We have detected that JavaScript is currently disabled. CaringBridge is best viewed with JavaScript enabled.

Dustin’s Story

Site created on January 24, 2019

Welcome to Dustin Flynn's CaringBridge website. We are using this site to keep family and friends updated since it is hard to continuously give separate updates to everyone. We appreciate and cannot thank everyone enough for everyones' support, prayers, and words of encouragement during this time.

NOTE: Dustin's phone has been off for the last week. His day to day is filled with almost total brain rest. He just lays in a dark quiet room to try and avoid an increase in headache.

Here is a timeline of how everything happened. Medical diagnosis: Nonaneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

1/14, Monday Night - after getting into the hotel in NY very late, dustin just leaned over and when he stood up his head started to hurt. Overnight it continued to become the worst headache he as ever had with nausea, vomiting, etc.

1/15 - Tuesday - rested a lot of the day with the terrible headache and then tried to work the game that night but had to rest a lot and didnt feel like eating all day. Traveled to Boston after the game

1/16 - Wednesday - Dustin wasn't able to sleep or eat still and headache continued to be awful, so he was seen by the Bruins internal Med doctor. After consulting with the doctors here in St Louis, it was decided he should get a CT scan to r/o a large range of concerns. CT scan came back showing there was a small amount of blood in subarachnoid space of the brain and he needed to be admitted to Mass General for more testing. That night he had a CT with contrast which confirmed the blood. He was put on a variety of medications to manage pain, hydrate, and keep BP down. He did not have much relief that night.

1/17 - Thursday - Cranial Angiogram done which came back clean. They do these to r/o the potential serious causes of a hemorrhage such as an aneurysm or an abnormality that could have caused this hemorrhage. Still trying to find medicines to give him some relief. Ate for the first time since Monday.

1/18 - Friday - Trans cranial doppler to look at blood vessels to make sure there is no vasospasm / constriction of the blood vessels that would be limiting blood and oxygen to the brain and this came back normal as well. This day was the worst headache thus far. He could barely talk because talking hurt so much. He was given some very strong IV narcotics to help with the pain.

1/19 and 1/20 - Saturday & Sunday - finally got pain under control and was able to eat more.

1/21 - Monday - still in pain with his headache but cleared to travel and given pain meds. At this point Dustin just wanted to get home so he could rest in his own house. He was instructed to follow up with a neurosurgeon in st louis

1/22 & 1/23 - Tuesday & Wednesday - pretty good days. Able to get through most of the day with just tylenol and even came downstairs to eat dinner at the table.

1/24 - routine follow up cranial angiogram procedure. He woke up this morning in the most pain he has been in since this all started. We assumed at the time it was because he was no food or drink after midnight and had not taken any medicine since midnight either. When we got to the hospital for the procedure we had to wait 3 hours to get called back and the pain kept getting worse. The angiogram ended up showing vasospam in the blood vessels so while they were in there they injected a medicine directly into the blood vessels that were constricted to attempt to relax them. He was then admitted to the hospital for monitoring, medications, and pain management.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Nancy Flynn — Feb 2, 2019

Dustin was cleared to start easing back into work. He went on the road trip with the team and is working as tolerated with rests in between on the long game days. He continues to have some pressure in his head but very minimal pain. The travel and working has not increased this. His main complaint right now is how tired he is. That is expected after being in bed 95% of the time for 2 weeks. He will be on a vasodilator med for the next couple weeks as a precaution to increase cerebral blood flow, but the doctors are confident that this will resolve soon and have no long term effects or increased risk of another episode. It will just take a little more time for the symptoms to completely resolve and for him to feel like himself again.

Dustin will follow up with the neurosurgeon in 1 month. Until then his only restriction is no heavy lifting. This will effect some parts of his job but mostly he will have to put down the weights in the gym for now.

We are so appreciative of all the support, thoughts, and prayers from everyone. We are thankful that Dustin is doing so well now and we are looking forward to this all being behind us.

Read More of the journal titled "Back to work"

Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.

Help Dustin Stay Connected to Family and Friends

A $25 donation powers a page like Dustin's for two weeks.

If you donate by May 12, your gift will be doubled, up to $10,000, thanks to a gift from Living Water Foundation.

Comments Hide comments

Read More Journal Entries

Show Your Support

See the Ways to Help page to get even more involved.

Personal Fundraiser

Support Links

Helpful Requests

Go to Ways to Help