Morning,

Not much going on here, just work.

Hey did anybody hear how Angry's brother's surgery went?

Still hoping for the best. I have visions of Angry's brother waking up form the surgery and telling the doc to eat his ass.

I have a 16 year old baby brother. For the last few months, he's been a little off. Grades failing, barely able to handle swim practice, spacey. Just not typical stuff for him.

He got really sick last weekend and it ended up with a CT scan. They found a fairly large brain tumor. This was monday. Yesterday was the scariest day of my life, he was in surgery for 9 hours and they removed a tumor the size of a key lime. They called it an astrocyte. They were unable to remove the entire thing.

Today he's swollen, head covered in gauze. My baby brother looks like he's hurting. He can't move his right side yet and he's still unable to talk. They had to do a lot of pushing and pulling in his head that probably caused this. When the swelling goes down, they hope he'll come back.

We're watching him almost constantly now. He is improving. Still waiting on the biopsy results. Still waiting for him to heal up.

This is without question the hardest and scariest thing I've ever experienced. I know a few of you have met the mini angry. I consider a lot of you my friends. I just wanted to let you all know whats going on.

I'll post some updates occasionally.

I need not to be a close friend of yours to feel sympathy and to give the best of wishes to you and your family. I wish him the best and the same to your family.

Thanks guys, your support means a lot.


I hope he improves as much tomorrow as he did today. I still don't know anything about the biopsy. It's still one day at a time. Right now I'm focusing on a kid who was tough enough to go to school and do 2 a day swim practices with a tumor in his head. His last race was a week ago. Anyone tough enough to do that can beat this. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

The memory is there. He's just really hurting.

Even if it was a stroke the doctors say that this young in life he'd probably still be able to recover.

It's amazing. My mom works and has worked at all the different clinics and hospitals in town. She knows every nurse and every doctor.

They are all in. My brother is the VIP. The brain surgeon lives in Wyoming because he likes it here, apparently he's so good he can live wherever he wants and people will travel to him. Everyone keeps saying that he's one of the top 5 in the country. I don't know who's ranking them but this guy is good, and we didn't have to travel.

Right now I'm focusing on a kid who was tough enough to go to school and do 2 a day swim practices with a tumor in his head. His last race was a week ago. Anyone tough enough to do that can beat this.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Thanks guys, your support means a lot.

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

Thanks guys, your support means a lot.

We were talking about the trip to Indian Creek we had. Paul and I needed something to eat and felt a little lazy. Fortunately for us, we had a 15 year to put to work. We got the kid to run down from the Fin wall to the parking lot and grab us some food. Not only did he come up with a pumpkin pie but he even brought the cool whip. That's how he rolls. Still can't talk but he smiled when I told him about that.

I asked him if he remembered playing with my huge cams in Vedauwoo this spring. He did. I thought he was going to bust out laughing when I asked if he remembered when I got my head stuck in Lucille.

The memory is there. He's just really hurting. Immediately after the surgery we were told that he could talk and use his right side. It was at night that he lost that. That means it wasn't damaged in the surgery but he lost this due to the swelling. Not surprising, you should see the bag of CSF that's collecting. When the swelling goes down it should all return. Even if it was a stroke the doctors say that this young in life he'd probably still be able to recover.

It's amazing. My mom works and has worked at all the different clinics and hospitals in town. She knows every nurse and every doctor. They are all in. My brother is the VIP. The brain surgeon lives in Wyoming because he likes it here, apparently he's so good he can live wherever he wants and people will travel to him. Everyone keeps saying that he's one of the top 5 in the country. I don't know who's ranking them but this guy is good, and we didn't have to travel.

While I'm home I'm sleeping in my brothers bedroom, my old bedroom. It really brings back a lot. His dog, I've posted m34tb0mz of her climbing trees, misses him but cuddles with me at night. I got to see my sister for the first time in over a year and her son. Except for the circumstances, this is a nice trip home. Very low key, no rush, I'm not going home until I have my brother back. I'm just spending time here.

I hope he improves as much tomorrow as he did today. I still don't know anything about the biopsy. It's still one day at a time. Right now I'm focusing on a kid who was tough enough to go to school and do 2 a day swim practices with a tumor in his head. His last race was a week ago. Anyone tough enough to do that can beat this. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

I told him they'd tie it down if he got too wild
with it, he totally understood and calmed down.

C...

Imagine taking a jack and separating the two lobes of the brain to get deep at something down there between them. That's exactly what they did. So while it didn't cause any damage to the brain, it really screwed up the two lobes' ability to talk to each other. That is what is coming back.

The tumor was primarily pituitart but was very large. I have a close friend with a pituitary tumor that is small and they aren't even looking at operating. So they aren't all created the same.

Imagine taking a jack and separating the two lobes of the brain to get deep at something down there between them. That's exactly what they did. So while it didn't cause any damage to the brain, it really screwed up the two lobes' ability to talk to each other. That is what is coming back.

Another aside, his body weight has dropped from 133 to 120 in the last month. He's visibly much skinnier. If anyone needs to lose weight, lay in a bed for a month.

I'm sure a 16 year would love to hear that his older brother is posting on the internet about him using the bathroom on his own.

awesome! good to hear that hes getting to the "accelerated gains" phase.

congratulations to him for breaking out of the ICU! he sounds like such a champ.

i will continue to send happy thoughts y'all's way! it is good to hear updates!

How's your brother doing? Hope he is still making strides toward recovery! Sending good vibes your way.

Hey, thanks for asking. I've been pretty busy lately and haven't given an update for a while.

I left off with him getting the shunt and out of the ICU. A lot has happened in that time.

First, they moved him to the rehab hospital across town. It was good because it was busier but it was basically an old folks home. He was literally one of two people there that wasn't on a respirator. It's not cool to be a 16 year old boy trying to recover while surrounded by dying people.

Last week my parents got permission to have him transferred to a hospital in Denver. It's Craig Hospital and all they do is brain and spinal injury. Apparently people come from all over the country to recover here, so it's a good place. What I really like about it is that I'm about a 1/2 hr away and it's practically on my way to work, so I can see him all the time.

As to how he's doing. He can get up and walk on his own, go to the bathroom, eat, stuff like that. He is required to be in a wheelchair unless totally supervised but it's a start. He's able to say some things, still pretty short sentences and mostly as responses to questions but it's a lot more.

Today is his birthday. He's 17 now. I'd really hoped he'd have it at home but this is more like a 6 month to year recovery, nothing quick.

Lots of good things, lots of progress, still a long way to go but we're heading in the right direction.

Any progress in your bro's recovery, angry?

he was the fastest kid in his class up the hardest route. 6 months in the hospital, a brain tumor, and a stroke but he's still my brother.

I'm in a coffee shop in Moab right now, Saturday is always a good time to take a rest day when you don't work.

Well, I just got off the phone with him moments ago. He's doing well. Sometimes it takes a little prompting to get him to say something, it's not from lack of something to say but more about trouble putting words to it. I called him to tell him that I sent (fuck I crushed) Broken Brain with a "Northern Colorado Rehab Hospital" shirt on, I thought he'd find that funny. Hopefully in a few years he'll do the same.

He's in school this semester, he's lost his Ipod, glasses, and phone several times but eventually keeps finding them. His short term memory still suffers but it's ok. All the constant social interaction of school keeps his brain busy and he's getting more talkative. At the football games he ends up selling candy with the swim team instead of watching, which is what he'd be doing if he was still on the team so that a good thing.

He is a Junior again this year and will not graduate with his class, he should graduate with the current junior class though. All his classes are easy this year, to sort of warm him back into things and next year should be a more normal senior year.

The recruiter brought the climbing wall to the school the other day, he was the fastest kid in his class up the hardest route. 6 months in the hospital, a brain tumor, and a stroke but he's still my brother. I'm glad to hear he at least remembers how to move (it was probably 5.8).

Warning Not Vegan FriendlyHe's been shooting his bow a lot, it's good for strength and coordination. Well, anyway he shot a Pope and Young antelope last week. I'm not sure I could get a trophy antelope with an arrow. I'm pretty proud of that.

What's left to be determined are what his physical limitations are and whether or not he's college material. Right now, I'm hopeful he'll be leading a pretty normal life.

cigarettes and nudie bars, hopefully.

Thanks guys.

He told me tonight he'll join club swimming over the spring and X-country next fall and swim again in the winter.

Still hasn't decided if he wants to take his old summer job back working at a scout camp or if he wants to stay local and work at the pool. I'd rather see him stay at the pool. I worked at that pool when I was his age, not only will he make lots of friends his age, see lots of girls (that I'm not allowed to notice) in bikini's, but he's got like a 65% chance of getting laid.

I want only what's best for him. That and I'll be able to take him climbing some.

Everyone in my family including him has always been above average at what they choose. My sister dropped out of HS and is a fucking forensic pathologist for example. DO NOT play scrabble with my dad, you've been warned. My brother was never raised to be average, it's a real challenge for him to accept that he might not be the brightest kid in the class anymore.

i think the odds of getting laid are more than 65% if compared with his former scout camp job!!!!