amazing

in going over my e-mails, i came across an update that i routinely get on a teacher at lake view. he has cancer and has been struggling for about a year, i think. it could be longer. he's had tons of surgeries, thought the cancer was gone, they did more tests and it's back. he is very young, probably mid-30's and has small children. he is known as "happy".

the post before this stated that he was in his 11th hour of surgery. they had removed part of his stomach and his entire esophagus. this is the post following his surgery. (these are all written by his wife.)

Good morning to all......Last night I got to stay with Brandon while he was in ICU. He was on a ventilator and completely sedated. By 7:30 this morning he started waking up a little confused and scared. I talked with him to let him know that things went well and he was doing well. By 10:00 a.m. this morning the breathing tube was out and he wanted to watch ESPN (That is the Brandon we all know and love!!!) HE IS DOING WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! His vitals are stable and is pain is being controlled with an epidural. I can attest to the fact that those things work HA. He has 4 major incisions. One is from the belly button to his chest. That is where they did the resections. One is on his sternum. They had to remove a little bit of his sternum to get to the esophageal connections. One is across his neck where they reconnected everything. He actually has some intestines exposed on the outside of his neck; which is quite interesting. This allows doctors to make sure that the new connections are getting adequate blood flow. The last incision is on his foot where they did a vein graft. He has a feeding tube, 2 drains, a chest tube and a tube in his nose that is controlling all of the bile in his bowels. They gave him 5 units of blood as well just because of the extent of the surgery. I know this seems like a lot, but I wish you all could see him. He has shaken all of the doctors hands and his ready to be on the road to recovery. He is amazing me every minute right now!! Thank you all for all of the encouraging words. I can't explain how much strength it gives me right now. I know that it will do the same with Brandon. I was hoping to take the laptop into ICU and read all of these but I have to wait until he gets his own room. We love all of you!!!! Jenny

this woman and this family amazes me. they have been struggling for such a long time and have an unwavering faith! she doesn't complain about how sad it is to see her husband lying there in this condition or whine because this seems like a never-ending battle. she focuses on the positive. "HE IS DOING WONDERFUL!" she says.

amazing.