Wow! I am in awe of our community, its faith, and the outpouring of love showed to Brett by praying for him while reading my post yesterday. I usually get between 50-100 hits on my blog per day, and my daily record was 206 hits in one day. Yesterday, the post requesting prayers for Brett Miller received over 3,500 hits. Thank you for all your prayers.
Here is what Brett posted on his CaringBridge webpagethis morning:
Brett, Lydia, and Malena. Photo from Brett's CaringBridge website
It is 5:53 A.M. and I thought being the day of my surgery and a long prayer chain about to begin that I would kick it off by saying a prayer for all of you involved in making this a reality. Also I hope God is giving special power and strength on this day to the surgeon team that they have the strength and wisdom to perform at their best!
God has truly blessed me thru 29 years of my life and I am thankful to all my family, friends, co-workers, students, aquaintances and anyone else who has had me in their thoughts and prayers thru this past week! I wasn’t aware how many people whose lives I have touched in so many ways that they have gone above and beyond asking for God to watch over me, simply stunning guys, simply stunning! Please God give me the strength and courage to display my gratitude at some point towards all of you who have helped lift me up to levels of strength I never imagined I had. It is simply proof that God does amazing things and thru the past week he has kept my spirits as high as ever, and often times I had forgotten that anything was wrong with me to begin with. Having Lydia, Malena, both sets of parents, Lindsay, and all the calls, texts, and messages from everyone rolling in has just had me as happy as ever, on cloud nine, experiencing a small taste of what I imagine heaven would be like. I may not be the luckiest man in the world, but surely I am pretty close, maybe even in the top 5% or so.
Reality is beginning to set in some as I know I am T-minus 3 hours from check in at the hospital and not sure if I fully understand the whole process yet. How much will this hurt, how long will I be out of it, will the pain go away shortly after? I know I am a strong person both physically and mentally but even I am scared with what I am facing. It is hard to believe the restrictions I will be facing such as not lifting more than 10 pounds for six weeks! I can’t even hold my precious baby Malena and walk her around, maybe I can push her in the laundry basket still when we get back home. It sounds like I will have someone set up to monitor me 24/7 for a few days b/c those of you who know me can only imagine I’ll have a hard time being able to sit still and not do the things I know I can. I will get to walk for my exercise within a couple days so at least I won’t be completely inactive, but no running or weight training will be hard on me. By the time I get back to weight training class most of my students will have passed me up by then. So those of you who enjoy working out, get an extra lap or set in on occasion for me if possible.
I am thankful for Laura (my sister-in-law) for keeping updates for everyone on this site. My sister Lindsay who is here with me does a great job relaying the news for her to post. I sit and take it all in but could never explain the whole thing the way they do. Thought I would make one thing clear about all the talk about how awesome these 2 different surgeons we have met with, it is very true. Both Dr. Ball and Vangumpel are awesome, very gifted surgeons from hearing them speak.The whole part about being so good-looking (Mcdreamy) or whatever those thoughts never once entered my mind. Don’t get me wrong they are no bus station skanks, but they are no Adam Wainwright either, LOL! So good news about the surgery procedure that I was able to gather is they should be able to remove 90% of this tumor, and it is a big tumor (grapefruit size). I am glad I have a big head and hopefully there will still be plenty of brain left for me to utilize afterwards. Percentages of affecting memory and speech post surgery are real low, so that is encouraging for me. It is scary the thought of radiation and chemo that will likely have to follow up, but I am willing to do anything and everything it takes to fully recover and dominate this tumor!
Well it is closing in on hour 1 of my prayer chain and the energy and power is flowing thru me like never before! Keep up the great work everyone it is truly amazing! Keep in mind I would do this for any and all of you if the roles were reversed. As I wind down a few thoughts for the day. Sleep has been hard to come by this past week, but never has it weakened my spirits or had me in soaking in pain. I should be in for a long afternoon/evening nap throughout this long procedure so that might get me caught up some. My mind will be wandering thinking of all my friends and family who mean so much to me and I have had opportunities to speak with throughout the week. Thoughts are also with the Liberty and QND boys basketball teams tonight in regional championship action! Here is to big W’s for both and health for all players from participating teams involved! I will be cheering from my recovery room (if I make it there by then). This whole week I have had a Tim McGraw song in my head that has constantly been there. Someday I hope you get the chance to Live like you were dying! I never have thought for one second that I am dying but just the experiences, talks with friends and family all throughout have made me realize just how precious these moments have been for me. I get a new perspective on life and really soak up every moment I have, it is an amazing feeling to have! May God bless all of you and watch over you and give you strength to be at your best all day long, stay strong and smile, say I love you to all those who mean the world to you, and remember God will do the rest!
Thanks again for everything, you all are truly wonderful and have been a great blessing for my family and I this past week! Now some time to play with Malena and visit with my family before check in! Love you all! Boo-yah!
God is great. Even in the difficult times–especially in the difficult times–He shows His glory by bringing all of you who are praying for Brett closer to Him. Please visit Brett’s CaringBridge page to follow his progress and continue to pray!
Also–I recently found out that another QND graduate is going through a very similar situation. Shawn Wagner, who graduated in 2002, had brain surgery on Monday. I have no other details about his situation, but God knows what’s going on, so please pray for him too.
