Dennis is in room #526 and you can call him at 904-956-0526. The plasma exchange therapy only last about an hour so he will have lots of idle time.
The Mayo Clinic
c/o Dennis Frasier Room #526
4500 San Pablo Road
Jacksonville, FL 32224
Friday, July 29, 2011
Update on Dennis 7/29/2011!
This week Dennis’s therapist have been concentrating on strength training. He is working on strengthening his core and his quads, but still having problems with his blood pressure dropping when he is standing for long periods of time. His BP before standing is 121/59 and his BP five minutes in standing frame is 88/60 and his BP seated for five minutes is 101/62.
On Thursday, Dennis was fitted for his wheelchair. The process was very overwhelming. There are several options for the different bells and whistles that a wheelchair offers. Dennis chose a bright red wheelchair (IU colors) and thankfully one that I can easily put in the back of the car. We should have approval in 45 days and will get the wheelchair in three months. Yes, I wrote that correctly. Three months! All I have to say is insurance companies. Dennis also went on his first outing outside the hospital grounds. The poor guy has been in the hospital for 46 days. Brooks took a group of four people from different floors to Panera to ease the anxiety of going out in public once discharged from rehabilitation. Dennis set a few goals on the way to the restaurant 1)navigate the ramp, 2) steer & navigate through the door with his wheelchair, 3) navigate the bathroom, and 4) order, get his drink, and navigate through the tables which he did successfully the first time. I was leery about the door, but Dennis just breezed right up to the door, opened it, and steered his wheelchair right through the door. I don’t think there is anything he can’t do on his first try. ;-)
Today was the Mayo appointment and it was very informative. The neurologist was very impressed with Dennis’s mobility and strength in his legs. He still needs to work on trunk control and obviously strength in his left leg. We looked at the MRI’s that were done at St. Luke's Hospital and I was under the impression that Dennis’s lesion on his spine was horizontally across the spinal cord in the middle of his back. It actually is vertical and spans from the middle of his back all the way up to the base of his neck. The neurologist was very intrigued that Dennis’s was not paralyzed in his chest region due to the length of the lesion and how inflamed his spinal cord was. We were shocked when the neurologist was pointing out the difference in the lower and upper spinal cord. His upper spinal cord was triple the size of the lower spinal cord due to the inflammation caused by the transverse myelitis. The neurologist did suggest we go ahead with the plasma exchange and we were admitted to the Mayo hospital at 12:30pm today. The neurologist said that there is a 40% chance that the plasma exchange will work, and that we should see improvements in three days if the therapy was going to work. Dennis is scheduled for five treatments done once a day. He has already had his first session of the plasma exchange therapy around 4:00pm and has been really tired since.
A lot of people have been asking me exactly what plasma exchange is. It is a procedure that separates and removes plasma from the blood in order to remove a disease substance circulating in the plasma. The red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets are returned to the patient, along with a prescribed replacement fluid. The plasma exchange is necessary because some diseases create substances which circulate throughout the body in the plasma portion of the blood. In certain diseases these substances are called “autoantibodies,” which attack healthy cells or tissue. These autoantibodies are created by a mix-up in the body’s immune system. Other diseases cause an overproduction of protein which results in slowing down the blood flow (in the same way that thick liquids move more slowly than thin ones). Only in a few diseases is it possible to remove the specific substance causing the disease. However, it is possible to remove the plasma which contains the substance. The plasma is replaced with donated fresh frozen plasma.
Plasma exchange is accomplished with a medical device called a blood cell separator (looks a lot like a dialysis machine). It uses a centrifuge to separate plasma from cellular blood components. Blood is drawn from the patient through a catheter in the neck. Some issues which may arise is sleepiness, dizziness, sour taste in the mouth, tingling around the lips, or sharp pains, like pins being stuck in the fingers or toes.
Only 300,000 plasma exchange procedures are performed worldwide each year. Another one million procedures, which are similar to plasma exchange, are performed each year on volunteer donors to collect plasma and platelets. There are approximately 6.9 billion people living on earth so these facts kind of put things in perspective on how rare this procedure is.
Yes, I already feel the jokes coming on. No, I am not going back to school to be a nurse. My knees buckled today while watching Dennis get this procedure and I had to go sit down. The catheter in his neck is making my queasy so I have to sit on the opposite side of the bed. Nursing school is definitely out of the question for me.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Update on Dennis, July 25, 2011!
In my last post, I wrote that on Wednesday Dennis was having trouble with his blood pressure bottoming out while trying to stand. Continuing with his rapid recovery, Thursday he was able to stand upright for five minutes without his blood pressure crashing. He has also starting working out on the leg press and was pressing 94 pounds. Later on in the evening he was telling me his story and I quizzically asked him whether his left leg was helping push the weight or if the majority of the leg pressing was done with his right leg. He looked at me as if I was crazy and said “of course my left leg was pushing”. It is unbelievable how fast he is progressing.
Saturday Dennis jumped another big hurdle. He took his first step…actually it was six steps. He said it wasn’t exactly Fred Astaire, but it was a step nonetheless. Saturday was only Dennis’s eighth day of therapy and he has 22 more days left. I can’t even imagine what he is going to be able to do by August 16th.
We did get an earlier appointment at Mayo and it is scheduled for this Friday. We are not sure if it will be outpatient or inpatient at this point. Dennis wants to finish physical therapy before going back to the hospital, but I am afraid Mayo will want to admit him so they can run their test and monitor his progress. We are hoping they do the plasma exchange therapy, but with the progress he made last week he may not need the procedure.
Today, Dennis is a walking/standing machine. I was talking to him on the phone over his break and he was down because he didn’t like the type of steps he was taking. :-) Dennis as we all know is a perfectionist and not happy that he can’t yet control how big the steps he makes. He is now able to transfer from his wheelchair to his bed without the transfer board. He is able to use his arm and leg muscles to hop onto and out of the bed.
I will keep everyone updated with his progress this week and definitely what the doctor tells us on Friday.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Update on Dennis 7/20/2011
I had a conference call with Dennis's doctors and therapist today at Brooks. They are all very excited about Dennis's progress this past week. He has improved in some areas to minimum assistance which is fantastic after only seven days of therapy. Minimum assistance usually only happens in your last week of therapy and Dennis still has three and half weeks to go. His muscle tone has increased the most and he is able to hold his right leg up off the floor without any assistance. An excercise that he has been doing on a daily basis is using the stationary bicycle that attaches electrodes to the muscles on his legs. The bike is motorized so even if you can't push the petals it does it for you. Today was the first time that Dennis was able to pedal on his own without any assistance and even got to maximum speeds. I have also noticed this week that he is much stronger in his core and not as wobbly. He is able to move a little more freely in bed and doesn't need me as much to move his legs or get him water, etc. The therapist are still working on his blood pressure bottoming out. Who knew that it would be his blood pressure holding him back from walking. His therapist are going to concentrate the rest of the week on getting his body use to being upright. They typically use a harness to suspended Dennis a few feet in the air while monitoring his blood pressure. He hasn't been able to stay up for very long before he gets dizzy. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do, but let the body work it out on its own.
He is doing some recreational therapy and met a lady a few doors down from his room that has a similar to disease to Dennis's. He played bocci ball with her today in the courtyard and seems to have found someone to talk to who knows exactly what he is going through. Keep us in your prayers. Our fight is just beginning, but we know this is just a small bump in a very, long, happy road.
He is doing some recreational therapy and met a lady a few doors down from his room that has a similar to disease to Dennis's. He played bocci ball with her today in the courtyard and seems to have found someone to talk to who knows exactly what he is going through. Keep us in your prayers. Our fight is just beginning, but we know this is just a small bump in a very, long, happy road.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Update on Dennis 7/18/2011
Dennis has finished one full week of therapy and we can see the strength coming back to his legs day by day. The left leg is still weak, but has more movement in it this week than we have seen in the past month. Dennis had a very hard week of therapy so we decided on our new version of date night at the hospital. I brought him some dinner, and grabbed a DVD player. Well it didn't work out like we had wanted, but so is our life at this moment. I finally got Dennis an appointment at the Mayo clinic on August 31st. The hospital has a transverse myeletis specialist so we are very eager to talk to her about Dennis's prognosis. We are also trying to see if his neurologist now will do a plasma exchange therapy. Plasma exchange therapy is where they remove part of Dennis's blood and replace it with blood that has stronger antibodies. It is not widely used in the United States but is used more in Europe and Japan. Stronger antibodies are suppose to help with Dennis's rehab and make him progress faster than he would with just using high doses of steriods.
Dennis was also asked to be a part of a promo video for Brooks so he was very excited to be participating today. They had him working out on bench press so everyone in Jax look for it on TV. I will try to get a copy once it is finished. ;-)
Dennis was also asked to be a part of a promo video for Brooks so he was very excited to be participating today. They had him working out on bench press so everyone in Jax look for it on TV. I will try to get a copy once it is finished. ;-)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Update on Dennis 7/14/2011
Dennis had another breakthrough today his fourth full day of therapy. He was able to transfer from his wheelchair to his bed without any assistance using his transfer board. The transfer board is a six inch wide and four foot long wooden board that bridges the gap between the wheelchair and the bed and gives Dennis the ability to scoot himself on the board by using his upper body strength. After he was able to transfer he was insistent on grabbing his legs and swinging them on the bed and taking off his tennis shoes again without any assistance. It was absolutely amazing to watch. I wish I would have videoed the transfer, but I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. His leg strength in just four days has been mind blowing. I was doing my nightly exercises with him tonight and he is just getting stronger and stronger in his left leg. Before this week I was only able to see his quad muscle flicker. Tonight I was able to see his quad muscle flex. Keep sending your prayers Dennis's way.....we are on our way to meeting our first goal which is to have Dennis standing on his own with no assistance by tomorrow.
Before Dennis went into therapy his mom and my mom had a good time picking out some retro t-shirts for Dennis to wear while in therapy. We all know how much Dennis loves his 80's cartoons and television shows. Tamra, Dennis's occupational therapist, has also had a good time picking out different shirts for Dennis to wear each day. Tamra and I keep trying to get Dennis to wear this retro Smurfs shirt so lets send Dennis lots of messages encouraging him to rock out his bright blue Smurfs shirt. Heeheee :-)
Before Dennis went into therapy his mom and my mom had a good time picking out some retro t-shirts for Dennis to wear while in therapy. We all know how much Dennis loves his 80's cartoons and television shows. Tamra, Dennis's occupational therapist, has also had a good time picking out different shirts for Dennis to wear each day. Tamra and I keep trying to get Dennis to wear this retro Smurfs shirt so lets send Dennis lots of messages encouraging him to rock out his bright blue Smurfs shirt. Heeheee :-)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Update on Dennis 7/13/2011
Over the past few days we have had a conference with the doctors and therapist at Brooks rehabilitation and they have given Dennis an estimated discharge date of August 16th. They expect at the discharge date for Dennis to be able to walk at least a few feet, but more than likely be discharged with a wheelchair. We know that the doctors are being conservative since Dennis's disease is rare so we set another goal tonight. Goal #3 - Dennis to be discharged with a walker instead of a wheelchair. For this weeks conference, he was only evaluated over the past two days so we are hoping next weeks conference gives the doctors a little more insight to what Dennis can do with a full week of therapy under his belt. His therapy is really going well. They are concentrating on standing up exercises since his body is use to laying in bed. Today his therapist hooked him up to a bicycle type device with electrodes. His therapist told him he would put him on the bike for 33 minutes and after the 33 minutes were over he wanted to do more. His determination still amazes me. He hasn't wavered once even after all the pain and life altering diagnosis. I sit and watch him some days and I am just amazed at how strong he is.
His minor lower body issues are slowly getting better. Two days ago he went without pain medicine for 17 hours and yesterday he went 13 hours with no pain medicine. Dennis did have to go for another MRI and Cat-scan yesterday for some double vision he has been experiencing over the past few weeks. The MRI showed nothing new so that is a good sign but doctors think that maybe some of his medication may be causing the double vision.
I do have one request for all of our Jacksonville friends and family. We may need to rent a place for a couple months after Dennis is discharged. Unfortunately for us, I own the condo we live in and it is on the second and third floor. In order for Dennis to come home he will have to walk up 17 steps to even get to our front door and another 17 steps to get up our bedroom. So I am asking to see if anyone knows anyone with a house/1st floor apartment/condo that is available for rent on a month to month basis. My concern with a house/apartment/condo is getting it furnish for the few months, but if we had to we could possible move some of our furniture to the temporary housing. Please email me or call me with any ideas/suggestions.
hnlfrasier@gmail.com
904-545-6235
We want to thank everyone again today for all their help, thoughts and prayers. Dennis and I had quite an emotional moment today because we are so blessed to have so many people who have reached out to help us in our time of need. You have all made this past month a little bit easier on us and our families as well.
We love you and please keep us in your prayers,
Heather
His minor lower body issues are slowly getting better. Two days ago he went without pain medicine for 17 hours and yesterday he went 13 hours with no pain medicine. Dennis did have to go for another MRI and Cat-scan yesterday for some double vision he has been experiencing over the past few weeks. The MRI showed nothing new so that is a good sign but doctors think that maybe some of his medication may be causing the double vision.
I do have one request for all of our Jacksonville friends and family. We may need to rent a place for a couple months after Dennis is discharged. Unfortunately for us, I own the condo we live in and it is on the second and third floor. In order for Dennis to come home he will have to walk up 17 steps to even get to our front door and another 17 steps to get up our bedroom. So I am asking to see if anyone knows anyone with a house/1st floor apartment/condo that is available for rent on a month to month basis. My concern with a house/apartment/condo is getting it furnish for the few months, but if we had to we could possible move some of our furniture to the temporary housing. Please email me or call me with any ideas/suggestions.
hnlfrasier@gmail.com
904-545-6235
We want to thank everyone again today for all their help, thoughts and prayers. Dennis and I had quite an emotional moment today because we are so blessed to have so many people who have reached out to help us in our time of need. You have all made this past month a little bit easier on us and our families as well.
We love you and please keep us in your prayers,
Heather
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
7/12
Hello again,
I wanted to first of all, say thanks on behalf of Dennis and Heather. I have spoken with them many times, and they are very grateful of all the thoughts and prayers. They are reading the posts on FB and looking at the pictures of Dennis, and it really has helped his spirits. When I saw Dennis a few weeks ago in the hospital, you could really tell that he was in a worse place mentally, versus his attitude these days. He seems like he has really become motivated and flipped a switch, that has allowed him to start the healing process. I feel like a lot of this is due to him being surrounded by a great network of friends and family. The prayers and kind words are working, so if you have something to share or some pics, please do, as they will be greatly appreciated.
Second, I wanted to let you know that many people have asked what they can do to help our two friends in their time of need. If you are wanting to make a donation to our friends in this time of need, you can do so by one of the three ways listed below. They have had a lot of added expense with the hospital stay, and with the rehab it will be even more. So listed below, are some ways that you can donate to assist. All donations will be greatly appreciated.
There are currently 3 ways that you can give a donation, and I hope you will do whichever you feel most comfortable with.
1. At the top of this Blog is a link, for those of you who have a Paypal account. It's a very safe way to make a donation, and this will go directly to a Paypal account set up by Heather on behalf of Dennis.
2. There is a Savings account set up with Bank of America, that you can transfer a donation to, if you either bank with Bank of America, or another bank. The account number is (#898045539942), and it's in Heather Frasier's name. This money will go directly to the account, and is not accessible to anyone other than Heather.
3. If you don't feel comfortable with the above 2 methods, they can take a check by mail. If you want to make a personal note, or get them a get well card, and mail it along with a donation, they would truly appreciate it. The mailing address is:
Heather Frasier
9745 Touchton Rd #922
Jacksonville, FL 32246.
Thanks again for your time,
Brandon Bird
I wanted to first of all, say thanks on behalf of Dennis and Heather. I have spoken with them many times, and they are very grateful of all the thoughts and prayers. They are reading the posts on FB and looking at the pictures of Dennis, and it really has helped his spirits. When I saw Dennis a few weeks ago in the hospital, you could really tell that he was in a worse place mentally, versus his attitude these days. He seems like he has really become motivated and flipped a switch, that has allowed him to start the healing process. I feel like a lot of this is due to him being surrounded by a great network of friends and family. The prayers and kind words are working, so if you have something to share or some pics, please do, as they will be greatly appreciated.
Second, I wanted to let you know that many people have asked what they can do to help our two friends in their time of need. If you are wanting to make a donation to our friends in this time of need, you can do so by one of the three ways listed below. They have had a lot of added expense with the hospital stay, and with the rehab it will be even more. So listed below, are some ways that you can donate to assist. All donations will be greatly appreciated.
There are currently 3 ways that you can give a donation, and I hope you will do whichever you feel most comfortable with.
1. At the top of this Blog is a link, for those of you who have a Paypal account. It's a very safe way to make a donation, and this will go directly to a Paypal account set up by Heather on behalf of Dennis.
2. There is a Savings account set up with Bank of America, that you can transfer a donation to, if you either bank with Bank of America, or another bank. The account number is (#898045539942), and it's in Heather Frasier's name. This money will go directly to the account, and is not accessible to anyone other than Heather.
3. If you don't feel comfortable with the above 2 methods, they can take a check by mail. If you want to make a personal note, or get them a get well card, and mail it along with a donation, they would truly appreciate it. The mailing address is:
Heather Frasier
9745 Touchton Rd #922
Jacksonville, FL 32246.
Thanks again for your time,
Brandon Bird
Monday, July 11, 2011
Update for Dennis 7/11/2011
This weekend was low key for Dennis. Brooks doesn't do much rehabilitation over the weekend so Dennis got to rest up before he starts his first week of intense rehabilitation.
On Sunday he got in his wheelchair and wheeled himself around the floor for the first time. I will post a video of him when I get home tonight. I even caught him flirting with a few nurses at the nurses station. :-) We spoke to a physical therapist on Sunday who told us to expect to be here for about six weeks so Dennis and I decided to set some goals. His first goal is stand up on his own with no assistance by the end of the week. His second goal is to be home by the middle of August. A funny story for all of you who know how much Dennis hates to get up in the morning. Brooks is a place that is very strict. They bring in breakfast at 7:30 in the morning and then you usually start therapy between 8 or 8:30. A patient care tech came in at 8:45 one morning and freaked out because Dennis was still sleeping. She couldn't believe that he had not eaten breakfast nor was he dressed for rehabilitation. I told her "good luck" getting him up and if she has a secret to getting him up she better let me know. On Monday, Dennis was put on the late schedule meaning he didn't have have therapy until 9:30 in the morning. I guess the patient care tech didn't have much luck getting him up either. ;-)
Monday was Dennis's first full day of therapy. Timothy is his full time physical therapist and had Dennis standing up with minimal assistance on the parallel bars. Dennis asked him what was the length of time that he was expected to be at Brooks and Timothy told Dennis he expects him to be at Brooks for 3-4 weeks, but could better assess him after two or three days. He also told Dennis that he won't exactly be 100% when he leaves Brooks, but he will probably need a walker and have to do some outpatient therapy for six months. Another funny story about Dennis was that he had to do recreational therapy today. They took him to a room where they were doing arts and crafts. He unfortunately didn't get to participate in the arts and crafts because he had a doctors appointment. I was really hoping he was going to paint me a picture to put on the fridge. :-) Dennis just rolled his eyes when I told him he should have helped me scrapbook all the those weekends instead of making fun of me. :-) Hopefully, next time he gets to the play the Wii instead of arts and crafts.
On Sunday he got in his wheelchair and wheeled himself around the floor for the first time. I will post a video of him when I get home tonight. I even caught him flirting with a few nurses at the nurses station. :-) We spoke to a physical therapist on Sunday who told us to expect to be here for about six weeks so Dennis and I decided to set some goals. His first goal is stand up on his own with no assistance by the end of the week. His second goal is to be home by the middle of August. A funny story for all of you who know how much Dennis hates to get up in the morning. Brooks is a place that is very strict. They bring in breakfast at 7:30 in the morning and then you usually start therapy between 8 or 8:30. A patient care tech came in at 8:45 one morning and freaked out because Dennis was still sleeping. She couldn't believe that he had not eaten breakfast nor was he dressed for rehabilitation. I told her "good luck" getting him up and if she has a secret to getting him up she better let me know. On Monday, Dennis was put on the late schedule meaning he didn't have have therapy until 9:30 in the morning. I guess the patient care tech didn't have much luck getting him up either. ;-)
Monday was Dennis's first full day of therapy. Timothy is his full time physical therapist and had Dennis standing up with minimal assistance on the parallel bars. Dennis asked him what was the length of time that he was expected to be at Brooks and Timothy told Dennis he expects him to be at Brooks for 3-4 weeks, but could better assess him after two or three days. He also told Dennis that he won't exactly be 100% when he leaves Brooks, but he will probably need a walker and have to do some outpatient therapy for six months. Another funny story about Dennis was that he had to do recreational therapy today. They took him to a room where they were doing arts and crafts. He unfortunately didn't get to participate in the arts and crafts because he had a doctors appointment. I was really hoping he was going to paint me a picture to put on the fridge. :-) Dennis just rolled his eyes when I told him he should have helped me scrapbook all the those weekends instead of making fun of me. :-) Hopefully, next time he gets to the play the Wii instead of arts and crafts.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Update on Dennis 7/8/2011
We finally made it back to Brooks Rehabilitation yesterday and are in room #4413. Some of you are wondering why we didn't make it to the Mayo clinic. The Mayo clinic only has 200 rooms so it is very hard to transfer to that hospital, but we are going to contact a neurologist as needed on an outpatient basis. Dennis has continued to improve. He was able to move his knee yesterday on his left leg. His left side of his body was hit really hard by the pain of the meningitis and the transverse myelitis and was completely paralyzed until a week ago. We were told by doctors he needed to concentrate on moving a toe at a time, then the ankle so on and so on, but Dennis is making drastic strides towards his recovery. We are very encouraged and so is his physical therapist by his ability to move more and more of his legs everyday. He was also able to transfer from his hospital bed to his wheelchair with little assistance today and brought tears to all of our eyes. Carolyn (Dennis's mom) brought Cider (our four year old Bichon/poodle mix puppy) up to Brooks rehabilitation yesterday. Dennis has not been able to see her in a month and for anyone who really knows Dennis that dog is everything to him. It was very emotional for us all, but gave Dennis even more determination to work hard on his physical therapy. Check out his facebook page "Get Well Dennis" for the picture. Some of you were wanting the address to the rehabilitation hospital so I put the address below.
Brooks Rehabilitation
c/o Dennis Frasier Room#4413
3599 University Blvd South
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Keep us in your prayers, we see God's work already in the way that Dennis is progressing!!!!!!
Brooks Rehabilitation
c/o Dennis Frasier Room#4413
3599 University Blvd South
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Keep us in your prayers, we see God's work already in the way that Dennis is progressing!!!!!!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Request from a Friend
Hello All,
My name is Brandon and like many of you, I consider Dennis and Heather great friends. I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to request that we work together to help a mutual friend in his time of need. Many of you are learning of his new medical issue within the last few days, or even weeks, and you are concerned about Dennis and this new issue he is having to deal with. I have spoken with many of you, and I feel like we are all wondering how something like this could happen, and what the future holds for our friend. He has come down with a sickness that some have heard of, but most of us are not sure what the truth of the matter is. It is a scary time for Dennis, as he is trying to learn how he can regain the strengths and functions that so many of us take for granted.
We all have wondered about how we can help, and I have talked to some of you about this. What I want us all to do, is show our support for Dennis and Heather in this great time of need. While Dennis and Heather have been going through this, they have missed a lot of pay from work that has been missed and have added a lot of expense both medically and personally. I hope that we can find it in our hearts to help our dear friends with this, as I know if one of us were in need they would be more than willing to do the same. We have set up several ways for you to help them, and no donation will be too small. I am asking you as one of Dennis' friends, to help him and Heather out. Think about all the laughs you have shared with them, and I know that in itself is priceless.
There are currently 3 ways that you can give a donation, and I hope you will do whichever you feel most comfortable with.
1. At the top of this Blog is a link, for those of you who have a Paypal account. It's a very safe way to make a donation, and this will go directly to a Paypal account set up by Heather on behalf of Dennis.
2. There is a Savings account set up with Bank of America, that you can transfer a donation to, if you either bank with Bank of America, or another bank. The account number is (#898045539942), and it's in Heather Frasier's name. This money will go directly to the account, and is not accessible to anyone other than Heather.
3. If you don't feel comfortable with the above 2 methods, they can take a check by mail. If you want to make a personal note, or get them a get well card, and mail it along with a donation, they would truly appreciate it. The mailing address is:
Heather Frasier
9745 Touchton Rd #922
Jacksonville, FL 32246.
I appreciate your time in reading this, and hope you will find it in your hearts to help a friend in his time of need. He could really use the help, and as I said before, no donation will be too small or not go to really help a good friend on a personal level. If you are unable to donate to him at this time for whatever the reason, please at least keep him in your prayers.
Thanks for your Time,
God Bless
Brandon Bird
My name is Brandon and like many of you, I consider Dennis and Heather great friends. I wanted to take a few minutes of your time to request that we work together to help a mutual friend in his time of need. Many of you are learning of his new medical issue within the last few days, or even weeks, and you are concerned about Dennis and this new issue he is having to deal with. I have spoken with many of you, and I feel like we are all wondering how something like this could happen, and what the future holds for our friend. He has come down with a sickness that some have heard of, but most of us are not sure what the truth of the matter is. It is a scary time for Dennis, as he is trying to learn how he can regain the strengths and functions that so many of us take for granted.
We all have wondered about how we can help, and I have talked to some of you about this. What I want us all to do, is show our support for Dennis and Heather in this great time of need. While Dennis and Heather have been going through this, they have missed a lot of pay from work that has been missed and have added a lot of expense both medically and personally. I hope that we can find it in our hearts to help our dear friends with this, as I know if one of us were in need they would be more than willing to do the same. We have set up several ways for you to help them, and no donation will be too small. I am asking you as one of Dennis' friends, to help him and Heather out. Think about all the laughs you have shared with them, and I know that in itself is priceless.
There are currently 3 ways that you can give a donation, and I hope you will do whichever you feel most comfortable with.
1. At the top of this Blog is a link, for those of you who have a Paypal account. It's a very safe way to make a donation, and this will go directly to a Paypal account set up by Heather on behalf of Dennis.
2. There is a Savings account set up with Bank of America, that you can transfer a donation to, if you either bank with Bank of America, or another bank. The account number is (#898045539942), and it's in Heather Frasier's name. This money will go directly to the account, and is not accessible to anyone other than Heather.
3. If you don't feel comfortable with the above 2 methods, they can take a check by mail. If you want to make a personal note, or get them a get well card, and mail it along with a donation, they would truly appreciate it. The mailing address is:
Heather Frasier
9745 Touchton Rd #922
Jacksonville, FL 32246.
I appreciate your time in reading this, and hope you will find it in your hearts to help a friend in his time of need. He could really use the help, and as I said before, no donation will be too small or not go to really help a good friend on a personal level. If you are unable to donate to him at this time for whatever the reason, please at least keep him in your prayers.
Thanks for your Time,
God Bless
Brandon Bird
Update 7/6/2011
We spoke to a wonderful neurologist today that specializes in the spinal nerves. We learned that Dennis will have some permanent nerve damage, but we do not know to what extent. Only time will tell, but we are lucky they caught the virus early. We also learned that the transverse myelitis can not get any worse. The damage has been done and we deal with what we were dealt. The time-line we were given to expect Dennis to start walking again is 2-3 months. We realize it is going to be a long road and we will have our good and bad days, but Dennis is strong and determined. We know with the help of your prayers we will get through this.
We had another great day today! Dennis was able to move his ankle on his left leg. Yesterday he was only able to move his toes. Since he is progressing more and more everyday, we have decided to go back to Brooks Rehabilitation instead of wasting anymore time waiting on a bed at the Mayo clinic. We are still going to get a second opinion with the help of a doctor that works with Carolyn (Dennis's Mom).
I have a video of his progress that I want to post here so if anyone knows how to get it off my iphone 4 and post it on the blog. Please let me know.
Heather
We had another great day today! Dennis was able to move his ankle on his left leg. Yesterday he was only able to move his toes. Since he is progressing more and more everyday, we have decided to go back to Brooks Rehabilitation instead of wasting anymore time waiting on a bed at the Mayo clinic. We are still going to get a second opinion with the help of a doctor that works with Carolyn (Dennis's Mom).
I have a video of his progress that I want to post here so if anyone knows how to get it off my iphone 4 and post it on the blog. Please let me know.
Heather
Monday, July 4, 2011
Update on Dennis July 4, 2011
Dennis is feeling a little more like himself everyday and he is back to cracking jokes at my expense. But I will take it as long as his personality comes back. :-) We are still waiting on room at the Mayo clinic. We have been waiting for 4 days so hopefully a bed will open up tomorrow. The steroids over the past four days have really helped Dennis out with his movement. He is able to move his right leg and the toes on his left leg. We can definitely see the small improvements he is making day by day. Dennis's pain is improving as well. He asked the nurse if he could go without pain medicine and for anyone who doesn't know that is a HUGE improvement from three weeks ago.
Please keep us in your prayers! The pain is gone and we are on the road to recovery.
Please keep us in your prayers! The pain is gone and we are on the road to recovery.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Dennis update July 2, 2011
I first want to thank everyone for all their thoughts and prayers. I wish I could personally tell each and everyone of you exactly how special you are to Dennis and I. We can't get through this alone and it is very comforting to know we have so much love and support from family, friends and co-workers who we consider dear friends.
For those of you who do not know about Dennis's illness we were admitted to the hospital June 13th and Dennis was diagnosed with viral meningitis days later. He spent the first week in extreme pain from fluid surrounding his spinal cord and brain with constant high fevers. The doctors tried to treat the pain with morphine, but even that wouldn't ease Dennis's pain. On June 18th just as the pain from the meningitis was easing Dennis starting experience numbness in his limbs and that night he was diagnosed with transverse myeletis. Transverse myeletis is viral disease and causes inflammation on the spinal cord caused by a single lesion in the thoracic part of his spinal cord and treated with heavy doses of steroids. After a few days Dennis started improving little by little and he was able to move his toes, ankles and bend his knee. On June 24th, we were sent to a rehabilitation center where he would start an intense strength and endurance training to help him learn to walk again. He started experiencing more and more pain everyday and started to develop minor issues from his waist down. On June 29th, we were sent back to hospital. The neurologist ordered another MRI to see if anymore lesions had formed on his spinal cord, but thankfully no more lesions were found. Dennis was put back on steroids and has improved in the past couple of days. He is able to wiggle his toes and move his right leg on his own today. We are now waiting to transfer to Mayo. Mayo is a local hospital who have the top neurologist in the country. Dennis has a very atypical case of transverse myeletis because he has only lost movement in the left leg and partial in the right leg. Most patients diagnosed with transverse myeletis are paralyzed from the chest down.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! God has given us the strength to get through this so far and I know in the next couple of months we will need more. Dennis has a long road ahead of him, but we are very determined to beat this disease and fully recover. We do not know how long the recovery process will take, or if the lesion on his spine will ever go away. Our concentration right now is rehabilitation and I hope I will be able to write soon that he took his first step.
We love you all and I will continue to update you daily on Dennis's status.
Heather
For those of you who do not know about Dennis's illness we were admitted to the hospital June 13th and Dennis was diagnosed with viral meningitis days later. He spent the first week in extreme pain from fluid surrounding his spinal cord and brain with constant high fevers. The doctors tried to treat the pain with morphine, but even that wouldn't ease Dennis's pain. On June 18th just as the pain from the meningitis was easing Dennis starting experience numbness in his limbs and that night he was diagnosed with transverse myeletis. Transverse myeletis is viral disease and causes inflammation on the spinal cord caused by a single lesion in the thoracic part of his spinal cord and treated with heavy doses of steroids. After a few days Dennis started improving little by little and he was able to move his toes, ankles and bend his knee. On June 24th, we were sent to a rehabilitation center where he would start an intense strength and endurance training to help him learn to walk again. He started experiencing more and more pain everyday and started to develop minor issues from his waist down. On June 29th, we were sent back to hospital. The neurologist ordered another MRI to see if anymore lesions had formed on his spinal cord, but thankfully no more lesions were found. Dennis was put back on steroids and has improved in the past couple of days. He is able to wiggle his toes and move his right leg on his own today. We are now waiting to transfer to Mayo. Mayo is a local hospital who have the top neurologist in the country. Dennis has a very atypical case of transverse myeletis because he has only lost movement in the left leg and partial in the right leg. Most patients diagnosed with transverse myeletis are paralyzed from the chest down.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! God has given us the strength to get through this so far and I know in the next couple of months we will need more. Dennis has a long road ahead of him, but we are very determined to beat this disease and fully recover. We do not know how long the recovery process will take, or if the lesion on his spine will ever go away. Our concentration right now is rehabilitation and I hope I will be able to write soon that he took his first step.
We love you all and I will continue to update you daily on Dennis's status.
Heather
Friday, July 1, 2011
Welcome to Dennis' Blog!
Hello All,
As many of you know, our Friend Dennis is needing some prayers to help him make it through this tough time. He has been in the hospital for about 3 weeks now, battling some illness. He first came down with Meningitis, and has been struggling to get well. He is awaiting transfer to a hospital that can hopefully get him squared away, but until then, we need you to pray for him. This blog is to provide you all with more details of his condition and recovery. In an attempt to allow Heather a chance to focus on Dennis’ health and recovery, rather than to email and text everyone with updates individually. We will update everyone very soon. The main thing now, is to keep him in your prayers.
As many of you know, our Friend Dennis is needing some prayers to help him make it through this tough time. He has been in the hospital for about 3 weeks now, battling some illness. He first came down with Meningitis, and has been struggling to get well. He is awaiting transfer to a hospital that can hopefully get him squared away, but until then, we need you to pray for him. This blog is to provide you all with more details of his condition and recovery. In an attempt to allow Heather a chance to focus on Dennis’ health and recovery, rather than to email and text everyone with updates individually. We will update everyone very soon. The main thing now, is to keep him in your prayers.
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