Ryan Hospitalized… Again.

Ryan was admitted to the hospital yesterday evening. Sadly, and alarmingly, this is the third time in a year with the same illness… an aggressive infection in his urinary tract. No official diagnosis yet but I’d be willing to bet it resides in his kidneys.

It came on suddenly. In mere hours.

The prior night, around 11PM, I carefully watched him as his breathing became pronounced. We had him at the cabin because the water-main at our home had frozen, and was therefore without a drip of water.

Then, something that hasn’t happened in many years, happened. He had a bowel movement in his bed. My instincts kicked into overdrive.

Since I had to strip and clean the linens I decided to put him in his wheelchair for the night. I monitored him intensely, but nothing else seemed to be happening. I don’t know exactly when, but sometime after 2AM I drifted off while sitting beside him and immediately fell into a dream. It was one like I never had before and it scared the hell out of me.

The Dream

I was in a hospital. Specifically, in a space that no one ever wants to be in, the “Family Consultation” room. Sitting next to me was a woman in her mid-30’s. Dark hair was drawn up in a bun and she wore a floral print knee-high dress. She was some sort of hospital administrator. Funny, her face never would come into focus.

She asks me, “What do you want to do?”

I somehow knew what she meant by this. She was asking me if the time had come for Ryan to die. Without waiting for me to reply, she asked, “Have you asked Ryan?”

I looked across the room and Ryan was there. Sitting in a church-like pew. More precisely, he was slumped, as though someone propped him up. The best way I can describe it is to imagine how Stephen Hawking sat in his wheelchair.

Ryan was wearing a suit. His eyes were dark.

So, I asked him, “Ryan, do you want to die?”

In a slurred voice, to my surprise, he spoke.

“Yes. I do.”

The Next 12 Hours

I awoke instantly and looked at my watch. I had fallen asleep for no more than an hour. I was beyond scared with that dream so fresh in my mind that I was still trying to separate it from reality. My fear only got worse when I saw the urine in the collection bag was distinctly bloody… a bright, crimson red.

Now, some might believe that Ryan came to me in my dream. Who am I to refute this out-of-hand? Perhaps he did, but I’m more inclined to believe that my subconscious realized something was wrong and it manifested it in a dream. It brought it forefront into my conscious and demanded that I pay attention.

Anyhow, I battened down the cabin and drove Ryan back to our home so he would be able to be taken to the hospital if things didn’t resolve themselves.

Turns out, they didn’t. He started getting worse. So, here we are, back in the hospital. Here with powerful IV antibiotics pumping directly into his veins. With endless x-rays, CT scans, blood draws, urinalysis, ever other damned procedure you can imagine.

I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as his (hopeful) recovery. Please check back from time-to-time.

I know everyone is sending him thoughts and prayers. This is deeply appreciated, as always. There is just one thing different this time. People always want to know what they can do to help and I don’t ask for anything.

This time I am.

Maybe it’s that damned nightmare that is compelling me now, more than ever, to ask you to help keep Ryan relevant. There’s an easy way to do this that would mean so much to my family.

A documentary is being filmed and produced called “Storming: The Ryan Diviney Story”, that will be released later this year. Please, watch the film’s first promotional trailer (it will be periodically updated)… and SHARE it on your social media. It’s a simple mouse-click on the trailer’s website to share it. Here’s the link: Storming: The Ryan Diviney Story.

In the meantime, keep Ryan in your thoughts. Please, #KeepRyanRelevant