In His Own Words: Bryan's Story
At 24 years old in the best shape of my life, I did not think anything could stop me. As soon as my 2009 AA baseball season ended, I started my strenuous workouts and resumed going to class in order to get my degree from TCU in December. I was going to Energy Fitness 5-6 times a week and working out for 2-3 hours a day. I wasn't going to let anything get in my way! I wanted to go back to spring training in 2010 to prove myself to be the best. 
However, in late November I came down with, what I thought was the "stomach bug." I had severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and a persistent fever. In addition, I had no appetite because eating caused terrible pain and cramping.
After a week of trying to fight through this, I went to see a G.I. doctor. I did this because my sister had told me my symptoms were the same as hers when she had ulcerative colitis in 2006. No way "I" was going to have this disease, I'm a professional athlete and play in the Toronto Blue Jays organization!! I was wrong. The diagnosis from the physician was that I had either Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. He told me that they needed to perform a colonoscopy the next day. The idea of a colonoscopy made me feel very uncomfortable and humiliated.
The results from the colonoscopy came back. Sure enough, I had a severe case of Ulcerative Colitis. The inner lining of my colon was covered with ulcers and looked rotted out. The G.I. doctor put me on Prednisone (a powerful anti-inflammatory cortisteroid drug) and some other strong antibiotics. I was taking around 12 pills daily and unable to move because of pain for several weeks. Through all of this, I had lost 10 pounds and a lot of strength. A few weeks later I was feeling better and returned to the gym. From December to mid-January I had worked hard and gotten my weight back up to 190 pounds. I was working out, running, and hitting/fielding for 5-6 hours a day. I was the most confident I had ever been because I felt like I had prepared myself to the best of my ability. I was more than ready for my second spring training to get here! As I was tapering off of the Prednisone, things took a turn for the worst.
Around January 19th the symptoms reappeared. My Ulcerative Colitis had come out of remission with a vengeance! The pain got to a point to where I was doubled over and feeling like I had to throw up. It felt like someone was stabbing me. I didn't let anyone know about my symptoms because I wanted to ignore them and keep up my workouts. As things got worse and worse I had to tell someone. After going to visit my brother and sister-in-law's newborn baby boy (Cal) in the hospital I went to the ER that night at Baylor Medical Hospital of Grapevine.
On January 25th I went into the hospital thinking that I would only be there for a night and maybe three at the most. Well, once again, I was wrong. The doctors started me off with a low dose of I.V. steroids and antibiotics for a few days. As that didn't work, they put me on a stronger dose of steroids, along with the antibiotics. I was having 10-12 bowel movements a day and was pretty much on bed rest because of the pain. The support from my family and friends kept me busy and my mind clear of possible outcomes from Ulcerative Colitis. When the stronger dosage of steroids did not work for me, the doctors informed me about a possible surgery. They had a surgeon come in and talk to me about a Illeostomy. The surgeon made me aware that through this surgery, I would have my entire colon removed and have a colostomy bag for 3 months until they could perform another surgery to reverse my bag (to make it where I no longer needed a bag). He also told me that I might not ever get to play baseball again and that the surgery could possibly affect my fertility. All of this information really scared me. I already had this disease come out of nowhere and affect my workouts. Now I was faced with a surgery that could be career ending!! That devastated me. On January 30th, I was down to my last resort and had to get a treatment done called Remacade. The doctors allowed 8 days for the strong treatment to work. Nothing changed at all and I was going to have to have surgery.
I had surgery on February 8, 2010. This is the day that I will never forget and the day that actually changed my life. Going into the operating room I felt scared, just like anyone would be with a major surgery. They were taking out the largest organ of my body, but the one thing no one could take away from me was my faith. Although I felt scared and uncertain, I knew that everything happens for a reason and God was by my side. After the 6 hour surgery I remember waking up and having my family and girlfriend in the room. A couple of days after surgery I started to have complications. I began throwing up blood and running a fever. At first, the doctors and nurses thought that this might just be nausea from the pain medicine and from being unable to eat. The symptoms increased in intensity and I began to feel worse and worse. Five days following the surgery they had to call the Rapid Response Team to my room because my heart rate shot up to 180. I was sweating, running a 104 degree fever and throwing up gallons of blood. That night was all a blur for me but through everything that was happening I remember telling my sisters that it would be OK and to stay calm. As bad of condition as I was in, I felt the comfort of God once again. They ended up transferring me to ICU and I had to have a NI tube inserted through my nose to my stomach to drain the internal bleeding. The next day I went in to have an upper G.I. They would find out that I had a hole in my stomach that was causing the internal bleeding. I also had several infections inside my stomach and throat. After pulling out blood clots from my stomach and clipping that ulcer, I was sent back to ICU.
During my hospital stay I had more support than I could ask for. Starting with my family, my mom stayed the night with me every night. I was so thankful to have a mother so caring and a family so supportive. My dad, brother and two sisters were there every chance they could get. I wasn't the only one going through the stress and situation. My loved ones were going through it with me, too. I had members from Gateway Church coming up almost everyday to pray for me. As I was recovering from surgery and the complications, I had a couple of members of Gateway come to my room and they said a healing prayer for me. This prayer was the most powerful prayer I had ever experienced. I could actually feel the warmth and comfort from Jesus. From that Monday I began to feel better little by little each day. A week later I was released from the hospital.
After dropping from 190 pounds to 135 pounds, I am still recovering and trying to get healthy for my next surgery. My forty-one days in the hospital changed me. While I was in the hospital I had the chance to read motivational and spiritual books that hit home with me. I also had time to reflect and see what I want in life. As hard as it is to stay positive about my situation, I am doing that. I'm not going to let anything bring me down. I see this as a bump in the road for my life. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and been there for me. I could not ask for a better family or friends! Be thankful for what you have right now in the present moment. Things could be a lot worse.