It is with great sadness that we share of Dads passing Feb 26 around 813 PM. We decided to remove dad from life support. He passed within minutes surrounded by family. Our hearts are forever broken. 

We are now at day 43 of not knowing anything and wait, just wait. We get very sad when everyone we talk to says dad’s situation is unique, and would like to feel like we can get some wins at this time. 

Our Husband, dad, brother, Son, PAPA, Went to Halifax to have a procedure for a Cerebrospinal fluid or CSF leak. He came out of that surgery giving thumbs up and teasing the doctors and nurses (As dad does. Sometime in the night or morning when my Mom returned My dad was in a lot of pain and pressure for his head, His blood pressure was over 211/98 and heart rate 135. The nurses were draining 10Mg every hour from the shunt. Ct scans and MRI showed that he had a stroke. Dad has been restrained to the bed as he thrashes and tries to pull lines out. Dad has been having seizures. Which they have tried to medicate him for them. Eric has been unable to remember family and is often incoherent, He lost his vision but now he is able to see a bit from 1 eye. He is unable lots of times to answer some standard questions. He has had good days but then the bad days outweigh the good. He is unable to feed himself by himself and food must be purred or thick liquids. What will happen next we are unsure of. The also found 4 huge clots in the front of his brain that were going to need to broke up but dads body is week form all the thrashing and no rest. Dads life is not ever gonna be the same but we Will get through this as a family. My mom is heartbroken to see Dad like this but she is a champ. She tells him she is there, she will always be there. sickness and in health. January 14 dad had a great day. He seemed more alert, kissed moms hand and asked about family. January 15 in the middle of the night dad had a hour long seizure and was unconscious, no responses to testing. Hix oxygen dropped and they were on standby to Intubate him. Hi Oxygen did come up some and he was monitored for a few hours. The team took dad up for Surgery to remove the tube they places in his spine and were able to get a look at the clots while he was under. They were able to clear one clot and are hoping that is enough to relieve some pressure. Dad came back and has had to be restrained by feet and hands and he is restless and thrashing more. The nurses are doing all they can to ensure he does not pull out anything from his main artery that they went through for the angiogram. As you can see with things changing hour to hour and day today the family is by his side. This comes at a cost. I am hoping to lighten the load of the hotel bills. taxies to hospital, food and so much more. For those who do not know that my parents live over and hour from the hospital he is in. Dad may need a lot of support if he gets to come home with aids to support that care, adjustments to the house and so on. Our family is just focusing on being there for Eric and support mom as she watched the love or life in the states he is in. Our hearts are broken as this is a man who gave to so many and never asked for anything in return. He has worked hard his whole like and the last years he has had to fight so many health battles. Please help spread the word and this link and any little bit helps. sharing it to others or even $5.00 donation a person can go a long way.

Please keep Eric and his family in your prayers.

update Jan 16 2026. Dad has a restless/thrashing night. He has been given a Iv nutrients, iv fluids, iv blood thinner. They want to get him relaxed to have another CT scan. They have sedated him so that he can rest a bit but remind us that he can not always get sedatives so they can monitor him. Helios elbows are raw from thrashing

update jan17. Dad was sleeping restrained when we arrived. We watched him sleep then went for lunch so he could rest when we returned Eric was thrashing around his bed. Eric has cuts, his skin is covered in bruises. He was restrained RK the bed kicking his feet, pulling on restraint. Dad knew me and was yelling my name when I was t beside him. Puckered his lips and kissed

Mom. He is still not ok but was a little less today. Tomorrow is another day. One day at a time.

Jan 19

We have been told that where dad is right now could be his new normal. There are small positives but much more negative. Dad may never go home. He is sleeping very little and thrashing and trying to pull out all his wires. He speaks gibberish and asking for help to get him unrestrained but he can’t walk or be out the bed. We are getting very little from drs as to what our plans look like or what is the calls we need to be making. Can not live in a hotel but no ones is saying anything. Here’s hoping for tomorrow.

update Jan 20

Today so far has been the most draining day.

That said we have a bit more news.

Dietician said he is getting 1300 mg of calories in an iv everyday. That being said I do not believe the nurses are trying to feed him the puréed meals he is getting everyday.

OT and PT today and she was so great. They will be sitting with dad for a bit everyday. Work on getting him up and am not pulling on his lines. Spend time and chat with him.

Dr Pickett came to see mom today and she explained. That the cranium fluid pressure and the fistula together was a lot of pressure. Somehow the the fistula opened back up and started draining back down the main artery that stopped years ago and he shouldn’t have been here today and here we are. Eric is a miracle.

The stroke on the right side has affected the right side functions but dr Pickett said with therapy she believes he can get better. She believes when dad brain and body has a chance heal the neuro plasticity of the brain will allow his to work his brain again.

They are doing a lumbar puncture in his spine today to check all the pressures so they can see if his cranial fluid and fistula are causing more pressure. After this dr Pickett will decide if he needs the permeant shunt for the cranial fluid into the stomach. Dr Pickett is asking a colleagues to perform the shunt through His spine into his belly - not through his head. She thinks with all the veins and wiring of dad’s brain she wants to stay away from doing that surgery for shunt.

This healing process could take 3 to 6 months. Or it could take a year to 2 years. Most of his rehab will be in the city as they have the best rehab. It is hopeful news.

update Jan 21

phone call in am stated that Eric had a bloody nose they were trying to stop. Nose continued to bleed and they called up ENT who found a clot bigger than a fist in his upper canal running into his lungs. This could have taken our dad away. They stopped the bleeding by placing. Tube with ballon in his nose. 5 mins later it was bleeding again. His feeding line and IV were ripped out in his thrashing. They were able to get it to clot but monitoring closely. Feels like everyday we have to watch him fight something else and he has to fight one more thing on a body that is not healed or rested. It is heart breaking to watch. Tonight another restless night for him thrashing and moving around.

Jan 22 update.

Eric has a bloody nose at 5 am and they couldn’t get it to stop. The wonderful nurse said something is not right. She called the ENT and they came down. They couldn’t see where the blessing was from. But as they went further they discovered a clot as big as a fist heading to his lungs. That would have taken away from us. They put a tube down past his plug from the cranial drainage and blew a ballon us. He now has a huge clot out his nose. He had to have a gtube in other nostril for his seizure meds. He did have two because he didn’t have his medications due to not having them as veins were popping. They removed the heparin for the bleeding in the nose because of that he created 2 big clots in the veins of his fistula that were there to help his blood flow through. So basically they are is nothing we can do as of right now. We need a miracle. He has been definitely f everyday.

Jan 23 dad was in a restless mood but was surrounded by family. He was in a good mood we spoke with dr who says we are just going to leave dad for right now as anything else they didn’t this point could prove fatal. Right now we plan to just see how dad does in the next bit. We won’t over dad’s wishes and went back to love him and help him rest. Dad began to be agitated by us not being able to cut him out of his restraints and wires.

Jan 25 

We are still waiting and praying dad gets rest, heals and pulls through. No more surgeries can be done everything is to risky so we wait. Dad’s mom and dad came to see him yesterday and he heard them and said he loved them. Before falling back to sleep. He did sleep a lot of yesterday but then he was restless most of the night. He is in there. He knows we are here. This is going to be a long road no matter what. We do not know the damage that the stroke has caused as the delirium is still there as well. Please pray and please spread this as it is going to be very costly for a long time. 

Update. Dad is still fighting. He is still strapped by all 4 limbs, the last few days there has been more gibberish. He has asked for Jeff the last two days. Wants him to get his coat. Jeff let’s go home get my coat. The nurse came in to cleans him and he yelled for @Jeff Schneider help me. Today they deflated the ballon on his line in the nose. They left the line incase. If it bleeds again they will inflate the ballon again and check in with dr chin to see him and what to do next. They still have no idea where it’s coming from. They are only doing CT scans when needed as the die makes dads kidney function low due to the one kidney. Dr Pickett was in today and saw he was a bit more gibberish. Dad thrashed a lot today and after the ballon deflate he seem to be more agitated and was begging for us to help him. His breathing increased, moving back and forth in bed. He was not comfortable at all. Dad is still just left to fight everything on his own because nothing is safe for him. He is not really as coherent as he once was for a few days. 

So yesterday they came in and deflating the ballon in dad’s nose to see if it is stoped bleeding on its own. Not even a an hour later dad became more agitated and moving close to me asking for help. His breathing became harder. We left and they had to blow the ballon back up and drain clots out of dad’s throat. The ENT (ear nose and throat) came down and dad through up 3 times in the night. Dad has been sleeping a few hours and restless and thrashing all the rest of the time. His words are only his name right now. Neurologist is suppose to call us tomorrow as dad is to be scheduled to early next week have the shunt placed in and the ENT to stop the bleeding. This will be the test if he can fight through and get better from this long roads that could take years. Keep praying for our family. Dad has been through so much everyday and it kills us to see him this way. Mom has been here 19 days by his side. The not knowing what will happen next is hard on her and us. 

Dad has been thrashing around more and one day he knew nobody and couldn’t speak at all. He I violent on days but we feel it is pressure building up. He is supposed to go for surgery this evening after hours to stop the bleeding in the artery inside his nose. He will be out to sleep but will not be taking off his blood thinners. We saw dad yesterday and he didn’t ask for some people was a little more aware of us. He was thrashing more then usually even on a sedative and Ativan. We need all the prayers we can get. 

Jan 30 

Dad came out of the surgery yesterday night and family sat with him talking to him. They felt his procedure went well and they were able to stop that bleed and fixed another place while up there. Dad was supposed to go for a CT scan but would not let them complete it. He will going later today. Dad knew us today. He said he is loved, he loves his family. He is still restrained but all four limbs. He has lost a lot of weight. Dad has been restrained to that bed 22 days. He is still speaking gibberish and still no sight for 10 days. Please keep him in your prayers. 

January 31

dad had his CT but we still no info on what they found. We can home for a day to get some errands done. Calling with nurses he is the same sleeping in naps and moving around, mumbling and trying to get free. Please keep praying for healing and just a break from everyday poking, scanning, IV’s, feeding tubes, clots and so much more.

we are so grateful for the love everyone is showing us and like dad has said “I am loved”

Feb 1 

They called today to verify dad’s surgery. What the risks would be and the two options of shunt he could have. He can have a programable valve that hey adjust pressure with a magnet or in programable way and that would be a valve that they set for pressure and he would not be able to have it adjusted if needed. We have asked to ask dr Pickett. We saw him today and he was restless but not many words. Lot of gibberish. No sight stilll. We don’t have a time yet but hopefully tomorrow. He has lots of Ativan and all the other stuff and he hardly slepted all day. He will get his sleeping pill and Ativan tonight so hope it works. They will take him off his thinners and because of that he has doubled his chances of clots (which he has already had) so prayers are strong right now.

February 3

Dad went into the shunt surgery and it was successful. He took a long time to come out of the sedation. When he did come to his room he was thrashing around the bed so hard. We are told he will never see again. They were able to get a pic line in and that is awesome. We told him we loved him and left so they could try and get him to rest. 

Feb 4 

We went in this morning and saw dad. He was thrashing in the first times we saw him and when we advocated that he has a headache they gave him something for it. We saw him more relaxed and was just trying to get comfortable. He was looking better. We did hear a few sounds that sounded like he was trying to talk. This is other than the constant yelling out. 

Feb 5 

We went in to see dad tonight. He was very restless and thrashing tonight. His oxygen was going up and down while we visited him. He is coughing tonight. This morning they got stuff suctioned out but have not even done that again. He was clammy and coming out of the restraints. Mom asked about the x ray of his chest they mentioned and was told we will watch him. Guess this is scary for us as the last time dad was this trashy and congested he had that clot. As always they just give him Ativan. Hour later he is still thrashing all over. Dad has very raw sores all over him and on his butt. Mom is having a hard time as she just feels like dad can’t catch a break.

FEB 6 

Update Went to see Dad this morning and he was with his nurse and she had him out of his restrains and he was restless. But we visited for about 3 hours and he was able to stay out of them while we were there. Mom tried to fight the move of him from IMCU and into INCU. They explained they needed the room that dad was in for other patients who can’t, talk. Move around and such. Dad is still not talking. Barely opens his eyes (his left one for sure) this unit is one that dads nurse said she hates as they have more patients and can’t help them all. The same unit he almost landed on the floor while I was with him. Holding him up and yelling for help.

Feb 7 

Update. Dad was sleeping when we got there. There was a sleep aid in there. They have someone watching dad from 8 am to 8Pm. Then 8PM to 8am. He woke up soon after we got there and aid left. Dad was good over night and had no meds last night. He had no meds other than thinners and needed. No sedatives and such. We were with him hours and her was fully unrestrained. We talked about family. Why he was there, things he has had done. Why he is restrained. He did move around a lot but was not thrashing. When we left the aid was going back in. We asked the nurse if he could stay unrestrained with her as he has been good. Nurse said no reason she can’t. Mom is feeling a lot better as he is getting the care he deserves. He is still not talking. He did open both eyes at time but he is still blind. 

February 8 

Today when we arrived dad was awake and sitter was in her break. He was moving around a lot and had restraints on because he was alone. They removed his restraints and we noticed he was very agitated. His face was bright red and he was banging his head. Nurse gave him Tylenol and that didn’t seem to help. He became more agitated so we requested the other med they give him to help. We noticed dad was wet and soaked through. They changed him and his bedding all up and he remained agitated and at this time we thought he may need something to calm him down. He was given Ativan and that knocked him out for 5 minutes until he woke up more agitated. We requested the sitter back and left.

Feb 9

Went to see dad and he was sedated and sleeping. He was couching and continued to cough more. They came in and suctioned him and checked his vitals. His Oxygen fell very low and they placed oxygen tubes in dad’s nose. Nurse could still not get a stable oxygen read so he tried to wake dad up. He would not awake for him at all. Me and Brett called dad to wake and that would bring his stats back up and then would drop again. It took us a bit and making the oxygen higher for him to level out. Lung specialists came in and did more suction. They got alot of white mucus. They are doing a chest X-ray. They will be suctioning dad out 2 times a day and then more if needed. Lung dr said there is something in dad’s left lung. They are trying to have a sitter with him all day and night as dad can be unrestrained when they are there. Plus he is a lot of work right now. We are now back in the valley.

Feb 10 

Update OPT and OCT had dad up on the side of the bed. They say chest X-rays were clean but will keep an eye and suction when they need. The were measuring him and getting him in a wheel chair. He is still restless.

Feb 11 

OPT is working with Dad and will be taking in music to play for him. There was not a sitter with dad last night. We were told last night that dad was approved for a 24 hour sitter. This is just set backs for dad when there is no sitter as he has to be restrained again. He had a restless night but has been sleeping since 830 am.

Feb12

Tanya asked me to update the group, Eric has aspiration phenomena. Because of that he had to be removed from his feeding tube- he has been without food for 24 hours. His BP/oxygen decreased and his heart rate is high. He is back in IMCU where he originally was. He had a CT scan this morning and the results came back in conclusive. He has no movement, no response, no sound. They think he had a seizure last night. They are going to do a pressure scan tomorrow because they think either the pressure has built back up and/or the blood circulation is not working. The doctors asked the family if his vitals drop and it came to a discission what their wishes would be comfort measures or hooked up to breathing tubes and let the machine do it for him. The Theresa decided to put the tube in to give the family time to decide if that was to happen.

Feb 13

Just called They say dad is still critical Covid and aspiration anomia positive He is receiving antiviral med for Covid and antibiotics for the anomia OT came in and got him up on his chair. They use the mechanical equipment to get him in. Left him in the chair for a few hours They did not do his eeg maybe tomorrow. No news if they Will try the ct pressure again He is only getting half feed right now started today. He is still thrashing and restless. He can have visitors but must wash hands and gown up and mask. No moving mask off at all. He still has no vocabulary. He did open his eyes today but only slightly. I am happy as he is fighting But we get so scared for the bad news to see an increasing drop. Dad and god are in charge now.

Feb 15

Dad was a little restless today. We had to gown up,mask up with the plastic eye covers and gloves. (Funny thing mom put it on upside down the plastic peice over her neck..) he needs oxygen when he sleep and is to restless. He is still not talking but he is not yelling. Today he made low sounds like he was trying to talk. Told him I loved him and he made a few low noises and placed his head in my hands. He knew we were all there. He did not open his eyes. Still getting antibiotics for the anomia, meds for the Covid, only half food input. Mom read him a valentine card she bought him and he was places his mitts like he was hugging and made some low sounds. It feels good to see him a bit calmer but we always feel like next some bad news. They have removed the gauze and tape from his incisions on the front and back from the shunt and they were a bit red. The nurse said that the dr has come up and looked at them and the dr felt it was ok as long as it wasn’t ozzing

Feb 21 

Dad is still fighting off the Covid and ammonia. He has been sitting in his chair 1 to 2 hours a day. His core strength is weak and he leans to the side. He is also still restless in the chair. When family are not there he sits in his room alone. Dad has more bleeding blood bed sores on his body since moving to the other wing. We still have no answers as to why he can not talk as he was talking after stroke and many other procedures. Asking for EEG and CT or anything can answer questions as to why he is going down hill and not getting better. We questioned why and if he is ever out of his gloves so he can have his hands free and work on the motor and strength. On his birthday we did remove one glove and the smell, soaked inside was gross. He also keeps his hands in fist in them so he never gets to straighten them. They do not have time is the response. They also increased the amount of liquid that is being drained off his brain through the shunt but not until last night he received the CT to see the pressure still there. That being said we still have no idea what they found.