Bryan’s Final Farewell~ Helping Kathy and Family

Bryan's medical challenge - The Comeback is Greater than the Setback~

On November 15th, Bryan went in to have an AAA (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm) repair. Once he was in surgery, my mother-in-law Kathy got a call from the surgery team; they ran into some complications. They found two iliac artery aneurysms and a vein that was in the way of the aortic aneurysm, so that would also have to be dissected and repaired too. Surgeons seem to think that the surgery went well. At that point, it became a waiting game.

On November 17th, Kathy got a call from the hospital at 5 am. They needed her to approve them starting dialysis for Bryan as the fluids started backing up into his body. His kidneys were not working, and Bryan was struggling to breathe as he had a partially collapsed lung as well. His body began to swell like a balloon. Though the medical team started dialysis as soon as they could, the machine was not pulling fluid off of his body fast enough. The medical team was worried about him having so much pressure building up inside that the repairs they had just done were in jeopardy. The medical team ultimately decided it was best to bring Bryan back into another surgery to help remove some more of the pressure. Bryan came out of that surgery okay, but they had to leave him open to not risk blowing out the aneurysm repairs and to also help him be able to breathe.

November 18th-20th, Bryan's kidneys are still not functioning; he is still on dialysis and the ventilator. The doctors have said they will need to take him back to have multiple surgeries so there isn't too much pressure on his abdomen and lungs from post-surgical swelling.

On November 23rd, they finally took Bryan back for another surgery in the early morning of the day. They worked on closing his incision a little more. He is still open, but they plan to slowly close him over the next couple of weeks. It is still a waiting game.

Though our family has stayed positive through this entire process, it has been difficult. We didn't think we would need the help, but unfortunately, we do. Please help us rally and support Kathy during this time with medical bills, household bills, gas, food, and any other thing they will struggle with during this time. Bryan is unable to work to bring home an income right now. We didn't think he would have encountered so many complications with this. It will take months for Bryan to recover, and we are still not out of the woods yet.