From: Bob Tressler
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 12:16 PM
Subject: FUN: More about Bryan
Hello N-BLAST family! I chose the heading "FUN" because we had the most beautiful ceremony for Bryan, truly a fun celebration of his life.
Let me tell you how Bryan left this world. He did not die from cancer.
So for all of you who might lose a little hope with Bryan's passing, don't. His nb had been turned around by Dr. Sholler. We'll never know how far Bry could have gone in that direction. Maybe ned once again, maybe not. But it was headed the right way. Bryan died from a bacterial infection. It could have come from when he went to the bathroom, it could have come from one of us not having our hands clean enough, it could have come from his own body. We'll never know and we really don't care. We have a strict policy of not looking backwards and beating ourselves up over this or that. This has gotten us through nearly 9 years of this grueling battle, and it will get us through the rest of our lives.
Bryan and Mary Lou started that Monday morning the same as always. They packed for the week and headed for Burlington, 2 hours away. At the hospital, Bryan was hooked up to the usual monitors while he was getting treatment. There was nothing unusual going on. Bryan was talking about making corn dogs for the staff that week (he made quesadillas the week before & made $54!) All of a sudden he got very quiet, then the alarms went off. He went into cardiac arrest and died right there. No pain, no fear, no knowledge of what was happening to him. For Bryan, if he as going to die, we could not have asked for anything more merciful than that. But the docs were able to revive him. He was intubated and put on a ventilator, and heavily sedated. This bought us enough time for me to find our other son and drive to the hospital. It also allowed time for our daughter to get a flight from Manhattan to Burlington. She got in at
1 am. We were all there to help Bry through the transition from this world to the next. Now, before Jen got there, I guess around 11pm, Bryan's blood pressure started to fade dramatically. It looked as though this would be the end. Then, two child life specialists who were very close to Bry came in the room. They started chattering at him as if nothing was wrong. They talked about corn dogs, scrabble etc. His blood pressure shot back up to normal levels!! The doc confirmed that, although he was sedated and couldn't speak or see, he could hear what was being said to him and he could respond. What a gift that was to us!
From then on, when we spoke to him, he would occasionally squeeze our hand. We just knew he was hearing us.
So, we urged him to fight. And he did. He made one more big rally in the wee hours, but it became clear that would be the last one. Doc Sholler, as caring & wonderful as anyone I have ever met, stayed overnight in the room down the hall. She checked in on us often, and was back in the room full time before 6am. We felt such comfort as she guided us through what was happening to Bryan. Even though she told us his blood labs were getting worse, we continued to urge him to fight. And as he squeezed our hands, we knew he was giving it everything he had. Then, a little after 7am, Giselle told us he was going. As a family, we all put our hands on him. As a family, we all told him we loved him. As a family, we all told him it was ok to stop fighting. And then we all had our personal words for Bryan. I'm not sure what my other family members sad because I was focusing on what I needed to say. I knew I only had a few seconds to tell my son the last words he would hear from me. And so I told that I knew he could see Jesus waiting for him with open arms, and to run into His arms right now, don't stay here any longer. And he shuddered, ever so slightly, and then he was gone.
I will live the rest of my days in peace knowing that my family delivered Bryan to Heaven. I thank God for being so merciful to him and us. We are healed as a family, and Bryan is healed from cancer.
We did not mourn Bryan's passing, rather we celebrated is life. He touched so many people and had a profound and, in some cases, life changing impact, that we rejoice for the time we had with him. He served God's purpose for him here on earth, and now he is enjoying his reward.
Amen.
www.caringbridge.org/ny/bryan
Bob Tressler, forever proud dad to Bryan. I am humbled in his presence.
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