It’s all hearsay, I tell you!


Today has been a trying day to say the least. I’ve been tasked with writing the BigJWilly update thanks to the lack of over-the-counter, stop-headaches-after-crying medicine available within NIH. Since all of this is based on a few out-of-order text messages courtesy of the trifecta of crap comprised of Sprint, Android and Tallahassee, please understand that while most of this will be true, there will most certainly be some biased comments that are completely wrong, both medically and morally. Thank you in advance for reading.

I went to sleep last night with the image of my wife in a camo Drake hoodie cussing out MRI staff flashing brilliantly over my eyes. I was a proud husband. It was 10:30 or so, and Jacob was still in MRI. I think that story’s been told, but for a quick recap, they (ICU, MRI, all of the above) messed up, causing mother bear to set things straight. Ultimately, everything that needed to be done was done, most likely with each of the techs looking over their shoulders for the elusive but ferocious Tallahassee running mombear.

I woke up this morning to nothing. No call. No text. Nothing. I hoped they were sleeping, so instead of bothering them directly, I posted some stuff on Jacob’s Facebook page so that each time someone commented, it would gently vibrate on their heads and let them know that I was thinking about them, along with the rest of the gazillion people that are supporting Jacob and our family through all of this, which I find both amazing and humbling, all wrapped in awesomeness!

My first conversation with Tammy occurred around 9:30 this morning, and it was not a happy conversation. We had a brief discussion last night about the fraternity of doctors-with-too-little-to-do, otherwise known as Infectious Disease. I dismissed what Tammy was saying because she was tired and venting, and because I thought it was resolved. Apparently it wasn’t. As Dr. Asthagiri gave Tammy great news about Jacob’s MRI, that everything about the surgical site looked great, she was also being told that Jacob may have a nasty bacterial infection that could or could not have originated in his port, and that, if the blood work taken from his arm comes back with hints of said infectious disease, it may require additional surgery on Monday, up to and including the removal of Jacob’s port. Commence pumping Jacob with more antibiotics. Awesome. Additional worry and stress, check. And the waiting game began again.

According to Tammy, one of the people in the hospital (I will not try and guess who) told her that the results of the blood work would be available 24 hours and 25 minutes from the time the test started, which would have been early afternoon today. I wish the weathermen in Tallahassee could be so bold as to make predictions like this! 50% chance my… Anyways, I knew that despite all of this, there were goals at hand, like OT and PT and standing up to pee, and that they had a fairly busy afternoon of training if they were still going to come home to us on Monday (because Tammy just knew that the Infectious Disease staff was wrong and that whatever they found was probably because they did something stupid). I started to worry around lunchtime after calling a few times and failing to get a response. Thankfully, she just didn’t want to talk to me at that point (kidding, I hope)!

Tammy sent me this picture around 2 this afternoon of Jacob, dressed in basketball shorts and a Guy Harvey with sleeves (for those of you who know about the sleeveless Guy Harvey’s, you understand my cheerfulness towards the sleeves!), walking down the hallways with PT Joe. Yeah, I know you can’t see him, because he’s walked too far down the hall!

According to the previously referenced texts, Infectious Disease determined that the bacteria was a “contaminant,” meaning that it did not originate in Jacob, and that Jacob could stop being pumped with infectious disease-killing antibiotics. “She” (a co-ed fraternity, it seems) said that it is believed to have come from the top of the test tube containing the blood sample. A big sigh of relief, accompanied with a big spoonful of “Tammy was right about Infectious Disease.” At this point, I’d imagine that there was some crying. Tears of joy, of course.

PT had Jacob walk 250 ft this afternoon. They gave Jacob a high-backed wheelchair for Tammy to push him around this weekend, you know, to “get out!” More importantly, Jacob will be taking a shower and removing his bandage tonight when the shower chair comes! And no more swabs! The TV is fixed in the recovery room as of today, so everything seems to be falling into place.

Throughout all of this, it has been most difficult for me to be here in Tallahassee knowing that both Jacob and Tammy could really use someone else in their corner up there. Especially to take care of Tammy in those fleeting moments where she might actually let someone spell her for a minute or two. I cannot give enough thanks and gratitude to Casey, Lacey, Gracie and Ben for being there for Tammy and Jacob. I was able to sleep a little better knowing that Tammy and Jacob weren’t alone on this journey. Thank you.

So, I sit here, praying for a good night’s sleep for Tammy, a speedy recovery for Jacob, peace of mind for Gabrielle, a beautiful Saturday outside for Gavin and Pop, a nice drive for Gramma Gina, a way to show our appreciation to all of you who take the time to pray for Jacob, something to do, preferably outside the NIH walls, for the Infectious Disease staff, and a win in a meaningless preseason game for my Bucs. If only one can come true, I’ll apologize now. I cannot bear the thought of Miami winning.

Thomas