JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Brian's FB post and surgery news

Brian's Post at 11:19pm 12/24/19

Hi Everyone!

I realized that some of you were still wondering what was up. Well Christmas came early for me and I made it through the difficult surgery and finally I am home from the hospital.

Linda is working all night (Christmas Eve into Christmas Day) so I am hanging at home in my well worn chair getting ready to watch Scrooge (1970s musical version with Albert Finney, one of my favorites) with a friend on the other side of the country who I have known 43 years! So send Linda some Facebook love and celebrate virtually the Christmas miracle that came early for us as most of you and your encouragement were a tangible part of it. We're All In This Together. Just Plain Folks. Onward! Ever Forward.

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!!



Brian's Post at 6:54pm 12/20/19



Hi Folks,

Just a quick update. I had some setbacks/complications. I am still in the hospital until at least tommorow. I'll spare the gory details (and they're gory). When I have more energy I will explain it when it is firmly in the rearview mirror. Right now we're just not there yet.

Thanks to all, you really boosted me. It will likely be (according to the Drs.) after New Years until I am my old self again. I can't wait. Christmas already came early for us. The rest is the cherry on top!

Onward, ever forward!

Brian


Brian's Post at 8:24pm 12/3/19

BIG NEWS!

After months of huge ups and downs and Dr after Dr with dire and often conflicting opinions I believe I have settled on the best team to conduct my risky surgery and importantly Linda and I got them to move it up to Dec 16th.

Every day that has gone by has made it a little more risky so this is big. Additionally they (my team of Drs.) have agreed to be super aggressive with their protection of me. It does bring in new risks (like bleeding to death) but it will cut the window of time I am naked to having a massive stroke to a few hours instead of the usual 6-12.

Okay, so enough of the TMI. I have a level of optimism I have not felt since August when I was hanging out with my granddaughter in the Wisconsin Dells. Now I feel confident I will dodge death for the 22nd time! (I will have to write a summary of all the previous close calls). It has been a somewhat unbelievable trip, even to me. There is only one possible explanation I can think of:

I am supposed to still be here because my work is not yet done!

I have SO many plans and ideas and so much love to share. I have my beautiful wife and son and daughter in law and the world's cutest granddaughter. And I have all of you... my friends and extended family and you've been there for me through some of my darkest moments. I see the path ahead and it's bright and exciting. I see a rebirth of sorts.

Thanks to all of you for demonstrating that indeed it's a wonderful life and I believe there's so much more to come!

EVER FORWARD... ONWARD...

WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!
JUST PLAIN FOLKS



Brian's Post at 2:30pm 11/8/19

Hi Folks, I've had many requests for health updates as I've had some challenges and ever continuing ups and downs and twists and turns over the past couple months. To keep friends and family with me on the chaotic roller coaster of my recent health was becoming too much for me and too much stress for the people I care about so I pulled in the reigns a bit.

I will report, however, after getting too many non answers and/or grim prognostications I finally had the opportunity for a second opinion offered to me so in two weeks I have the dreaded evaluation by my surgeon followed immediately by my second opinion Dr. I say "dreaded" because it may then be revealed what options are actually on the table, good, bad or non existent and that will be as real as it gets.

It's a little nerve wracking watching the hours tick down towards those two meetings. . . but your collective check ins, funny stories and Live performances really boosted me in some tough circumstances over the past month and also reminded me of just a snippet of the wonderful friends I have made around the world doing what I love. Thank you all for proving me right over all these years.

"They think they're coming because of the music but if we're successful many of them will leave with new real life friends, actual peers they can grow and thrive with and in the end that's the best result anyone could hope for" -Brian Austin Whitney, explaining Just Plain Folks gatherings in a Singer Magazine interview 2003.

Learn, Succeed, Thrive! We're All In This Together. Just Plain Folks


Brian Edited his post at 3:00pm 10/28/19

Update: So I am not wanting to jinx a good thing or get ahead of my skis so I will cautiously say I have just experienced a miracle!

I have a failing mundane organ which can't be removed and which appeared to be spiraling quickly and aggressively downward. That left intervention at a minimum which could have immediately caused full on emergency removal surgery with all its risks. But one option was never presented to me until I was on the table. And miraculously it turned out to be what happened.

My little ailing organ which was putting my life in jeopardy had magically started working almost with normalcy. The symptoms caused by this suggested internal leakage, breech of the drainline or a myriad of other horrendous possibilities. In the end moments after injecting some dye into it it demonstrated relatively normal operation for the first time in weeks.

Now this isn't all flowers and lollipops. I still have very real and dangerous procedures to get past in 4 weeks. But this news is so overwhelmingly good compared to how it all started and completely took the immediate life or death danger away hopefully until the next stage in 4 weeks.

The only prickly point I don't want to look past is we don't know why this happened almost instantly rather than gradually as would normally be the case. This is why I am still here. But then I was twice in this hospital where they sent a chaplain to tell Linda I was dead yet I shockingly sprang back to life or the time they informed us in 2010 that I had had an unsurvivable stroke and had less than 3 days to live, at the end of which they said I had apparently had a unique physiology that somehow allowed me to live and they released me to our astonishment to go home.

That said there's still a long way to go and so I respect the challenge ahead and with all of you on my side I like my chances!

Positive thoughts and funny stories welcome as always. The laughs always help.

Love to all!


Brian's Post at 6:30am 10/28/19


Update: I am being readmitted to the hospital. It's a very serious situation. I may have no other option but to risk massive stroke to have a procedure as everything has turned unexpectedly South. I will update if I can

Not a lot of inspirational chatter to offer as this is a worst case scenario I am about to face. I don't know what will be waiting for me on the other side of this mess but I am going to do my best to be around for Linda, Bryce and Kayla and Dani and I hope all those who care about me will be there for them as well.

Positive thoughts and funny stories welcome!



Brian's Post at 3:00am, 10/28/19

Heading back to ER... Another bump in the road....sigh...


Brian's Post at 12:45 p.m. 10/20/19

A day in a life...

So this photo is 9 hours per day of my time. Additionally there's another 2 hours of procedures twice a week and another 30 minutes or so daily on top of it. It is all broken up into thirds at 8am, 4pm and Midnight. Of course this doesn't count the daily regimen I additionally fulfill as part of the cost of "doing business" which in my case means staying alive.

Odd that such important stuff becomes so predictably mundane but there you have it.

So on a good day I get 5 hours of sleep usually minus 30-60 minutes for miscellaneous stuff (like writing this post) that gets in the way. I usually fall asleep for an hour or so at some additionally random moment hoping it isn't at the wrong critical time when something else is supposed to be happening.

Fortunately my awesome wife carefully wrote out far superior step by step instructions for her "oh so literal minded" husband who needs it all spelled out exactly. Having someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses so well is critical to keeping you alive and without complications. These are things that mere health care professionals can't begin to (or in most cases care to) understand.

So no bleeding to death for me nor deadly infection due to shoddy self care (at least not yet). I have a barely working dominant left hand and an akwardly limited right hand that has to "operate" on itself over and over yet we've made it work. It is teamwork, even though Linda is slaving away down the road all night or trying to catch a few hours of sleep between 12 hour shifts during her 84 hour work week while much of it happens.

These are just SOME of the daily things we're doing... An inch at a time... Onward....Ever forward. Relentless by necessity... Out of love and determination. For those of you playing along... The bottom line is this: FIND A WAY. Don't let the plethora of excuses and run of the mill roadblocks get in your way. Find a way and implement it. You'll succeed. Then you'll win.

Learn, Succeed, Thrive... We're All In This Together. Just Plain Folks.



Brian's Post at 6:00p.m., 10/17/19

Hi Folks! First, thanks for all the prayers and well wishes. I can say without question they made a difference as I pushed through some life or death challenges. Thank you ALL!

So I am well into the alternative 6-8 week process which avoided the dangerous surgery in lieu of an optimistic less invasive methodical approach that will hopefully buy time versus the super dangerous cure.

Ironically this is a tiny bit like the approach I suggest to artists trying to establish a career for the long term when making the giant leap towards A+ list success just isn't possible.

By taking tiny but relentless steps forward our hope is I can arrive at a less ideal but still workable life. A music career is often just like this if you accept the biggest most desirable result (cured and healthy for me versus wildly famous and popular for you) might not be in the cards. We both have additional pathways to get to do what we love for as long as possible.

Be open to the path less traveled. It may save your life or it may save your dream of making money and building a life doing what you love. When I first proposed the "5000 Fan Theory" in the 90s it was groundbreaking. Now it's a common sense methodical approach towards affordable and sustainable career building. Now I get to use that methodology to try and save my own life and future.

Let's all do it together! Ever Forward. Ever Forward. Unblinking, head down, methodical. Your career, my life. Join me! Onward. Ever Forward.

Brian Austin Whitney, taking it all back an inch at a time! Ever forward. And thankfully your love and support are carrying me on my way!

Thank you all from the bottom of my still ticking heart!


Brian's Post at 2:30p.m., 10/11/19

Okay.... So some days are two steps forward one step back, some are two forward and three back. Today has been four steps forward with my toes outside the hospital door then a tug on my cape and ten steps back.

But... I'm still here... I still have chances just with more challenges. This is now going to be a long term battle of inches. My goal is "ever forward." EVER FORWARD. I am getting it locked into my brain. Ever forward...ever forward... Ever Forward.

Ever forward. Past the roadblocks for they do not apply to me. Ever forward because within the noise and cacaphony of a hospital there is genius and kindness and hope if you care to see it even in despair. Ever forward because to stop, to cease, to withdraw, to raise the white flag is to turn your back on your true nature and that's just not applicable.

Ever forward, the little engine that could chugs along with new burdens to bear but with the same optimism he used on his happiest haul over the familiar ground of that exhaulted mountain he's climbed with joy in his heart time and again.

EVER FORWARD... Ever Forward...ever forward...it is the ONLY way to reach the destination you seek.

Ever forward.

Thanks to all who are on this ride with me.

PS: On the good side it looks like I am going to get more quality time with my beautiful size 16 red non-slip hospital socks!



Brian's Post at 9:22p.m. 10/9/19

Update: I am still here. The stroke danger will not resolve for some time and there are some tough calls I must still make. I can't tell you how important your combined love, reminiscences and support has bolstered me through some of the toughest decisions and obstacles of my life.

What would have been routine for most of you has been just the opposite for me. Bottom line is my chances of surviving surgery were so low that they wouldn't do it so I am faced with new risks, challenges and realities that I am still sorting out. We've put a bandaid on it for now.

One thing is for certain I feel a bit like George Bailey... I've had a wonderful life and it's apparent it still is!


Brian's Post at 11:00a.m. 10/9/2019

Update: 90 minutes until I go into operating theater. Then another hour. The highest just started and should be over if all goes well 2pm Eastern Standard time. Should be totally out of the deep end by late tonight.


Brian's Post at 9:40a.m. 10/9/19

It looks like I am going back for the procedure very soon.....


Linda's Post on Facebook 10/8/19, 11:00pm

he is going to have a drain put into his gall bladder to start. It's severely infected, but he is too high risk to remove it. There is a good chance that he will have to risk the removal in 6-8 weeks. For you or I it would be very straight forward, he is very complicated though. There is still a high chance of excess bleeding with this approach. I just hope it doesn't rupture before they get to it



LINDA'S (his wife) UPDATE 8:30pm, 10/8/19 on Facebook:

they haven't been able to do the surgery yet due to blood thinners. Now he is at a level they can do it and everyone is gone. He is in so much pain and seems to be getting worse. I just hope he doesn't get septic before they do the surgery. I'm scared to leave him tonight.


Brian's Facebook UPDATE at 3:00p.m. 10/8/19

Update: They are still dealing with some complications so it will likelt be last of the day (hope they aren't itching for happy hour) or push into tommorow. I feel a bit like an overtime football game: Very stressed but hopeful!



Brian's Facebook post 10/8/19


Sooooo.... I am awaiting the first of two "emergent" surgeries. I am told the first has a high risk of fatal stroke while the second has a high risk of death by stroke. Trying to keep a positive attitude with odds only a Vegas casino would love is no small request.

First surgery is in a couple hours. The second (should the first go well) will come later this month.

Our health care system is broken but it is what we're stuck with. I am surrounded by many amazing people and some that I wouldn't trust to operate on my lunch. It all comes down to random luck of the draw, especially when I was told they have "40 of these operations to do and only the staff and time for 20" so I needed to get in line if I wanted a chance to have life saving surgery at all.

I was in the middle of corporate bickering because the amazing doc who saved my life in 2010 and ever since then didn't have "priveledges" so some staff here refused to even consult with him. Fortunately after I pushed back hard they did speak with him and completely changed their approach. It is still all very risky but at least he has given me a window of a chance.

Should things not work out so well it has been an amazing life and I thank all of you who have been part of it all. Please be supportive to my wife, son, daughter in law, and the world's cutest granddaughter!!! All of them plus all my family and you friends out there have made it all so rich and rewarding that most of you just have no idea.

I've made it through deadly strokes with a 0 percent survival rate (no joke), a near fatal bout with kidney failure, getting hit broadside by a train where weeks later 7 kids were killed at the same crossing, getting hit by lightning, fighting through a poisonous spider bite in first grade that nearly ended things there as well as brushes with 7 tornadoes, nearly going off a mountain road in a motorhome in Spain with a sheer cliff below, a confrontation with a killer street gang in Baltimore and much more.

Someone has been either trying hard to kill me or to keep me alive. I choose to hope for the latter at this crossroads. I am more worried this time around than any of the others because I feared this specific scenario above all others for a decade and because I feel like I have more to live for than ever before.

Here's hoping that this will become another war story around a campfire somewhere exciting surrounded by you all!

Much love to you all!