Bryan Kervin returned home last Saturday thankful to see his house, thankful to see his room, thankful to see his family in the usual setting. When he entered Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine 41 days before on Jan. 25, he had no idea when, or if, he was coming out "I never doubted there was a plan for me," Kervin said, "even though I didn't know what would happen."
 
Sobering as that thought was, the Grapevine product, now a 24-year-old utility player in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, believed 2010 would be a year where he could play his way into convincing the front office to move him up.

He finished 2009 playing for their AA team in Manchester, N.H. when a temporary call-up remained for the duration of the season.

So the offseason began by Kervin dedicating himself to a stringent workout program and earning his communications degree at TCU, where he starred from 2006-2008.

The violent stomach pains and aches surfaced in November. He didn't know what caused them. His diet seemed appropriate and his physical condition was top notch. It was simply something he couldn't control.

Doctors diagnosed Kervin with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease that causes ulcers in the inner lining of the colon and rectum. It's a disease that doesn't discriminate on the basis of gender or age. Kervin actually knew about it before the diagnosis, because his older sister Rene battled it two years ago.

Prescription antibiotics and steroids seemed to control the condition. In early January, Kervin resumed all of his offseason activities with an eye pointed toward reporting for spring training.

But on Jan. 20, a relapse occurred. This time it was worse, with fever, diarrhea and those sharp pains. Five days later, he went into the hospital.

"It felt like someone was stabbing me," Kervin said. "It's the worst I've ever felt in my life. I just needed my family and my faith to get me through this."

Eventually, doctors had to remove Kervin's colon because the affliction had engulfed the entire organ. So he had to have a colostomy bag and live a far different life. But the surgery didn't serve as the final answer.

Soon after the procedure, he took a turn for the worse. He said he started vomiting blood, his fever spiked to 104 degrees, his heart rate shot up to 180 and cold sweats became common. He went into intensive care, where he said tests showed a hole in his stomach causing him to bleed internally. Another procedure corrected the problem and blood clots were removed.

More surgery. More uncertainty. More faith tested. Kervin's weight dropped from 188 to 135. Obviously, baseball was out of the question for this year. This was turning into a story of survival. Family, friends, associates from his days at Grapevine, TCU and his local fitness club visited and prayed with him. Kervin said the Blue Jays' support and assurance that he would a part of their system remained firm.

"It was pretty devastating for a lot of people who knew him to see what he was going through," Grapevine coach Tim McCune said. "I always knew him for his incredible work ethic. The game was important to him because he wanted to be as good as he could possibly be."

When Kervin arrived home, the latest chapter was behind him. But by no means is his story over. He must wear the colostomy bag for another three months before another surgery to re-rout the passage so the bag will be unnecessary and he can function as normally as possible. The bizarre upside is that he will never have to worry about colon cancer.

By June, Kervin is hoping that he will be ready to resume his workout routine, weight training and start hitting in the cages at TCU.

"All I want to do now is just get reconnected to my life," Kervin said. "Throughout it all, I remained positive. I've gone through some big changes, but they are good changes. I'm closer to God and thankful for what I do have."