Joe Radermacher

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.  Seventeen years ago Joe was diagnosed with Parkinsons.   He had a minimum of symptoms but his tremors increased.  In 2014 he had DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) done at the Mayo with great results.  It eliminated his tremors.  The past couple of years he has had feet freezing and stop motion and a little dyskinesia.  Through all this Joe continued to work.  A few months ago Joe started experiencing a chronic cough that he couldn't shake.  He had a xray done which showed a shadow and then a CT scan that showed a mass in his lung.  A biopsy was done and it was inconclusive, so it was decided to remove the mass on October 23rd, 2018.  He was in the hospital for 7 days.  Results were that it wasn't cancer, but the two labs it was sent to could not determine what it was.  The mass was sent to Mayo and they determined it was GPA formerly known as Wegeners disease, a very rare disease.  The surgeon recommended that he be seen at the Mayo because they had a person dedicated to that disease.  That appointment was scheduled for Nov. 14th.  He continued to see his Surgeon every other day and have xrays before each visit.  Joe was recuperating from his surgery at home and started to present with other symptoms, when on Sunday he was extremely weak, disoriented and coughing up blood.  He was taken by ambulance to Fairview Hospital.  He was admitted to the ICU and  a port was put into his lungs to drain the fluid and he was intubated and sedated.  They are still trying to get his vitals under control and figure what is part of the lung surgery, his Parkinsons and what is part of the GPA disease.   We will keep you updated as we know more.  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.