The Fall
Cross Posted on Takumi's Heart News Blog
I spent the weekend with Takumi. I arrived there around lunch time on Saturday. Takumi wasn’t able to see at all that day because he’s been under a lot of stress over the past week that’s keeping his blood pressure high. So I just sat with him all day, chatting. He ate a little bit.
I came back the next day. He still couldn’t see. Wasn’t feeling better at all, which was a little unusual because he’s usually a bit better than that on Sundays. We had an appointment with the lawyer that afternoon. We debated about having me go alone to meet the lawyer, but Takumi really wanted to be there, and he needed to be across town for a meeting later that evening anyway. I should note that Takumi refused to eat anything all day.
On the way to meet the lawyer, Takumi was shaky and uneasy on his feet, so I helped him along, keeping him upright.
We met with the lawyer who collected all of Takumi’s documents and established what he needed to in order to start the process of getting Takumi a new visa. He’s also going to write me a letter that should enable me to post Takumi’s medical records on the site, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for weeks now. Look for updates on that later in the week or early next week.
After we left the lawyer we met with other friends who were going to take care of Takumi after I left for home. As we were walking to the train station though, Takumi collapsed face-first on the street. He fell so fast no one had time to react. Takumi had made it clear that if he was conscious and talking during one of these episodes that he did not want to be taken to the hospital. So I applied the oxygen I had brought with us, and another person called us a cab. I carried Takumi to the taxi up the street, and we got him home. We gave him more oxygen and got him settled in. Another friend stayed with him so I could catch the last train home in order to get to work today.
Takumi is dealing with a lot of stress. I’m doing my best to shoulder the burden for him, but there are some things that only he alone can deal with. I can only offer my love and support. We’re doing our best to care for him. He should not have been out of the house at all yesterday, but it was his wish to go, and there is no holding him back once he’s decided something. He would have gone alone if I hadn’t taken him.
This is not the first time he’s collapsed on the street. He’s lucky that his teeth didn’t shatter all across the sidewalk last night as he went down hard.
But I talked to him a few hours later after I arrived home (around 2AM) and he was ok. He was just worried about me getting home so late.
He’ll be going back to the doctor today for a brief check-up and to pick up a letter from the doctor detailing his current condition. If possible I will get it translated and posted here along with the letter from his lawyer.
Takumi is going to need another lung draining in two weeks as well as an angiogram to determine the current condition of his heart. We still see the major heart surgery lurking on the horizon. I’m going to try to get the details on the costs of these to make sure we can cover it. The lung draining was about $1100 last time. I have no idea what the angiogram will cost. I don’t even want to contemplate the heart surgery now.
So that’s where things stand now. We’re not in a good place, but we’re fighting every day. We appreciate your continued support of Takumi. If you want to help there are two big things you can do for him:
1) Donate here on the website. I think we have enough money for the next couple of weeks, assuming the angiogram isn’t more than $1000. But we certainly don’t have enough for the heart surgery. I’m going to try hard to get an estimate of the cost of that from at least two different hospitals so we know what we’re facing. I’ll post the info here along with a progress bar so we can all keep track of what still needs to be done.
2) Tell people about Takumi. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc of course. Email friends. Think about local groups that might be interesting in helping. Plan fundraisers. We’re getting together a packet with posters, cards, brochures, and other information that can be distributed at events. I’ll try to also include with that a portfolio of his medical and identifying documents so you can prove the veracity of his story with skeptics. I’m also going to post that portfolio online here.
Thank you again. This blog is now being cross-posted on my LiveJournal. If you would like to comment or leave questions, you can do so there, or leave comments on the Facebook Page that I monitor constantly. As always, please email me with your questions, concerns, ideas, or suggestions.
I spent the weekend with Takumi. I arrived there around lunch time on Saturday. Takumi wasn’t able to see at all that day because he’s been under a lot of stress over the past week that’s keeping his blood pressure high. So I just sat with him all day, chatting. He ate a little bit.
I came back the next day. He still couldn’t see. Wasn’t feeling better at all, which was a little unusual because he’s usually a bit better than that on Sundays. We had an appointment with the lawyer that afternoon. We debated about having me go alone to meet the lawyer, but Takumi really wanted to be there, and he needed to be across town for a meeting later that evening anyway. I should note that Takumi refused to eat anything all day.
On the way to meet the lawyer, Takumi was shaky and uneasy on his feet, so I helped him along, keeping him upright.
We met with the lawyer who collected all of Takumi’s documents and established what he needed to in order to start the process of getting Takumi a new visa. He’s also going to write me a letter that should enable me to post Takumi’s medical records on the site, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for weeks now. Look for updates on that later in the week or early next week.
After we left the lawyer we met with other friends who were going to take care of Takumi after I left for home. As we were walking to the train station though, Takumi collapsed face-first on the street. He fell so fast no one had time to react. Takumi had made it clear that if he was conscious and talking during one of these episodes that he did not want to be taken to the hospital. So I applied the oxygen I had brought with us, and another person called us a cab. I carried Takumi to the taxi up the street, and we got him home. We gave him more oxygen and got him settled in. Another friend stayed with him so I could catch the last train home in order to get to work today.
Takumi is dealing with a lot of stress. I’m doing my best to shoulder the burden for him, but there are some things that only he alone can deal with. I can only offer my love and support. We’re doing our best to care for him. He should not have been out of the house at all yesterday, but it was his wish to go, and there is no holding him back once he’s decided something. He would have gone alone if I hadn’t taken him.
This is not the first time he’s collapsed on the street. He’s lucky that his teeth didn’t shatter all across the sidewalk last night as he went down hard.
But I talked to him a few hours later after I arrived home (around 2AM) and he was ok. He was just worried about me getting home so late.
He’ll be going back to the doctor today for a brief check-up and to pick up a letter from the doctor detailing his current condition. If possible I will get it translated and posted here along with the letter from his lawyer.
Takumi is going to need another lung draining in two weeks as well as an angiogram to determine the current condition of his heart. We still see the major heart surgery lurking on the horizon. I’m going to try to get the details on the costs of these to make sure we can cover it. The lung draining was about $1100 last time. I have no idea what the angiogram will cost. I don’t even want to contemplate the heart surgery now.
So that’s where things stand now. We’re not in a good place, but we’re fighting every day. We appreciate your continued support of Takumi. If you want to help there are two big things you can do for him:
1) Donate here on the website. I think we have enough money for the next couple of weeks, assuming the angiogram isn’t more than $1000. But we certainly don’t have enough for the heart surgery. I’m going to try hard to get an estimate of the cost of that from at least two different hospitals so we know what we’re facing. I’ll post the info here along with a progress bar so we can all keep track of what still needs to be done.
2) Tell people about Takumi. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc of course. Email friends. Think about local groups that might be interesting in helping. Plan fundraisers. We’re getting together a packet with posters, cards, brochures, and other information that can be distributed at events. I’ll try to also include with that a portfolio of his medical and identifying documents so you can prove the veracity of his story with skeptics. I’m also going to post that portfolio online here.
Thank you again. This blog is now being cross-posted on my LiveJournal. If you would like to comment or leave questions, you can do so there, or leave comments on the Facebook Page that I monitor constantly. As always, please email me with your questions, concerns, ideas, or suggestions.