How it started...July 5, 2011

This whole thing started almost 4 weeks ago with slight back pain.  Jon thought it was muscle-related, so he took some Advil to to relieve his pain and went about his day.  As the pain continued over the next few weeks, though, he began to realize it was not just normal back pain. His pain increased while his energy decreased.  He described it as waking up with a really bad hangover that just never went away. On Monday, July 4th, he decided he needed to go see a doctor, but since it was a holiday he would have to wait until Tuesday morning to schedule an appointment. Meanwhile, he came down with a fever and flu-like symptoms that night.

On Tuesday morning, Jon made an appointment with our doctor to try to figure out what was going on.  Fortunately, our doctor was able to see him right away.  When he got to the doctor, his heart rate was 150 beats per minute when it should have been around 60 or 70 bpm. Our doctor immediately told Jon he needed to go to the ER.  He refused to go to Carroll, which they understood, so Jon drove home and waited for his mom to pick him up to take him to St. Agnes.

St. Agnes is where Jon had his first round of surgeries, as well as a few other procedures since then.  The doctors there actually know him as well as his history, and they care about Jon and his family. 

Barry, Jon's dad, also goes to St. Agnes for his treatments and happened to be there when he found out that Jon was on his way there.  Barry notified Dr. Miller, Jon and Barry's oncologist, and she scheduled CT scans and x-rays to be done as soon as he arrived.  Despite a significant wait in the ER, Jon was recieved immediately thanks to Dr. Miller. 

Once all the scans were finished, we met with Dr. Miller's associate, Dr. Bekele. He told us that Jon had fluid near his lungs in the Pleural Cavity and that this fluid was causing the pain in his back. The doctors decided to admit Jon and drain the fluid the following morning once he was seen by the lung specialist (his name started with a "G," so we will call him Dr. G).  After waiting a few hours, Jon was admitted to Room 735, Bed 1 where he would stay for the next few days.