Cotton Fitzsimmons

Just wanted to thank you all again for all of your support. We arrived in NYC yesterday morning and had a long day of tests and consultations with various specialists. The good news is they think that our baby's heart is in better condition than was reported to them from the University of Michigan. On the flip side, they are now diagnosing this aneurism as a possible genetic malformation in the RASA-1 gene, as my wife suffers from fairly severe vascular issues of her own as a complication to these last 2 pregnancies. They told us when all of this is done, there's a lab in Belgium that we can send out to and have tests done to confirm this issue in the gene. While it doesn't change the treatment or prognosis at all, it is interesting. Because of a heart murmur and the vascular issues that manifest during pregnancy for my wife, they are holding off on the digoxin IV treatment for a day or so while they do MRI and other tests on her. They truly seem to be a brilliant group of doctors for all things endovasular. They have let us know that they plan on us "moving" here to get this treatment done, which means we're going to be here it looks like now for at least 2-3 months. Adjusting to life here will be a bit of a challenge, but we feel blessed to have to found a group of doctors that have such a wealth of knowledge with regard to this disorder.

paintmyhouse, my good man... YE OLE must respectfully disagree. If there is not a win in those 6 games as you claim to be the case, then this entire, euphoric offseason was all for not. Either we are better or we're not better. If we are, in fact, better by virtue the tremendous infusion of talent and building a potentially nasty defense, then we should expect to be able to go and defeat other good teams at home and on the road. In fact, YE OLE is quite certain that Mr. Wilson did not open the checkbook to the tune of 100 million USD to land SUPER MARIO, only to lay up on the difficult part of the schedule.

We must never question the greatness of "Hurricane" Chris Kelsay.

We went to our last appointment here in Michigan last Thursday and were able to get some pretty cool 3D ultrasounds of our little girl. She was feisty as ever and moving around a lot during the ultrasound and she has very chubby cheeks already... even more so than her big brother who was quite a ham himself when he was born. Maybe I'll try to scan and post a picture or two if it's cool with everyone. If you've never seen a 3D ultrasound, they're amazing. It's unbelievable the technology they have on this front. We've had the privellage of getting them during all 3 of my wife's pregnancies. Everything seemed to be about the same at that appointment. Her heart is still far too big, which is expected, but doesn't seem to be showing any significant signs of heart failure just yet. There's still no major fluid build up around her heart or lungs, which is a good sign, and no fluid on her brain. We are all set to fly out for NYC on Wednesday morning, and will have a run down of appointments with the pediatric cardiologists, OB's, and neurology team at Roosevelt that day. At that point, my wife should be admitted for about a week or so and they'll start an IV of digoxin that will hopefully help ease the stress on our little girl's heart over the next few weeks before she's born. At that point, the treatment protocol will begin in earnest. The expectation is they will do a C-section around 36 weeks, so long as her heart holds up that long and she will require an immediate embolization procedure to begin repairing the aneurism. Depending on how much they can block off the irregular blood flow on the first procedure may determine how many more she will need to be completely cured. I know I'm beating a dead horse here... but thank you again on behalf of my entire family for everything you guys have done. We are truly blessed to have such amazing support.

Ochostinko the cousin of former Eagle great Todd Stinkston?

Bravo! YE OLE teared up a little bit watching that. There sure have been some good times over the years, gents!

So sorry for your loss, but glad that you have so many memories. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Joe, the work that Now I Lay me Down to Sleep does is truly honorable. Ironically, my wife and I had seen a program on TV about the work they do with families shorty before we lost our first born. We, of course never knew that we would one day find ourselves in that position having lost a child. That said, we're seeking treatment for our little girl and believe she will pull through this. The team at Roosevelt has had success in treating this condition and we hope and pray that their doctors will help her.

Great to hear about your little girl, Gringo. Our little guy got tubes in his ears last summer and it made a world of difference for him. The year up to having it done seemed like he was sick every other week. Afterwards he's been completely fine. It was the best thing we ever did.

Allow YE OLE to field this one via the gift of HAIKU: Edwards will be cut Says conventional wisdom Kelsay can go too

A happy belated birthday to the good doctor.

It's a well known fact that YE OLE is a big LIGHTS OUT fan... but Merriman looked really strong prior to getting dinged up again last year. Despite the lack of sacks, he was playing the run surprisingly well. If he can return to even 80% of his old form he'll reak havoc on this line.

If that list includes Bobby Hoying and THE BOZ, count YE OLE in.

"Lights Out" Shawne Merriman starts at RDE and dominates... FACT

YE OLE has been in need of a wood chipper. Last year the neighbor's tree was devestated by a storm that rolled through and left huge limbs down in the backyard. Naturally the neighbor being the sterling example of humanity that he is, left YE to deal with the aftermath of said catastrophe. After sawing and stacking, it's turned into nothing more than a large pile of brush waiting to catch fire. Now YE OLE has been wondering where to get one of those wood chippers for a day or so, so perhaps it's as simple as calling up the local Home Depot and doing a classic YE OLE DMC impression:

Selmon, my good man, the best thing you could do for yourself is be good to your fellow TBDers and refer to yourself in the third person. This is the recipe that YE OLE has always followed around here.

You gents never cease to amaze YE OLE... my family and I will forever owe you a debt of gratitude for all that you are you doing. God bless you all, you are amazing folks.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for your support and generosity. YE OLE has said it before and will say it again, you are truly an amazing family here at TBD. We had another appointment today at the University of Michigan and our baby girl's condition has not changed significantly over the 11 days since her last battery of tests, which is a good thing at this point. Her heart is still taxed, however, and dealing with this issue is the key to getting her to term over the next few weeks. Dr. Berenstein in New York wants to put my wife on an IV of digoxin to help ease the burden on our baby's heart and has had a history of success with this treatment. Unfortunately the team at U of M does not see this as the way to go, still today, so we have set an appt. with Dr. Berenstein in NYC for Tuesday of next week and will be flying out that morning. This is much earlier than we had hoped to make the trip, but we know if our girl is going to make it she needs the best care available, and his team is the best in the world for this rare disorder. It will be an anxious week waiting until then, but we have many plans to make and are trying to figure out the logistics of it all so that should keep us busy. If anyone has advice on flying with children that will help as well... as the Mrs. would never go anywhere without YE YOUNG... and he just turned 2. I'm sure he'll be amazed by the airport and big city, so perhaps that will be one nice distraction from all of this. Thanks again, our family has truly been blessed to have such a strong group of family and friends supporting us. God Bless, and GO BILLS!

YE OLE has it on good information from you cousin, Captain Foresight, that our D-Line brings massive devestation upon THE SANCHIZE opening day.

A big thanks to Joe, Sage, Mead, and everyone for suggesting this. My wife and mother inlaw set this up today through PayPal's "fundrazr" system: http://fnd.us/c/1JqIb Please feel free to read more about our story that they posted on that site. Again, I can't overstate just how much our family has been blown away with your support, this community truly is an amazing group of people. We already have a laundry list of doctor's appointments lined up this week, but I will do my best to post continuous updates as I'm able. Also, for those who have sent PM's with terrific advice and support, I am working to respond to everyone there as well and it has been much appreciated!

Thank you so much for the support. Again, I can't overstate how much it means to us. As far as a fund for donation... we haven't set up anything at this point, but would be very humbled and appreciative if anyone felt like they wanted to donate. What would be the best way to go about setting something like this up?

I just wanted to say how deeply moved my family and myself have been from all of the well wishes and all of the great advice being given from our extended family here at TBD. I apologize for not getting back sooner with any updates, but it has been a very hectic week. Just today, we were able to touch base with the Dr. at Roosevelt for the first time since they had a chance to review the MRI's from our visit to U of M last week. He told us that there were no signs of hydrocephalus at this point (fluid on the brain) which is a good thing, but there is definitely what he described as "stress" on her brain from the condition. He said it's very difficult to predict what the severity of this damage would be when she is born, however. It could get better or worse. However, his opinion was that he sees no reason not to move forward and give her every chance we can. He wants my wife to be admitted to the hospital for the next week to week and a half to receive heart medication via IV which will supposedly help ease the burden on our baby's heart. He had spoken with the doctors at U of M and had believed we had their cooperation on this, however, late this afternoon when we called to set this up, we were told that they don't support this course of treatment and are now refusing to work with the team in NY on this. This means we will likely have to travel to NYC immediately and spend perhaps an extra month there. Originally they had planned on us getting there when my wife was around 35 weeks or so, as they could monitor the condition and work with U of M for the care we needed in the mean time. Needless to say, that wasn't what we were wanting to hear, but all the same we are elated that the team at Roosevelt is willing to take this case on and give our baby girl every chance they can, which is much better than the prognosis we received originally at U of M last week. Thank you again... I can't tell you how uplifting it has been to get such an outpouring of support from this community. Not that I would expect anything less when we need to circle the wagons for one of our own... but again a heartfelt thank you from our family to all of you guys. Hopefully we will have more positive news to report in the near future. Until then, God Bless... and GO BILLS

As many of you know I have enjoyed visiting this forum for a number of years to share the ups and downs of our team and (hopefully) bring a few smiles to the good folks here along the way. Unfortunately tonight I would like to ask for your prayers for our little girl. My wife is 28 weeks pregnant with our little girl and 2 weeks ago we learned that she has an exceedingly rare condition called Vein of Galen Malformation. This condition is caused by a malformed connection between the artery that goes to the brain and the vein that returns blood from the brain back to the heart. After spending a very long day at the University of Michigan hospital yesterday and having many tests (fetal EKG, MRI, ultrasounds, etc.) and meeting with their cardiologists and neuro surgeons we were told that our little girl likely will not survive. That said, my wife and I had been researching this condition over the past 2 weeks since the original diagnosis and joined a parents support group and through that have learned of an endovascular surgeon, Dr. Alex Berenstein, at Roosevelt Hospital in NYC who has had great success in treating infants and children with this deadly disease. We have had all of our records and tests sent there and will be planning to travel from Michigan to see their team at Roosevelt, where my wife will likely deliver, and hope that they are able to save our little girl's life. As some of you may know, we lost our first born only a couple of hours after he was born due to complications from premature birth. My wife had many complications in her second pregnancy, but our little boy made it through. Despite all of the problems we have had, which have been a long series of medical anomalies that doctors have not been able to explain, my wife being the trooper she is, wanted to try one more time. She comes from a large family and desperately wanted to give our son a sibling to grow up with. Needless to say, the news we have gotten in the past days has been devastating, but we are hoping with the prayers and support of our family and friends and my family here at TBD, we will get our little girl here healthy and happy. Despite her condition, my wife has reported to me that she is kicking much harder and is stronger than either one of our boys in her two previous pregnancies. This was evident at U of M yesterday when she was extremely feisty and uncooperative during all of the ultrasounds and tests. All I can say is I'm sure she is a Bills fan like her daddy and will share in our toughness and resilience. We had read of a little girl in Batavia who suffered from this condition and made the trip to Roosevelt Hospital and was cured by Dr. Berenstein and his team, if you happen to be out there somewhere on this board (which I am making the assumption being Bills fans you might be, because where else would you rather be than TwoBillsDrive?) we would love to hear from you and any insight you could give us on your experience that may help us on our journey. Also, if anyone has any advice or insight on traveling to NYC and Roosevelt hospital it would be much appreciated. I have only been to the city once, about 15 years ago and have little familiarity with Manhattan's Upper West Side where the hospital is located. As soon we get the word from the team at Roosevelt if/how they can help us we likely will be traveling from Michigan on a shoe string budget, so if anyone has any advice on where to stay, eat, etc. near the hospital we would greatly appreciate it. We are in contact with the social worker at Roosevelt who is the contact person to possibly get us into the Ronald McDonald House near Roosevelt, but it is based on availability which can be limited, so I am trying to do all of the leg work I can ahead of time to have plan B and C lined up and keep as much stress off my wife and baby as possible. Thank you in advance for the prayers that you send our way. GO BILLS!

FACT: Tyler Thigpen NEVER lit up the stat sheet in KC. Thigpen's best season in KC that you and others have referred to is one in which he: completed 54.8% of his passes for 2608 yds., and threw 18 TDs/12 INT's with a rating of 76.0

Perhaps YE OLE can try his hand at deciphering this dumpster fire of a post. YE feels that ShouldaPlayedFlutie is on to something here and OP probably meant Whiskey Tango Foxtrot as in "WTF" in regards to Brad BUTLER retiring on a whim to pursue a career in BIG BID'NESS. Robert Smith is another potential match here, but Butler being more recent and a former Bill just makes more sense. That said, it appears OP has been heavily into the sauce tonight.