Hello beautiful friends and family. This site is to keep you updated on Caeser’s journey to good health.
Last Sunday, January 14, 2024, he was not feeling well. After church he came home, did not eat dinner, and was complaining of stomach problems and fatigue. He had an elevated temperature as well. At the time, we thought maybe he was starting get the flu. But he continued to get weaker, have a fever, not eat much, and then began to have nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. This lasted for several days. We realized he had an infection (caused by an ingrown hair) that was the cause of his sickness - not the flu. As Caeser wanted to wait another day or so to see if he got better, we didn’t go to the ER. But rather, I called our doctor in hopes that he could get him into a specialist quickly.
But as Caeser became weaker and had difficulty walking, we decided to call an ambulance. In the ER one of our friends who was a surgeon, overheard Caeser's name and immediately became involved and began taking care of him. He brought Caeser into surgery and removed the infection. That is the power of God, who had complete control of the situation. We found that Caesar had necrotizing fasciitis. that was growing like a wildfire. His wound is very large and will take months to heal. We are grateful though, because this could have ended much worse.
He entered the ER on Friday, Jan 19th at Community Hospital North, and at that time he was relatively stabilized.
On Saturday Jan 20th, he was still battling fever, nausea, and also high blood sugars and low urine output. His kidneys were starting to shut down.
On Sunday morning, Jan 21st, I received a call early in the morning from the nurse saying his kidney functions are getting worse and to get to the hospital immediately, and call in all our kids, even the ones in Cincinnati, as the situation was dire. They took Caeser back for another emergency surgery as the infection in his body was rampant again, so the surgeon had to remove more tissue. He continued to be very nauseous, sleepy, with blood sugars, and wasn’t allowed to eat or drink. They put him on an insulin drip due to hyperosmolar hyperglycemia (critical condition related to diabetes). He also was experiencing stomach pains due to ulcerative colitis. His kidney functions began to decline. The treatment continued with antibiotics to alleviate the infection, along with having a CT and ultrasound of his abdomen to see if possibly, there was another source of the infection. These scans came back negative, praise God. His nausea started to subside, and his kidneys started to work – but his kidney labs were still critical and the doctor began discussing dialysis if no improvement was seen. At this time, they were continuing to monitor his wound, and prepared us for the need of a third surgery on Tuesday. That evening, there was a beautiful Divine Mercy prayed for Caeser at OLMC before the 5:30pm Mass (the Mass that Caeser regularly leads the music ensemble), and also a Holy Rosary prayed for him after Mass. For those that aren’t familiar with the Divine Mercy prayer, it is prayed in the midst of suffering or sin, in order to ask for God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness, and it is based on the Diary of St. Faustina Kowalska and the Apostles’ Creed. (Note: See the link below to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet set to music written and arranged by Caeser).
On Monday January 22nd, Caeser slept most of the day, as his body tried to heal. His stats, urine output and sugars continued to be monitored.
Yesterday morning, Tuesday January 23rd, he received a dialysis catheter in the event he did need dialysis after his scheduled surgery. The doctor came in before the surgery and said his labs came back showing slight improvement, so he didn’t need dialysis at this point. He got through surgery well and the surgeon believes that he got all of the bacteria, which means Caeser should not need another surgery. We just need to wait for the antibiotics to kill the rest of the infection and watch for continued improvement of his kidney functions. A joyful thing we would like to share is that Caeser was cleared to drink, and his first request was a cold beer, but that was off the table (LOL) – so he had the next best thing – a Diet Coke, which he thoroughly enjoyed! In fact, his exact words were, “What a glorious moment – to be able to drink that cold bottle of Diet Coke!! I can’t wait to have a cooler of Diet Coke brought in here today! (Yes, we are arranging it so he has as much Diet Coke as he wants today!!)
Our family would like to thank all of the prayer warriors out there, everyone who dropped off food and flowers at the house, and came and sat with us. There have been countless prayers being said all around the world! We know in our hearts that it is only by the Grace of God that Caeser is improving each day. Thank you - we love you all!
I will continue to provide updates on here. Please feel free to forward the link to this Caring Bridge site/link to others.
God bless you,
Jane Swidan
More information:
1) Link to a Meal Train Calendar:
https://mealtrain.com/znd9qd2) Link to Divine Mercy Chaplet set to music written and arranged by Caeser, and recorded 25 years ago by Caeser, Father Richard Doerr, Jane, Tony MacDonald, and Sarah Sansone:
https://soundcloud.com/olmc-parish/divine-mercy-chaplet-kayser-swidan 
