John and Fran's Story: A story of hope and blessings.

On August 16, 2017, my wife Frances suffered a double aneurism. This is the story of her survival, and my reprieve from grief and loneliness. All because of the work of the doctors and staff of Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and God.

On August 15, 2017, Fran and I took a few days to relax in Manasquan, New Jersey. It had been a tough year spent grieving the loss of Fran’s sister, Barbara, from cancer and deciding to retire after spending many years teaching Social Studies in middle school. Our plan was for me to teach one more year and then retire to begin our next adventure which would start with a much expected trip to Ireland.

After checking into a boutique hotel, we spent the day relaxing, strolling downtown Manasquan and having a late lunch by the Manasquan inlet. After returning to our room that evening, Fran complained of an excruciating headache, and started to vomit. I left the room to pick up some coke hoping it might settle her stomach. After some time, she felt better—the headache was gone, and the vomiting had stopped. It wasn’t long before she fell asleep and slept through the night.

The next morning, we awoke to a light rain falling, and a forecast for more rain to follow. She felt better but was still not right. We decided to leave Manasquan and return home to Rahway after Fran took a nap.

At noon I tried to wake her but was unable to. She was completely unresponsive. She could not hear, see, or talk, and I could not communicate with her.

I knew I had to get her medical attention, but did not know when an ambulance would respond or where they would take us. Then I made a decision that would change the course of our lives. I decided to take Fran down three flights of stairs, put her in the car and take her home to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Rahway, New Jersey.

After loading the car and putting Fran on the front seat, I drove home to where our daughter Jenna met us at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Rahway. Jenna had made the emergency room staff aware of our coming and they met us outside the emergency room. We spent a short time at the hospital but were told that this hospital could not treat Fran. They had requested a neuro ambulance from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and they would transfer Fran there.

A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived and brought us to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick where we were met by emergency staff who brought us to the neuro intensive care unit. As we learned, every second counts.

They took Fran to a treatment area and after a few minutes, a young man came out and said that he was instructed to place a shunt in Fran’s head to relieve the pressure from the blood entering her skull from the ruptured aneurysms. When I asked him if he was a doctor, he said he was a physician’s assistant and did this all the time.

I gave him permission, and a short time later, he came back and said that the shunt was in, and Fran was resting peacefully. We could leave and come back first thing in the morning.

When I returned home, I called everyone and told them about all that had happened and what was next. With that, we went to bed completely unaware of what would happen the next day and just how blessed we were. Little did I know the next day would redefine us all.

The next morning, Jenna and I returned to the hospital and found Fran lying in bed with the wonderful nursing staff tending to her. Though she was still unresponsive.

At approximately 11:00 am, I met two of the three doctors that would change everything. They would be the link from our life from before the aneurysms to today.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta and Dr. Fawaz Al-Mufti both neurosurgeons, came to Fran’s room and explained to me just how grave her condition was. She wouldn’t survive without a complicated procedure. They added that this procedure was rarely done, but they would attempt it. There was no hope for survival without it. With little choice, we decided to do it. With that, they took Fran away, and Jenna and I went to wait.

Though surrounded by Fran’s sister Paula, her husband Celso and their son Luke as well as my daughter’s fiancé Joe and my best friend and partner from police work, Ed, the wait was excruciating. The realization that our lives could be over struck me when Ed asked me if Fran had been given Last rites.

A few hours later, I met Dr. Gupta in the hospital hallway, and he told me that Fran had survived the procedure. Then we met with the others in our group. He told us that the procedure was a success but did not know what the outcome would be. She could suffer a series of strokes and may not survive them. Nor did he know when and if she would wake up. We had, though, as Dr. Gupta said, passed our first hurdle. When I asked him if we could see Fran before we left, he said yes, but for just a few minutes. Jenna, Paula, and I went to her room, and it was then that I had a glimmer of hope. When I found her, she was lying in her bed with a breathing tube and asleep. All I could ask her to do was to keep on fighting and to come back to us.

When I got home that evening, I called everyone to tell them what had happened and yes, there was hope. I also asked for everyone to pray for a blessing.

The next morning Jenna, Joe and I went back to the hospital. When we returned to the neuro intensive care unit at 8:00 am a nurse came out to meet us. She said, are you here for Frances and I said yes. Then the nurse said something I will always remember. She said, “Well, she was very bad last night. She pulled out her breathing tube and said I don’t need that anymore”. Then the nurse asked us to wait a few minutes while they helped Fran into a chair. I asked if it was a wheelchair and the nurse said no, a regular chair. My hope soared followed by wondering if my hope was warranted.

When we walked into the room, she was sitting in a chair with a nurse standing next to her. I said, “Welcome back Frances”. Smiling, she said, “yes welcome back”. I asked her if she knew who our daughter was and she said yes, she recognized Jenna and her finance Joe. Then I asked her, “do you know who I am” and she said “yes”. That was when I knew a miracle had happened, and the nurse agreed.

The next thirteen days were filled with doctors, hospital administrators, wonderful nurses and geniuses named Dr. Gaurav Gupta, Dr. Fawaz Al Mufti and Dr. Sudipta Roychowdhury, also of the Radiology, Neurosurgery, and Neurology department.

After thirteen days, Fran went home, and her recovery was nothing less than a miracle. She never had to go to physical therapy and as summer melted into autumn, we thought we were home free. Then, before the holidays, we met with Dr. Gupta, and he told us that there were additional procedures to complete the miracle they had performed. Dr. Gupta told us that Fran would need to have stents placed in the areas where the aneurysms were treated to secure them. You can imagine our surprise thinking we were home free only to learn the doctors would have to go back into the brain to place the stents. A third doctor, Dr. Roychowdhury, would be involved in this portion of Fran’s care and would continue to be her physician.

Again, our blessings continued, and the stents were placed successfully. Now a continued blessing is we have become part of a group that works towards making the world a better place. A place where more miracles can be performed.

This experience has given us a deep appreciation for our good fortune. Good fortune is sometimes being in the right place at the right time. Call it happen-stance or luck. Our good fortune was a result of being treated by fantastic doctors who knew exactly what the problem was and had the courage to act.

In gratitude for our miracle, we have chosen to assist others by giving back. We have started a group dedicated to raising money for aneurism research in order to help those with the skill, talent, and courage to save others. The name of our group is “Taming the Tempest”. Meriam-Webster defines a tempest as a violent storm. I can think of no better analogy for an aneurism than this.

Starting a private foundation and public charity like this was difficult. Applying for and obtaining an EIN (Employee Identification Number) and an IRC 501C3 was an enormous amount of work, but so worth it. It is a daily reminder of how thankful we are and how important it is to help others in any way you can. I invite you to look us up, we have a webpage, “tamingthetempest.com” or a Facebook page Taming the Tempest.

In closing, without others helping us, I would not have had a partner to share life’s joys and sorrows: Fran would not have attended our daughter’s wedding; I would have gone alone. I would have had to take care of my parents in their last days alone: I had a partner to help me through that. I would have had to celebrate our retirement trip to Ireland alone. I had a partner to go with me.

Be thankful for your blessings and be thankful for those that delivered them. If you ever need cheering up or hope, watch Fran’s Story RWJ on YouTube. Or post something on our Facebook page. That is us, and that is hope.