Sheldon Budrys

By:Amy B
Oh! Where do I start because this has been out of the blue and the person that quietly took care of his family needed us.

January 20 Covid ran thru our house 
By the time we were getting over it Sheldon had a cough he could not shake. 

On 2/4 he went to the Dr and he ordered an XRay to check things out and by lunch we received a call that it was double pneumonia. We were at lunch together with Haley for her Birthday and besides the cough and feeling tired he was ok. Got a antibiotic to help clear things .
Well things were not getting better so on 2/15 he got another X-RAY of chest and it said pneumonia worsen.
Once again he was getting worse so a third xray 1 week later. We called the doctor office immediately because we got the portal results and was very concerned. That whole day we never got a called back. Then the next day I called the doctor office to let me know how concerned we were and was told the doctor had not looked at it. This was upsetting because he had been sick so long and they knew we were concerned.


I was so upset (along with his sister Melanie and my BFF) we changed doctors to Vineville Internal Medicine and by the help of some friends (Rhonda and Angel) we got him in quickly.
The NP at Vineville immediately ordered a CT Scan and other meds. We already felt better about the concern we were getting with this doctor office. 

Forward to CT scan results —ALARMING to say the least so we were sent to pulmonary doctor with fast appointment in place. We went to that appointment at Central Ga Pulmonary and got info that confirmed it was THE UGLY C-WORD it seemed additional testing would need to be done.

We waited 3 business days pending approval of a biopsy to be done at Piedmont and still wasn’t getting approval (this would have been just lung  biopsy not PET which we were waiting on too) and saw Sheldon getting worse by the day. At that point, I signed him up online for MAYO CLINIC ONLINE. It said 3 day call back. Next morning Sheldons sister Melanie called Mayo and had us appointment that day so we all jumped in car and headed to Jacksonville…..with a pit stop in Macon to pickup CT Scan disc to deliver to the doctor at Mayo.
Melanie drove and I filled out patient portal setup for Mayo. We drove non stop and made it two minutes before registering appointment.
3:15 Registration and Business
3:45 Dr Baig


3/9 we walk in Mayo and I already feel this is the place to get him well. We register at 3:15
Nurse gets info and sends us on our way to the doctor.

We are a little early but signed in. We are called back and had already gave the disc to sign in for the doctor to review. We wait less than five minutes and he comes in and asks questions and then goes and  gets the CT Scan and shows us WHERE OUR LIVES CHANGE FOREVER……THANK GOD Mayo sees the Immediate need for all test and before we left that office they were all scheduled the next day.

3/10
7am Breathing Test
9am PET SCAN
2:30 Lung biopsy
8pm waiting on them to finish and come get us. The doctor came out and gave me the news. They did a smear of the cells and it was lung cancer. Then he said Stage 4 …then he said we need to do a MRI of the brain because the PET scan was not clear.
Dr Baig stated we could call tomorrow and see if they had anything open to get MRI done at Mayo or get it done local.


3/11 - We were planning on coming home to possibly do the MRI in Milledgeville but when I called Mayo a few things they said made me wonder if it was ok to do that or best to stay and get it done there.
Mayo had an MRI appointment at 10pm that night ( crazy I know). We decided to stay another night and get it done. It was just best for all testing to be done there because they were so fast . I wanted all testing to be in there portal as well. Got back to hotel around 11:30. after MRI was done.

3/12 got on the road and was home by 3:30 pm
7PM - we get a call from Dr Lee at Mayo that has us rushing him to ER —they now tell us it’s in his Brain with Swelling. He will need radiation too asap.
We get to ER in Macon and they have his info from Mayo. They get him to ER room and get him ready for Steroids to reduce brain swelling.
5am we finally get to a room admitted to hospital.

3/13- they gave him steroids and anti seizure meds and a med to stop blood clots. Stayed another day.

3/14- we were hopeful he was going to get radiation today but did not. Dr young came in and released him and said we could have radiation in Milledgeville tomorrow.

3/15 radiation did not work out due to scheduling and insurance approval ( of course it’s all about the insurance)

3/16 Radiation appointment is scheduled for 10:30 am in Milledgeville

And now the Journal entries begin….Click Journal tab