Yes, Melinda.  Eric is the father of Katie, Donna's neice.  Katie was
at the U of Michigan and just graduated last year, I believe.  Donna
has been close to her.
Thank you to everyone who has responded.  I know that Donna
appreciates all the good thoughts and prayers for her and her family.
They really need them.  I will copy the posts and send them on to
Donna.  I did that same thing when people responded when she was in
the hospital.  It means a whole lot to her when people are thinking of
her.  She hasn't been able to be online because of her health problems
and due to her wrists and hands giving her a lot of trouble lately.
Take care,
Carol

I thought you were Matilda! <gasp>

---
Joan

LOL  Nann, you can be me if you wanna be!!

Good to see you on again, Donna.  You will remain in our prayers.  We love
ya, lady!

DeeTee
________________________________
DeeTee and Bob Taggart
http://www.marykay.com/dtaggart3

________________________________

Oh, wow, thank you so very, very much you guys! You can never know
how very much your thoughts, prayers, and good wishes have meant.

Thanks also to those of you who sent cards, called me, sent private
emails, etc.

I am/was so touched by all of your lovely gestures.

It was two weeks ago, thursday, that my brother died so suddenly of a
brain aneurysm at the base of his brain stem. He was at school
teaching when it happened, and the doctors said he probably never knew
what hit him, and for him, that is a blessing. He never had to
suffer at all.

They said that aneurysms located at the base of your brain stem are
almost always fatal if they rupture and that even if my brother had been
at the hospital when it happened, they wouldn't have been able to save
him. He was kept on life support for about 36 hours afterwards so
that his organs could be donated. He donated both kidneys, his
liver, his pancrease, his spleen, both lungs, both cornea's and some
valves from his heart. They weren't able to use the heart itself as
he had pretty bad heart disease that no one even knew about!

I also had a first cousin who collapsed just a couple of days before my
brother, Eric, did, and she collapsed of a brain aneurysm as well. Very,
very spooky.

Her aneurysm was located in a different part of the brain, and she made
it through her surgery. She is still in ICU and on a vent, but seems
to be able to recognize everyone so far. We are praying for her
recovery as well as praying for all the people who received my brothers
organs. We pray that each of them will NOT reject their new organs and
that they will all go on to lead happy, healthy lives.

As for the rest of my family and myself, we are all still grappling with
this sudden and devastating loss and trying to come to terms with it
all. It still all seems like a bad dream, but we know it isn't a
dream.

As always happens, even in our darkest times, there have been many a
blessing throughout this ordeal. We are all thankful that my brother
never suffered. We are thankful for the incredibly compassionate staff
at the hospital that cared for my brother---they were simply amazing. We
are thankful that my brother was able to donate his organs to help
others, We are thankful for our families and the support we can all
share with each other. We are thankful for friends who have poured out
so much love in so many different ways to us all. We are very
thankful for our faith and the ability to share that with each other and
to hold on to that now to get us through these difficult days, weeks,
and months that lie ahead. We are thankful to the school district
where he taught, as they closed down both the middle school and the high
school the day of my brothers funeral to allow all the students and
staff to attend. The students were truly amazing in their
outpourings of love. And, the list could go on for quite some time. So
many true blessings during such a devastating time.
WOW!!!

I personally am thanful for the blessing of having such wonderful and
compassionate doctors.   When the call came that my brother was gone, I
emailed my lung doctor and told him I would be traveling up north (a 5
hour drive) and that the weather would be quite a bit different up
there, that I knew I wouldn't get much sleep, and that having just come
home from the hospital myself, I was a little worried about how my
health would hold up.   He immediately emailed me back and told me to go
back up to 60 mg of pred and to stay on that dose as long as I was up
there and then to call him 2-3 days after I returned home and we would
restart my pred taper.   I then called my RD and said I have a knee that
is so swollen and so painful that I can hardly stand on it.   Bless his
heart, he had me come in the next morning before I left town and
injected it.   He also told me that if anything else was hurting to tell
him then, and he would inject it as he didn't want me to have to be
hurting at all from my RA as I had enough other stuff to contend with.
He gave me a big hug and sent me off out the door.   Man oh man was I
thankful to my RD and my lung doctor!!!

Anyways, all of my brothers will now undergo testing via either MRI, CT
scan, or angiogram to check for brain aneurysms since there can be a
hereditary component to aneurysms, and since both my brother and a first
cousin collapsed so close together, the doctors have recommended the
testing for my brothers. Since my sister and I were both adopted, we
don't need to be tested.

Now, if I could only get some sleep at night!!!

I have not been sleeping at all, and finally went and saw my pcp
yesterday. He called in an rx for something to help me sleep. He called
in Ambien. Haven't tried it yet. Any of you on this? How
does it work for you if you are on it? Any advice good or bad???

Thanks again for all of your love and support. It really means the
world to me.

And, to answer some of your questions, yes, this was the brother who was
father to my niece Katie.   Katie seems to be holding up amazingly well
through all of this, but as the holidays approach, I think it will hit
her even more.   Bless her heart, she was the one who called me to let
me know what was going on and then had me call the rest of the family.
Ugggh.    Please continue to keep my SIL (Shelly), my niece, Katie, and
my nephew, Troy in your prayers.   I can't even imagine how difficult it
is for them to go home every night and know that Eric won't be walking
through the door.

No, this is not the brother who takes me in sometimes when I get real
sick.

Blessings to all of you again for your love and support through all of
this, and thanks also for all of your prayers and support when I was in
the hospital.

I'm sorry I haven't been a very good friend to all of you as of late.
I do continue to think of all of you and keep you in my prayers!   I
just haven't been around much as my hands have been so bad lately and
the RA has really been giving me all kinds of fits.   It was kind of
funny, when I was in the hospital in the ICU getting IV steroids, I
suddenly realized that I didn't hurt anymore and that my joints felt the
best they had in a very long time.   Sure was very nice to get the short
reprieve from the horrendous pain I had been having!

Saw the orthopedic surgeon.   I need tendon releases on both index
fingers because of the constant triggering.   Also need reconstructive
surgery on both thumbs, but for now he had the PT people make special
braces for my thumbs and we are hoping we can buy a little more time
with the thumbs.   Ouch!

Anyways, know that even if I am not arround, I am still thinking of you
and praying for all of you and wishing you all pain free days!!!

Blessings to you my friends!!!
.

Donna G.
.
.

ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call
them FRIENDS......

Donna G.
.
.
.
ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call
them FRIENDS......

used Ambien and found the last time just recently that if I
take the whole tablet (10 mg), I still feel droopy the next day.  I now cut
them in half and it works just as well for me and I'm fine the next day.
Don't take it until you start to get in the bed, however, because it does
work fast!  Hope you can get some good, relaxing sleep.
All of your family are in my prayers.
Gwen

Oh, wow, thank you so very, very much you guys! You can never know
how very much your thoughts, prayers, and good wishes have meant.

Thanks also to those of you who sent cards, called me, sent private
emails, etc.

I am/was so touched by all of your lovely gestures.

It was two weeks ago, thursday, that my brother died so suddenly of a
brain aneurysm at the base of his brain stem. He was at school
teaching when it happened, and the doctors said he probably never knew
what hit him, and for him, that is a blessing. He never had to
suffer at all.

They said that aneurysms located at the base of your brain stem are
almost always fatal if they rupture and that even if my brother had been
at the hospital when it happened, they wouldn't have been able to save
him. He was kept on life support for about 36 hours afterwards so
that his organs could be donated. He donated both kidneys, his
liver, his pancrease, his spleen, both lungs, both cornea's and some
valves from his heart. They weren't able to use the heart itself as
he had pretty bad heart disease that no one even knew about!

I also had a first cousin who collapsed just a couple of days before my
brother, Eric, did, and she collapsed of a brain aneurysm as well. Very,
very spooky.

Her aneurysm was located in a different part of the brain, and she made
it through her surgery. She is still in ICU and on a vent, but seems
to be able to recognize everyone so far. We are praying for her
recovery as well as praying for all the people who received my brothers
organs. We pray that each of them will NOT reject their new organs and
that they will all go on to lead happy, healthy lives.

As for the rest of my family and myself, we are all still grappling with
this sudden and devastating loss and trying to come to terms with it
all. It still all seems like a bad dream, but we know it isn't a
dream.

As always happens, even in our darkest times, there have been many a
blessing throughout this ordeal. We are all thankful that my brother
never suffered. We are thankful for the incredibly compassionate staff
at the hospital that cared for my brother---they were simply amazing. We
are thankful that my brother was able to donate his organs to help
others, We are thankful for our families and the support we can all
share with each other. We are thankful for friends who have poured out
so much love in so many different ways to us all. We are very
thankful for our faith and the ability to share that with each other and
to hold on to that now to get us through these difficult days, weeks,
and months that lie ahead. We are thankful to the school district
where he taught, as they closed down both the middle school and the high
school the day of my brothers funeral to allow all the students and
staff to attend. The students were truly amazing in their
outpourings of love. And, the list could go on for quite some time. So
many true blessings during such a devastating time.
WOW!!!

I personally am thanful for the blessing of having such wonderful and
compassionate doctors.   When the call came that my brother was gone, I
emailed my lung doctor and told him I would be traveling up north (a 5
hour drive) and that the weather would be quite a bit different up
there, that I knew I wouldn't get much sleep, and that having just come
home from the hospital myself, I was a little worried about how my
health would hold up.   He immediately emailed me back and told me to go
back up to 60 mg of pred and to stay on that dose as long as I was up
there and then to call him 2-3 days after I returned home and we would
restart my pred taper.   I then called my RD and said I have a knee that
is so swollen and so painful that I can hardly stand on it.   Bless his
heart, he had me come in the next morning before I left town and
injected it.   He also told me that if anything else was hurting to tell
him then, and he would inject it as he didn't want me to have to be
hurting at all from my RA as I had enough other stuff to contend with.
He gave me a big hug and sent me off out the door.   Man oh man was I
thankful to my RD and my lung doctor!!!

Anyways, all of my brothers will now undergo testing via either MRI, CT
scan, or angiogram to check for brain aneurysms since there can be a
hereditary component to aneurysms, and since both my brother and a first
cousin collapsed so close together, the doctors have recommended the
testing for my brothers. Since my sister and I were both adopted, we
don't need to be tested.

Now, if I could only get some sleep at night!!!

I have not been sleeping at all, and finally went and saw my pcp
yesterday. He called in an rx for something to help me sleep. He called
in Ambien. Haven't tried it yet. Any of you on this? How
does it work for you if you are on it? Any advice good or bad???

Thanks again for all of your love and support. It really means the
world to me.

And, to answer some of your questions, yes, this was the brother who was
father to my niece Katie.   Katie seems to be holding up amazingly well
through all of this, but as the holidays approach, I think it will hit
her even more.   Bless her heart, she was the one who called me to let
me know what was going on and then had me call the rest of the family.
Ugggh.    Please continue to keep my SIL (Shelly), my niece, Katie, and
my nephew, Troy in your prayers.   I can't even imagine how difficult it
is for them to go home every night and know that Eric won't be walking
through the door.

No, this is not the brother who takes me in sometimes when I get real
sick.

Blessings to all of you again for your love and support through all of
this, and thanks also for all of your prayers and support when I was in
the hospital.

I'm sorry I haven't been a very good friend to all of you as of late.
I do continue to think of all of you and keep you in my prayers!   I
just haven't been around much as my hands have been so bad lately and
the RA has really been giving me all kinds of fits.   It was kind of
funny, when I was in the hospital in the ICU getting IV steroids, I
suddenly realized that I didn't hurt anymore and that my joints felt the
best they had in a very long time.   Sure was very nice to get the short
reprieve from the horrendous pain I had been having!

Saw the orthopedic surgeon.   I need tendon releases on both index
fingers because of the constant triggering.   Also need reconstructive
surgery on both thumbs, but for now he had the PT people make special
braces for my thumbs and we are hoping we can buy a little more time
with the thumbs.   Ouch!

Anyways, know that even if I am not arround, I am still thinking of you
and praying for all of you and wishing you all pain free days!!!

Blessings to you my friends!!!
.

Donna G.
.
.

ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call
them FRIENDS......

Donna G.
.
.
.
ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call
them FRIENDS......

Welcome back Donna!

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of yout brother.

If you ever need to talk or etc, send me your telephone number and I
would be happy to talk with you. It sounds as though your brother was
well loved and well respected. Also he died while doing something he
loved-teaching.

It does help knowing that the organs went to someone who needed them
and  a part of him will live on in that special way. I know that when
my nephew died, my sister and brother in law were comforted with the
thought that someone could benefit from his corneas (that was all that
was viable).

Please know that you and your family have been in our thoughts and
prayers and will continue to be, during this difficult time.
    Rose   @}>->--
    Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB

    Please remove "Ima" to reply.

((((Donna))))

You and your family have my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your
brother and continuing prayers for your cousin.

You remain in my prayers on a daily basis and I worry when you are gone for
even a short time. It's so good to see you here again.

I have a script for Ambien 5 mg. tablets, which I cut in half and take on an
'as needed' basis, which is about 2-3 days a week. I find that I don't
really have trouble falling asleep, but in staying asleep, or getting back
to sleep after waking to use the bathroom, etc. The Ambien works great for
me and I don't feel at all hungover or groggy the next day.

I hope it works great for you and you get some much deserved sleep.

Love,
Kelly C.

Oh Donna,

it is good to hear from you.

I am sorry you have had to go thru all this with your family. I am still
sending prayers and good thoughts for you and your family. I am sorry to
hear that your first cousin also had a problem with the brain aneurysms
also. I hope she heals quickly and recovers totally. That is a scary thing
to have happen. I hope the rest of your family that gets tested will not
have problems found.

You are such an inspiration, with all that you are dealing with you always
see the blessings in it also. I wish I were more like you.
You are one heck of a strong lady. I hope you know that.

I am so glad your lung dr and RD worked with you like that. That is great to
hear. Not many drs would do that.

I hope you get something to help with the sleep and can get some sleep soon.

You are in my heart, thoughts, prayers. Lots of hugs, TLC, etc coming your
way.