Testing 1,2,3...All systems a GO! Corey's getting pruned.

Corey has been going through many tests leading up to his surgery which as you know will happen on May 7th.

Most recently he underwent a VQ Scan. (Pulmonary Ventilation/Perfusion Scan) This test was done specifically to see if it was really necessary to get his lung removed. Basically, they wanted to see if his lung was really in as bad of shape as we all thought it was.

The results were an astounding YES....it was THAT BAD.

To give you some idea of what the test entails...Albumin is injected into the veins and the lungs are scanned to detect the location of the radioactive particles as blood flows through the lungs.

This test is done to measure how much blood and air flow the lungs are receiving.

And basically, his left lung, in a nutshell is receiving none. No air. No blood.

Without going into great detail, we can sum it up by saying his left lung is dead. A big giant dead collapsed lung that has no ability to hold air and receives no blood flow, yet his body, is trying desperately to keep this lung alive, thus taking all of his energy from him...and from his healthy right lung. Not only that, it's filled with fluid, and infection. He has walking pneumonia...and truth is, he has no idea what it feels like to NOT have walking pneumonia.

Solution. Get rid of it. Immediately if not sooner.

If you can think of it in terms of a rosebush. You prune a rosebush by cutting off the dead leaves and flowers so that the live flowers can flourish. If you don't do this, the bush will waste it's energy trying to keep the dead leaves and flowers alive, thus killing the entire bush in the end. If you get rid of the bad parts, the good parts will live a long, healthy and beautiful life. But they have to be well taken care of. It's the same concept with the human body...it's the same concept with Corey's two lungs.

Corey needs to be pruned.

(But, hey....chew on this......He also had a Stress Test, and even with everything his body has been through and all of the extra work his heart has had to do to keep his blood flowing, his heart is testing as a perfectly healthy 30 year old man! Imagine!!!!)

Pay It Forward!!!!

Most of you know that Corey developed Cancer (Non-Hodgekin's Lymphoma) at age 19. His cancer was discovered after he developed a lump the size of a softball on the side of his neck. It was found that it was not only in his neck, but in his spleen too. He had surgery to remove 90% of his lymph nodes in his neck, and a complete removal of his spleen, followed by 6 months of Chemotherapy.

Thankfully he beat cancer but his doctors now believe that the cancer is what exacerbated his already slow developing Bronchiectasis (hence his upcoming lung removal), which they are actually tying waaaayyyy back to his horrible bout with Chicken Pox as a young boy.

Where am I going with this you ask?

I wanted to give you his background on cancer, and his ability to beat it, because right now we have a chance to Pay it Forward.

A childhood friend of ours, Jared Fox, will be participating in the Team in Training 100 Mile Bike Ride for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Jared will be riding in honor of Parker Vernon who was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 1 has been fighting this battle for the past two years. Thankfully, he has been fighting it with some success, thanks to the support of his friends and family and events such as this. Please take the time to visit Jared's fundraiser page, and donate what you can. Every little bit helps.

Parker is probably too young to fully realize how much support he has, but he can feel it. I truly believe in strength in numbers, the power of the mind, healing vibes, positive thought and energy....if you are unable to donate to the cause, please send out a healing thought, say a prayer, or light a candle at your local church in honor of Parker. Trust me. It matters.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE IN HONOR OF PARKER

What's so Funny?

When faced with the harsh realities of life there are those that lay down and let the world tackle them to the ground.

And there are those that take what they are given...smile...make a joke, and come back swinging.

There is nothing funny about getting a lung removed. And if we went down the list of all the terrible news our family has been given throughout the years, there is nothing funny about that either.

So why are we always laughing?

Because, we have to. We have to find the good in everything. Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone walked around feeling sorry for themselves when they received a dose of bad news?

We learned a long time ago to never say the words "Well, it could be worse..." upon hearing bad news because inevitably it DID get worse. We changed it up and started saying "It could be better!"

Eventually, we learned that if we can smile, and laugh at ourselves, that even in the toughest of times.....the scariest of times, the smiles and laughter that we share is what gets us through.

My Big Sister is My Hero...just ask her, she'll tell ya. That's why she posted this video. ;)

In all seriousness....

You'll notice that between my brother and I, we will tend to joke around a lot, but the truth of the matter is that this is a very serious situation.

A few months ago, Corey left work early with that all too familiar crushing pain in his chest. The next day he found himself in the hospital listening to the doctor give him the "Wow, you should've been dead yesterday" speech. With pneumonia and a collapsed lung, he was told at age 30, that it was time for him to look into getting disability and getting out of the Plumbing and Pipefitters trade altogether.

Not really something a young, energetic, vibrant 30 year old wants to hear, so he decided to look into vocational rehab and get trained in CAD. With his years of experience on the field and a certification in CAD, he was able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A new opportunity.

During this process, he established himself with a new set of Dr's who wanted to give him a full examination to find out what was really going on with his lungs.

This is when they found that his left lung was 100% infected with essentially ZERO air pockets. Already collapsed. His right lung looked pretty good, only showing small signs of Bronchiectasis. It was decided at this time, that it was imperative to remove the Left lung in order to save his right from the possibility of the infection spreading.

Typically a surgery like this would last around 2 hours. If you are interested in the details of this surgery the medical term is Pneumectomy. (click for details) .

In Corey's case, being that the lung is so badly damaged and collapsed....his heart and other organs have already shifted to the left side that this will be a more complicated surgery and it is more than likely going to be closer to a 5 hour surgery. I will be documenting and keeping you posted every step of the way. He will most likely spend about a week in the hospital and it will be about 6 to 8 weeks recovery time.

That being said, it is expected that once he has fully recovered, he could very well live a normal life.

As I learn more details I will keep you posted....and I do apologize for this very serious post....it can't be all fun and games all the time ya know! ;)

Corey will be learning the blogging ropes shortly and you will be hearing from him soon......

I will leave you with this quote from my favorite author...that we are learning to be more than true in our family....

There Are No Ordinary Moments....

-Dan Millman

Corey will bounce back like the AFRO NINJA

In the days ahead, we will get more into Corey's history, maybe share some funny stories, (you know we've got 'em!), but I'd like to jump ahead and just let you all know what we are facing right now.As most of you know, my little brother has faced many challenges in his life. Dating as far back as.....well..... as his birth! And we will get into that later, but what I want to let you know now is that my brother will be facing a very difficult challenge on May 7th, 2010. On that date, he will be getting his Left Lung removed. Completely. Not just a piece of it, the whole shabang.....I'm told that any organ you have two of, you can survive with one ....we hear so often about people getting their kidney's lobbed off, their ovaries, their testicles (and in this case...I think he's glad he gets to keep both of those. ;) )....but you don't often hear of one getting a lung removed!

This came as a shock to all of us, and him as well, we knew his condition was bad, but had no idea it was... "HEY, WE ARE GONNA GET THAT THING OUTTA THERE" bad. But as scary as it sounds.......I think you all know our family well enough to know that we don't let a little thing like an organ removal get us down. NO WAY!

THIS IS A NEW BEGINNING!!!!!! That crappy old lung has been doing nothing but weighing him down.....interrupting his conversations with a cough here, a cough there....mucous here...mucous there.....we are DONE with that!!!! We are ready to hear him get through a phone conversation without wheezing, coughing, gagging....yeahhhhhh...he may have a little shortness of breath with that solo lung thing and all, but that's okay.......he's not planning on running any marathons any time soon.

So any way, back to the medical jargon. Most of the negative people in the world like to respond with "Why is he getting his lung removed, SMOKING????". To which, I hope you give them a giant slap in the mouth and say "Heck no!....He's got Bronchiectasis!". (which is a big word for...'his lungs don't work'...but if you click on it, you'll get all kinds of interesting info..)

But here's the deal...DON'T GET SAD, don't forget, that this is the kid that BEAT CANCER when he was just 18 years old!!!!!! And don't feel sorry for him...because he is the strongest guy that I know. And he's gonna do just fine. And he's got an ARMY of family members that are going to drive him crazy with love and support, so much so, that he may just ban us from his house. This boy, has been fighting since day one. And if there is ANYTHING you can do for him right now, you can PRAY if you are the praying type, add him to your church prayer list...PRAY that he can finally get that spring in his step that he has been dreaming about since he first got word that he can get this lung out that has been cramping his style for so long. If you are the vibe sending type...by all means...send those healing vibes out........if you have a spare minute in your day...think of him. Just a quick healing thought.

Take a deep breath for him. A deep, cleansing breath....deep in your lungs and think of him. Because he is going to get to do that soon too, without coughing. HE WILL!!!!!! This surgery will do that for him!!!!!And lastly, VALUE your health! Take care of yourself. Don't take one breath for granted.And if there are any of those prayers, vibes and thoughts left....send 'em out to my mom. Because she is the glue that holds us all together, and she's got a lot on her plate right now. She's staying strong for all of us, and I know that's a hard thing to do. (Mom, I'm not deleting this....swallow your pride, and accept the prayers and vibes...they are silent, you'll never even know they are coming. :) )

(OH and one more thing. Corey made it very clear that HE HATES FACEBOOK. DO NOT POST THIS BLOG ON ANY FACEBOOK WALLS. DO NOT PRAY FOR HIM ON FACEBOOK WALLS. (PLEASE RESPECT HIS WISHES AND KEEP ANY CONVERSATION ABOUT HIS CONDITION WITHIN PRIVATE EMAILS AND THIS BLOG, BUT NOT ON FACEBOOK WALLS)