Dan’s Recovery

My brother, Dan, age 46 suffered a stroke on Saturday, August 6th.  Danny, as I refer to him, is a whitewater rafting guide who is full of life.  Shortly after getting off the river from a trip, he began vomiting and became dizzy.  His boss, Mike (and now we believe his guardian angel) rushed Danny to the hospital.  At 4:15pm, Danny suffered what doctors refer to as a completed stroke.  He had a blood clot on the left side of the neck near his cerebellum.  The doctors administered a blood clot buster drug (TPA) and unfortunately, the side effects include increased bleeding and swelling of the brain.  They rushed him into surgery at 2:00am on Sunday morning.  The surgery consisted of removing a portion of his skull to relieve the pressure, draining fluid from around the brain, and trying to remove the clot.  While the surgery was “successful “ they were unable to remove all of the clot due to its location being so close to the cerebellum which plays an important role in motor functions.
Since Saturday, his wife Amy, his children Aria and Abram, our family and his friends have been on an emotional roller coaster.  Monday they removed the ventilator and we were able to hear his voice and see him move all of his extremities.  Overnight he developed pneumonia and they had to put the ventilator back in and sedate him as well.
The doctors remain optimistic about his recovery; however, life on the outside continues on.  The day to day bills continue to arrive and the hospital and doctors bills will continue to mount.  Amy needs to spend her time with Danny at the hospital.  While the most important and powerful thing we can ask for right now are your continued prayers, we would be appreciative of your financial support as well.  Danny will be in the hospital for weeks and will then have months of rehab.  His adventurous nature, his kind and giving heart, his witt and sense of humor are needed in our family and this world!  Your generosity and support will be much appreciated as he faces this long road to recovery. God bless!