As you may know, we had a catastrophic event in our lives. On Thursday, around 10 am, Don had an aneurysm burst causing a significant brain bleed. He was on a treadmill when it happend. Luckily, several staff and members were there and managed to get him to the hospital.
We are now in ICU at the University of Kentucky where Don is stable at this time. The doctors tell us that his brain bleed should have killed him. We are now in a window of time where things could get significantly worse. We are hoping and praying for the best possible outcome.
I want to first thank our staff and friends for their willingness to help me during this time. The gym will remain open, but somethings may be adjusted as we figure out how to navigate this stage in our lives. Please be patient with us. I know we will figure this out together. At this time, I am going to suspend my weight loss counseling sessions. If you are paying for counseling added to your membership, please private message me so that I can adjust your membership dues. I will resume this service as quickly as i can. We may have times where we have to cancel a class or substitute another format for that class time. Please understand that this is temporary.
Here is what we know now. Don is stable. I know that, at best, we are going to be 5-6 weeks in this transitionary period. This is at best. The doctors have told me that we likely will be considerably longer. I will do my very best to keep the disruptions to the schedule at a minimum.
The condition Don has is hereditary. We recently learned that his grandfather died from the same thing around the same age as Don. It's called the silent killer. He has had 2 surgeries. One to put a drain in his brain and one to close of the aneurysm. They successfully closed off the aneurysm and tell us he does not have any others. He is now stable, sedated and his latest CT scan looks good. He is an a dangerous window of time where stroke can ocurr. They have told me to expect that he may have to go back to surgery should that happen. Now the good news. They told me that because Don was in such good shape, his body is in optimal condition to allow his brain to heal. His blood pressure, lungs, all vitals are GREAT! This means his body will divert energy to his brain for healing. They say there is nothing he could have done to prevent this. It was a time bomb in his head. They are now slowly trying to bring his sedation medication down to bring him out of the coma. This may take several days. And he may have to have a tracheotomy at some point. This is sometimes part of the process.
I ask that each of you be patient with us. Please pray for us. And I do know that my staff has a calender of daily duties that volunteers can sign up for. We do need some additional help at this time cleaning, staffing the desk, keeping things running. If you are so inclined, please contact Shauna, Zack or Anna to get on the schedule.
There has been a Meal Train site set up to help with the expenses of staying in the hospital. Don will be moving to Rehab and the minimum time for our stay here is 5 weeks.
If you want to donate, log on to:
https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/vvd35g 
