More prayers for Ozzy...

buckytom

buckytom

Grill Master
some of you may recall that a little over a year ago i'd asked that everyone pray for my buddy ozzy. he screwed up his heart by doing enough drugs to kill a clydesdale over his lifetime, and his ticker wasn't tickin' anymore. your prayers worked, and he successfully had an l.v.a.d. pump attached to his heart.

(the back story was that we had a falling out about his drug use when i had my son, and i felt terribly that he was about to die and i'd let him down. since then, we're back to being best buds again.)

well, the l.v.a.d was so successful that he recovered remarkably. enough to get back into gardening last summer, and incredibly enough to even go skiing a few times this winter. here's a pic of him and my wife this past january:

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as you can see, he's a giant of a man. dw is a small person, but you can see how big the oz is even on his knees.

well, anyway, he pushed the limits as to what an l.v.a.d. patient can do, sort of using himself as a guinea pig to show the doctors. the down side is that he wore out the pump in just over a year when it should have lasted at least 2 years or more.

he goes back in for surgery monday to have a new l.v.a.d. installed. hopefully, the heavy duty one that lasts 5 years.

so, please say a prayer for my lifelong friend and brother. i'm tearing up typing this 'cause i really don't want to face the alternative.
i'm grateful for having been able to ski with him this last trip, but would sure love to fly down a few more mountains together someday.

ya know, it would have been easier to have lost him when i'd shut him out of my life. now he's in my heart, so a piece of me will die if he does.

if you don't pray, please just send your positive thoughts his way. :heart:
 
Damn it! I didn't want to hear this BT. Ozz has my prayers!! You tell him to start doing what he's told and quit being a damn stubborn man!! Bless his heart, literally!!:kiss:

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Tom... good thoughts to him and big hugs to you for being such a good friend.

I said you were nice the other day... I meant it. You really are. :heart:
 
Healing and positive thoughts and energies are on their way from me to you and Ozzy, Tom.

I have a great feeling about this!

Please keep us posted. A bunch of us now feel as if we know him.

Lee
 
thanks everyone. it means a lot to me. last time, i was sad because he was near death, and i didn't have time to patch things up with him.

but now we're back to talking every few days, and hanging out when there's time. like i said, he's my bro. we've been friends since about the age of 10 or 11, in the scouts.

it was a great feeling to be back on a mountain with him in january. i was terrified that i'd push him to ski harder and he fall and bleed out.
we always pushed each other abilities when we skiiied. he is more of a downhiller, and i'm more of a slalom skiier. so he point them downhill and let 'em rip, making me ski as fast as i could just to stay with him. but i could handle glades and woods and bumos better. we've skiied all of new england, some colorado, and vancouver, b.c. together.

i hope we can do it again next winter. i was amazed at what he was doing just 6 months after getting cracked open.

thanks again everyone. i'll be on vacation next week, but i'll stop in and post as soon as i know how it went.
 
I've thought of him many times since you first "introduced" us to him. And truthfully, Ozzy has been a source of hope for me when I had friends and family trying to deal with the aftermath of some wild living. Most didn't make it but a few, like Ozzy, remind us that there is always hope. I'll be praying hard for him again, BT.
 
BT my heart is with you and your friend

It means the world to have time with someone you thought you lost I can identify with you on this. I wish you all the best.
 
a quick update on ozzy: the operation had some complications. it took the doctors around 9 hours to complete everything, but they weren't able to bring him back to consciousness as quickly as they'd hoped, so it appears as if he had a stroke. we're not sure of the extent yet.

his dad, who normally is the most cheerful and talkative person you've ever met, and as calm as a rock, didn't sound too optimistic and didn't want to talk. that kinda threw me. my heart sank, and is heavy with grief.

so, all i can do is say a decade of the rosary that things didn't go so badly.

i'll hopefully be back tomorrow with good news.

thanks everyone.
 
That's too bad Tom.
Yep, I was wondering how things were going.
Thanks and for sure, he's in my thoughts and I'll say a Hail Mary or two for him. ;)
 
^I am so sorry, Tom. Let's hope that when you do learn something that the news is better. Sometimes stress can affect even the strongest among us and maybe that is why Ozzy's dad behaved as he did. He has a lot on his plate with his son having had this surgery. I am sure you will let him know you are there if he needs you.

And know that I am here if you need to talk. I understand how hard it is to care about and for people who are really sick. You are a good friend.
 
Awww, BT, I'm so sorry to hear that Ozzy has more challenges ahead of him. He's been through so much. Hugs to you, my friend, while you wait this out with him and his family.
 
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