED…

My dad nearly died

On Thursday the 8th of June at around 1am my dad (Johnnie Sapong) was woken up by a severe headache and a blur of vision in his left eye. He endured the pain through the night because we had my little brothers 5th grade graduation at 8am in the morning. He couldn't sleep, put his head down on a pillow, sit up, no position would alleviate the pain. 8am then came around and dad was still in pain, we thought it might be a migraine so we said sleep it off while we went to the graduation. We came home about 11am and my dad was still in severe pain, so it was time to take him to the E.R (my dad is pretty against taking unnecessary medication and pills, but he had taken some of the strongest pain killers in the house, so we knew something was not right)

My mum took my dad to the E.R. I received multiple calls from my mum within the hour and everything was getting worse, they put him on a IV drip of fluids and pain killer, it wasn’t enough, they tried migraine medication, it didn't help. He was in so much pain they ended up giving him morphine (which my dad is against, so once again, we knew something was wrong). They took lots of blood and had taken him for multiple scans, CAT scan, MRI’s and more. We waited for the results while my dads vision was deteriorating by the hour, we still didn’t know what was wrong. The scans came back, and they had found something on his brain. They couldn't help him in the ER anymore so transferred my mum and dad to another hospital in an ambulance where there was Neurological surgeon and his team waiting for them. At this point I was freaking out because bare in mind the day before he was fine… Once we got to the hospital, the surgeon and neurologist team had reviewed the MRI scans and said they had found a large tumor on his pertuatory gland, (a gland in the brain) it was pressing on his brain and optic nerve and was it bleeding, NOT GOOD. At this point he has almost lost all vision in his left eye, saying his pain level was a solid 9.5 out of 10 and now knowing there was a large tumor something had to be done RIGHT NOW… The Surgeon came in to the room, with my dad semi conscious just me and my mum! They had called in a special surgeon that was off duty for this, it was getting serious! The surgeon had told us that this was a life threatening situation and we had to act fast, if we didn’t do the surgery tonight, straight way, he may completely lose his vision in both eyes and even worse, he could die, due to the internal bleeding! We had no choice but to send him into surgery that night at about 2am. I couldn’t risk losing my dad that night, but I knew he wouldn’t have wanted to be in that much pain for the rest of his life They told us he may not survive the surgery but the surgeon has never lost a patient doing this procedure before so he told my mum and I to be positive and to rest, he would be in the operating room for 4-5 hours. He went into surgery that night and they removed the tumor from his pituitary gland. We feel so lucky that the the surgery was successful and that we didn't lose him. His pituitary gland is dead, no longer able to function, he will be on medication for the rest of his life and will need regular MRI scans to check to make sure another tumor doesn't grow.

He is still in ICU and we are unsure how long he will there, we are hoping to get him out of there soon so that he can recover at home with us.

As you all know my dad is a kind, amazing, talented man who loves his job as a freelance hairdresser and who works hard to support his family. He is the main source of income for our family. He is not going to be able to work, we don't know how long for, how long it will take for him get back to full health. We need your help! I don't know how we are going to pay our rent and our bills and you all know that healthcare isn't free in the US and the medical bills are mounting. I don't want my mum and dad to be stressed about keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table for me and my brothers. I want my mum to be able to care for my dad and for my dad to take his time to recover fully and not feel that he has to rush back to work as soon as he can, because we are going to loose our house or car. I'm sure many of you know my amazing mum and dad and my brothers. If you are able to help us with any amount we would all greatly appreciate it. We have a long journey ahead of us and it would be great if we could just all concentrate on getting my dad better and back to work. He loves his job so I know that he is going to be keen to get back as soon as he can, but it's going to take time. If you can't donate then please share this link with anyone who knows my dad or you think would be in a position to help us. Please send him positive and healing vibes, you all know he's a good vibe guy! Peace and love from Zion and all the Sapongs

UPDATE:

It’s felt like the longest week of my life but I wanted to give an update on my dad if anyones interested. He has been discharged from the hospital and is now back home in his own bed! Everything happened so fast but felt so slow while it was happening!

The surgeon came into the room in the morning and his exact words were “you look too good to be here ” in the ICU unit. This was good to hear but also a little confusing as he was still stuck to the bed on bed rest. They then moved my dad to another ward on the same floor and within about 4 hours of them moving him, a new nurse came in and said, “put your clothes on, you’re ready to go home!" This was pretty intense to hear because my dad was still in pain, couldn’t walk and I didn’t expect to go home this quickly (but it’s America, the healthcare is just a business at the end of the day). The surgeon did say recovery is 100% better in the comfort of your own home… so at the end of the day I get it, it just happened quite quickly! We are taking it day by day, like I said my dad still can’t walk and had to be wheeled out in a wheelchair from the room down to the car from the hospital! The doctor said “you’ve just had brain surgery” so the headaches and pain in your face, nose, head everywhere above the shoulders will be there for a little, you just need to manage the pain as you get better! They’ve given us about 10 different medications with a bunch of instructions which was a little overwhelming but expected at the end of the day! We are making sure dad is as comfortable as possible, with foods he actually likes and I just want him to get better so I’m doing everything in my power to help him!

I want to thank everyone for showing the love and support, if I’m honest my dad hasn’t been on his phone since before the whole situation happened, so if you’ve been messaging him that’s why he hasn’t replied! We’ve slowly been telling him and showing him all the love and messages you guys have been sending, but we don’t want him to get overwhelmed so we are still taking it slowly! Remember he’s just had brain surgery so we don’t want him to be overwhelmed at all, no extra stress on the brain is needed Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart, you guys have made sure my family will be okay throughout his recovery! We have recieved a few medical bills before we even left the hospital, and I know there’s going to be alot more coming in the mail so thank you everyone for your support, it really means the world to me ❤️

Just want to say, please be grateful everyday you wake up and are healthy, everyday is a blessing! This situation has changed my whole perspective on life! I just want everyone to support each other, because in this dark world we live in, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel, as long as we support each other! WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER TO HELP THE WORLD GO AROUND AND TO MAKE IT A KINDER PLACE ❤️ PEACE AND LOVE from Zion and the sapong family!