Thank you

Dear family and friends,

What a year this has been! So MANY trials, but also many wonderful, unforgettable moments! Our family would like to send a huge thank you for standing so close to us during Bryan's journey which began on April 19th. We had been given such a grave report from the doctors about the burst aneurysm in his brain as well as being told of the second aneurysm that needed to be dealt with. We did not give up hope, but relied heavily on the prayers of our family and friends, and even strangers, we found out! We felt God's comfort and saw miracles and answers to our prayers every step of the way. We have, undeniably, experienced the power of prayer and to that, we give thanks to God.

We would also like to thank those who have supported us other ways...many gestures of kindness with regards to keeping our home and business looked after, weeks of round-the-clock childcare, meals, baked goods, groceries, thoughtful gifts for our children, monetary gifts/gift cards, emails, and comments that were so encouraging on the blog. (bzjourney.blogspot.com). We are humbled, to be part of such a family in Christ.

Along with the surgeons, we are hopeful that Bryan will be able to begin to work again in April. Although we still look forward to our life being "back to normal", we are thankful to have Bryan with us. He can continue to be a husband, father, son, brother, nephew, and friend, with his wit still intact. There are still a few challenges for Bryan, but he is here and well on his way, to what we hope will be a full recovery!!

Please accept this letter as a huge thank you from us. Wishing you a blessed Christmas. We also pray for health and peace in the upcoming year.

Love,

Bryan, Michelle, Breanna, Zachary, Cassandra and Samantha

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME....

First, my apologies with the delay in updating the blog. Daily life has taken over again, which is definitely a good thing and we are thankful for this!

We would like to thank Karen and Mike (Bryan's sister and brother-in-law) for setting up this blog and providing all the updates and prayer concerns . This blog was a wonderful way to get the word out quick. It was also great encouragement for us to read the comments. We thank you for all those prayers and comments!

Our life is beginning to become somewhat "normal" again. Although Bryan is still home recovering, we are thankful for how far he has come already. According to the doctors, and we have known this ourselves, it is a miracle that Bryan is here with us!

Bryan still gets tired quite easily. In part, this is due to the injury on his brain. Anything that takes concentration is exhausting, because he has to work doubly hard at it. Also, he was not allowed to do anything physical for a long time, so now his body has to work up to where he was before this all began in April.

Most people think, when they see Bryan, that he is totally back to "normal".... but not quite. There are still some challenges for him. He can concentrate, but it is exhausting for him. His physical strength is not quite there, which he is now allowed to work on. His memory is not as sharp. He used to pride himself remembering and knowing peoples names, but has difficulties with that quite often. Most people wouldn't know, because he can be creative in the situation. Often if he remembers a first name, he can't remember the last name etc.. (Now I've given away his secret!) A lot of noise or chaos is sometimes challenging for him. It seems to be hard for him to tune that out. With four small children, this is a challenge!!

An exciting thing for Bryan was that he was given the okay to drive again. This has been great for Bryan. It gives him some freedom to get out and do his own thing! (I must say....it gives me some freedom too!)

Our children are doing great. There are still some bad dreams occasionally, or difficulty when Bryan leaves the house. Overall, we are enjoying spending our time together....(when they are calm and quiet....).

We thank God for the miracle he performed on Bryan. We are thankful to all who prayed for Bryan. We have indeed experienced the power of prayer.

We are not sure how many people still look at this blog, but I will have another post next week. :-)

Appointment with Surgeon

This past week Bryan had the appointment with his surgeon that was rescheduled from two weeks ago. He saw the surgeon that performed the surgery on both aneurysms. He was pleased to see how much progress Bryan has made.

He’s been given the okay to start some physical rehab now.

He is not able to go back to work this year. He will be monitored, but the plan is to perhaps start again next April. That will give his body almost a year for healing.

He is still not able to drive, but that will be reassessed in October or November of this year.

He still needs to work on some cognitive issues.

Bryan was pleased to find out that instead of having an MRI every three months for monitoring, they will only need to be done every six months.

So overall it was a good appointment and Bryan and Michelle were able to get some concrete answers to some of the questions they had.

Three Weeks Later . . .

Three more weeks have gone by and it’s time for another update. Bryan continues to do well and is able to do a little bit more all the time. He was able to attend church for the first time last week – a blessing for him and his family . . . as well as the whole church family. Overall it went well but he was surprised that he was not able to sing due to being short of breath . . . probably due to the excitement and physical shape he is in right now. Bryan has also been able to attend a few more events over the past couple of weeks.

Last week Bryan was scheduled to his surgeon for a follow-up visit. He was looking forward to this as he had a lot of questions for him and was interested in his progress from a surgical/medical point of view. Unfortunately his appointment was cancelled due to emergency surgery that needed to be performed by his surgeon. Of course Bryan and Michelle understood this (as this same thing probably happened to others when Bryan had his first surgery) but they were disappointed nonetheless. So now the appointment with the surgeon will happen at the end of this month.

The good thing is that they were able to speak with the nurse practitioner that was involved in Bryan’s care during his hospital stay. They’ve gotten to know this lady quite well and so it was good to talk to her on the phone. She was able to answer some of the questions they had so that helped a bit.

This past weekend, we were able to kidnap Michelle and their oldest daughter, Breanna, for a girl’s weekend away. Okay, that’s not exactly what happened. It was an extremely thought out and well planned weekend. It was the first time Michelle had been away from Bryan for an extended period of time for the last three months so it wasn’t easy for her to leave. But once we were gone, she relaxed and enjoyed herself and we all had a really good time. Oh, and I should mention, this only happened because of the support and assistance from some great neighbours – thanks J & N!!! It gave Michelle peace of mind knowing her hubby and kids were in great hands.

The main prayer request is for alleviation of Bryan’s continued headaches. He still has a few slight cognitive issues – this is to be expected but still something we can pray about. The chaos and noise of four little ones at home is still sometimes a little bit challenging for Bryan too.

The love and support of family and friends continues to surround Bryan and Michelle and the kids. They are so thankful for everything people continue to do for them – the prayers, emails, encouragement, and meals. (Michelle continues to appreciate a few meals here and there – if anyone still wants to help out in this area for the month of August, please send me an email at mk (at) carmtechsolutions.com)

Another update

Not too much has changed over the past week.

Bryan is still experiencing a constant dull headache . . . sometimes worse than others. He is still able to take the Tylenol #3's when needed during the day and of course his regular dose at bedtime.

Things are in an adjustment period with all the kids being home from school now. It makes life interesting and sometimes loud around the house. It can be a challenge for Bryan to come up with ways to cope and still be able to stay home.

He's going for walks when possible (usually in the evening). The whole family – the six of them – have even gone all together in the evening when things have cooled down a bit.

He’s keeping busy with watching a lot of soccer "Hup Holland Hup!" Sometimes he feels the need to just get out and will go along for the drive when someone needs to do an errand.

Bryan looks forward to when he is able to start doing more. He is still very limited on what he can do and how much . . . and for how long. He is learning a lesson on patience.

Bryan has another scheduled appointment with his surgeons in the middle of July. He is looking forward to meeting with them to get some answers as to where he goes from here.

Your support, encouragement and prayers continue to be a blessing to Bryan and his family.

30? 35? 40?

Happy Birthday Bryan!

May God bless you with many, many more happy and healthy years.

Update

It’s been a while since the blog has been updated . . . so here it is for those of you that are wondering how Bryan is doing.

Bryan had his stitches out on Monday. He wasn’t looking forward to it but it went well and it’s nice to have that out of the way.

He still has a constant headache that is controlled with medication. He continues to take Tylenol #3 at nighttime. And speaking of nighttime, he’s been sleeping in a reclining chair (thank you to Mr. and Mrs. D for letting Bryan borrow it at this time) and that has really helped. If he sleeps at a 30 degree angle, his headache isn’t as bad in the morning when he wakes up. Michelle sleeps on the couch beside him which seems to work well. It’s better than her feeling like she has to lie perfectly still when they sleep together in their own bed. So for now, everyone is sleeping quite well. Bryan also takes a nap during the day when he is able to.

Bryan’s jaw is still quite sore from both surgeries. This makes eating a little challenging and he still can’t eat things he did prior to surgery – both due to pain and the fact that he can’t open his mouth fully.

Walking has become part of Bryan’s daily routine again and it gets a little longer every day. He still takes it at a slow pace but being up and about is really good.

Overall Bryan is doing really well. Life is starting to get back to normal in some ways. The kids are starting to notice that there aren’t as many people coming and going as much anymore. They’re able to spend a lot more time together with just the six of them and it’s good to be home as a family again.

As mentioned in a previous post, sitting around not doing much is not easy for Bryan. Thank goodness for World Cup Soccer! When he gets really bored and restless, he’ll go on little outings – even just to the grocery store – with Mom or Michelle. He still seems to get overwhelmed with too much going on and needs to continue taking it easy.

Looking back over the past few months, we are so thankful to God for how far Bryan has come. We continue to see signs of improvement everyday and we know that God continues to hold Bryan in the palm of His hand.

Please carry on with your prayers for Bryan’s complete healing. We are so thankful for everyone who continues to email and post comments and most of all prays for Bryan and his family. It means so much and Bryan and Michelle are blessed through your encouragement.