What a Difference a Day Makes!

This is probably one of the most difficult posts to have to write about in all our journeys we've encountered the last couple of years.

Our friends from Montana, Gary and Patsy, who we stayed with at their home near Missoula last august, drove into Casa Grande so we could be near each other for a few weeks and reconnect. They were staying at the Western Horizons Park, Desert Shadows. We got together a couple of days ago (on Friday) and brought them to our RV Park in the evening for the Christmas Dinner here. We visited for a while afterwords and they headed home.

On Saturday, We went out to lunch at a Mexican Restaurant in town and then back to their coach to watch the Montana Grizzleys play a football game. They got interested in the football team this fall when Gary had a shunt put in his head to help the fluid drain from his brain. He was laid up for a while, so football kept him occupied. He recently got the go ahead from the doctor to be able to travel in the motorhome, so they headed out. While at their coach, Peg got a call from work that they needed her to come in, so she left, went to our motorhome to change, and came back. Gary, Patsy and I had a nice visit while the game was on. I stayed into the evening for a while.

We did not see them on Sunday since Peg had to work and I had some work to do for clients as well.

Monday night we got a call from Patsy explaining that Gary was admitted to St. Josephs Hospital in Phoenix and was having brain surgery! What!! She said they had gone to the hospital to see if they could get his shunt adjusted since he was having headaches. The hospital wanted them to call for an appointment and Patsy knew he needed help, so she suggested they walk around the corner to the emergency room. Gary was immediately admitted because it was their policy if a person with a shunt was having headaches, they go to the top of the list!

The doctor at the ER adjusted the shunt electronically and then sent him to have a CT scan. They discovered that the opposite side of his head had pooling blood in the brain. A tube was inserted to try and drain the blood, but it kept clogging up and the doctor decided to open him up and see what was going on and to try to stop the bleeding. That operation took place late at night. Another CT scan was done at 5am the next morning and there was more bleeding so another operation was scheduled for 7:30am. Two surgeries in about 12 hours!!

This time, they did stop the bleeding, but Gary was not responding well to stimuli. We knew this was going to be a long process now.

Since this unexpected trail of events, we have been up to the hospital in Phoenix a few times and each day, and each time, he seems better. He is still having a difficult time waking up, moving his limbs and breathing, but we have faith that he WILL get better. All his family flew into Phoenix, we got the motorhome moved closer to the hospital so everyone has a place to stay, and prayers are being said 24 hours a day.

I hope to look back on this blog entry one day and remember what I felt when I wrote this as the uncertainly of Gary's health loomed over me. I also hope I am sitting with a healthy, happy guy named Gary as we look back in amazement at those days when things were touch and go, but everything turned around and he got back to better than normal. Gary, Patsy and their family are like family to Peg and I. Family needs to look out for family.....What more can I say!