Support for Brian Ridling & Family

This is my brother, Brian Ridling. He’s a father, brother, son and husband. He loves his family and he loves his job, which often involves working atop the tallest buildings in Dallas / Fort Worth. He’s brave. He’s loving (like a teddy bear). He’s fierce. He’ll do anything for his family and friends, but now he needs our help. At the beginning of February, he began having dizzy spells along with some vision problems. What he’d later find out, he was also having seizures in his sleep. He went to the doctor who ordered an MRI. What they found on February 27 was an astonishingly large tumor on his brain… almost the size of a softball. Surgery was scheduled for late March then, COVID-19 hit. Due to him being diabetic and the virus attacking diabetics particularly hard, his neurologist / neurosurgeon decided to wait. If he were to contract COVID-19 in his condition it would most likely kill him. So, we waited… and waited… and waited some more. Finally, in May, surgery was rescheduled, then, two days before surgery he received a call that it was being delayed again due to the neurosurgeon being stuck in Brazil, where he lives.  Amy went to work trying to get him in anywhere she could. You see, between early March and May his symptoms began to worsen. At this point, his vision had deteriorated, constant headaches set in, his speech was getting worse because his brain wasn’t processing correctly, he couldn’t remember things, and he was having trouble walking. He knew what he wanted to say, but literally couldn’t find the words to say it. Amy was able to get him in at UT Southwestern a couple days later. They were so concerned, he wasn’t allowed to go home to his sons. The new neurosurgeon went to work coming up with a plan of attack. On Friday, May 22 he underwent a 12 hours surgery in which she meticulously carved the tumor off his brain. A tumor which had consumed his optical nerves and was pressing on his brain stem, along with everything else a nearly softball sized tumor could touch. In the end, the tumor was determined to be non-cancerous and the surgeon was able to get 98% of it out.  Since all this began, he has been out of work for 13 weeks and with his recovery and rehabilitation (which is going well), he’s expected to be out of work another 3 months.  He doesn’t qualify for unemployment or disability at this point, so the person who has helped so many over the years now needs our help. $10, $20, $25, $100. No amount is too small and everything will help Amy pay the bills, keep a roof over their head, cover the cost of gas to get to and from rehab and provide overall relief allowing them to focus 100% on Brian’s recovery.  Thank you from the bottom of all our hearts for supporting his recovery, the continued prayers and messages of hope through this battle.