Hello out there! My name is Jill and I am married to the most wonderful man left on earth, Barry. We grow closer daily and I miss him when he is not home. I can truly say that I do not know what I would do without him. He is my soul-mate. We searched for each other a long time and once we found each other, he was not getting away.

Let us catch up our last few years. Well, where should I start? Six Flags, grand-children and 2007 sounds good.. Barry and I took our then grandchildren and one nephew to Six Flags over Georgia.  We (The old folks) worn out and ready to head home. the kids begged for one more ride. Barry and I were dragging from following a six-year-old and two eleven-year-old preteens around all day, but this simple little roller coaster(my favorite) was the end of my amusement park day. When we got off that thing, I could barely walk. I was unsure of making it to the car. But I managed.

We got the kids to their homes and we managed to find ours. I crawled into bed and slept for two days. Also, after 2 days of rest, my leg pain had grown worse. It is a bit ironic that a little ride on a roller coaster, started our long ride that is still going today. Not sure if it will ever stop. I would love to slow down a little.

Sorry this has taken me so long to get complete and post the, but a little thing called my health got in the way! To finish the story, we scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic doctor, that lead to several months of physical therapy. When the orthopedic decided that was useless, it was on to doctor number two, a pain management specialist. Just like doctor number one. this doctor and his epidurals proved totally useless. Several months later, I was referred on to doctor number three. a neurosurgeon.

The first neurosurgeon, Dr. C. gets a little more press on here than the others; due to extreme lack of bedside manner. We are still shocked today, when we think of him. We had the first evaluation. he scheduled an MRI and x-rays and then went into his office for the test results.

During that visit, Dr. C. dropped a couple of surprises on us. His words were, “You have a multi-nodular goiter and a brain tumor in your cerebellum that needs to be taken care.” He then proceeded to explain that he and his entire office no longer deal with brain surgery. Since the tumor is extremely rare, he suggested I contact my insurance company to find another doctor. This was the middle of January 2009.

I proceeded with the neurosurgeon hunt. The insurance companies database proved useless, so we went out on our own looking. On the 39th call to an office, someone actually knew what I was talking about and scheduled an appointment. We were finally back on course with this doctor. This doctor lead us to stop number four. I was starting to get dizzy.

Dr. L.  was at least useful and honest physian we had ever met.. He knew my problem, but did not feel experienced enough to help and wanted to refer me to a colleague of his at Emory University Hospital, we rode coaster number five to meet Dr. O’s and his office. Dr. L. stated I needed attention as soon as possible;  due to the tumor getting to close to my mid-brain for his comfort. Finally,  late March 2009, I managed to get scheduled with Dr. O. a week later and in the operating room three days later. My brain surgery was 4 days after my 5th wedding anniversary. I feel honored to have such a wonderful hubby. He is still by my side today. Barry Baynes, I love you dearly!

After surgery,  I spent 4 days in Neurosurgical ICU and they headed me to rehab (four gruley months). We waited a month and started on the our second surprise from Dr. C had for us.Off to Lawrencexille we went to a my endocrinilogist, the general surgeon. My thyroid came out on October 15th, 2009. Three days later, I found out it was cancerous. So we looked to Dr. M. for answers.  Thyroid cancer treatment was simple, but tedious.

In the middle of all this, Barry’s aortic valve gave out and he had to have surgery. The surgery was tough, but he pulled through without a hitch. This was roller coasters eight and nine. My sweetheart had been fighting this problem for 20 years with diet and medications.

We got Barry healed up home and started the treatment for my thyroid cancer. After coming off my thyroid meds for 6 weeks, due to a shortage of the injectable medication that can throw you into hypothyroidism within 2 days. I got so weak, I had to use the wheelchair. They went up a vessel and grabbed the clot to pull it out. Modern medicine

I proceeded through 2 rounds of radioactive iodine before my hormone levels went back to zero. With all of this foolishness out-of-the-way, it was time to get Barry’s 50th Birthday Party in the works. We had a great time until the following day; I woke up feeling like I was having a heart attack. Off to the local ER……….

Thank goodness it was only my gallbladder, but I was back on the roller coaster number ten (back to number seven) to the general surgeon. This was June 6, 2010.

We had a bit of a break through the holidays. We were too pooped to decorate for Christmas, so we just enjoyed being home.

I fell in February and tore the cartilage in my left knee. It was back on the roller coaster to the orthopedic surgeon (number eleven) in February 2011. A few weeks later, a knot popped up on top of my right wrist and had to be casted. This was technically ride number twelve. When the cast came off, the knot was gone. NO SURGERY!

December 11th, 2011 will forever be remembered, by me, as the scariest day of my life. Barry and I woke as usual, played lazy in the bed until we received a  summons to the back by our resident’s. Barry was helping W.B. get dressed when I got a frantic call from W.B.’s room. Barry was obviously not well, I called 911 and got my sweetheart to the hospital as quick as I could. Gwinnett County EMS really brought their A-game to our house that winter morning……..

Barry suffered a Right Massive MCA stroke (number 12). They transferred him immediately to Emory University Hospital for a thrombectomy. a new procedure used to help stroke patients. Within twelve hours of the procedure, Barry was moving his left side. It was AMAZING! He walked out of rehab as if nothing had happened. The man is one tough cookie.

For the next few months, we played follow-up Barry’s doctor’s and mine. We actually had to get organized to keep up with the appointments.

In keeping up with yearly checks, my gynecologist referred me to a breast specialist after I developed a problem that placed me at a high risk to develop breast cancer. (Dr. H was number thirteen and Dr. S. made up number fourteen) After several follow-up mammograms, I discovered a lump. After the testing was over, we were informed I had Stage One Ductal Carcinoma.

Over the next five months, Barry drove me to chemotherapy and home.  When he was not feeling well himself, but he never said a word. All of this started in February 2013. It is now November and I am two weeks from finishing treatment.

To back up a bit. August 4, 2013, my heart sank as I watched Barry fall straight backwards and strike his head on our front door. He then appeared to have a seizure. I screamed for mom to call 911 and proceeded to check on my sweetheart. He was awake and alert by the time the ambulance arrived.

Once in the Emergency Room, they discovered abnormal heart rate. This lead to two days of tests and then to the local ICU then a second transferred him to Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta. This lead to Barry’s artificial heart valve was coming loose and he had a bad case of endocarditis.

One pacemaker, another open heart surgery and twenty-eight days in the hospital; my sweetie has developed Congestive Heart Failure and we are on our second admission for treatment. His kidney’s are in bad shape and the concern is kidney failure. He needs another operation to fix his heart, but he is so scared, What he doesn’t realize is I’m terrified with him! God is not through with him yet!

Related articles

• Roller Coasters (prayingforafamily.wordpress.com)
• Six Flags Denies Liability in Roller Coaster Death (abcnews.go.com)