Back to Houston

Tyler had a rough day on Sunday. Foot and ankle was swollen and still in pain. Tried physical therapy but then his left knee buckled and he fell again. Was taken for CT Scan and X-ray. Also, his blood pressure dropped again. He was put back into the bed and hopefully today will be better.

The fund raiser was held last night and there were a lot of people in attendance. A good portion of the people I hadn't met before but had heard about from Tyler. When I entered I was in the back and the emcee was reading an email I had sent to Lucy and Nicole. I thought I was just going to give some insight for the emcee to use but he read the email verbatim. I was taken aback and had to leave for a moment. The email I sent is below. When I came back the emcee was still reading the email (I tend to be long-winded) and it was good to see people agreeing and laughing at the comments I had made. I thought I would be able to take the microphone, thank everyone, and give an update about Tyler. I just blubbered like an idiot. After that great performance I was able to mingle around a bit and meet a lot of great people. It was wonderful to see how many people came out on a cold snowy day in Denver in support of us. I also know that there were some from far away that couldn't make it and I completely understand.

The support has been wonderful from near and far. I really continue to grapple with trying to express my appreciation and heart-felt thanks to everyone who is helping out. Nicole and Lucy did a great job of organizing the fund raiser and it has bowled over Tyler and I. To everyone, thank you, thank you, thank you!

I'm flying back to Houston today and am just hoping this is a better day for Tyler.
Robert

The email that was read at the event:
Tyler is an extrovert and introvert.  

He loves people and lots of them.  He likes to have people surrounding him and can be a non-stop talker on the phone (likes to gossip).  He made the comment just months after moving into our house, “We haven’t met our neighbors.  When are we going to meet our neighbors.”  Of course now he has met all the neighbors and likes to distribute the fruit from our trees to everyone, discuss yard care, trade vegetables, on and on.
He misses living at his old condo complex and the people there.

He is a charmer.  Even in his unconscious state he made friends with the nursing staff.  Even conscious and demanding the nurses and staff love him.  He is able to be demanding yet make the person still want to help.  
Tyler and I went to a brunch with friends Melissa and Scott.  Tyler noticed the waiter had tended to two other tables before us, even though we had been seated first.  When the waiter approached our table Tyler said “We’ve been waiting and you took the other tables orders before us.  I worked in the restaurant industry, at Rock Bottom Brewery, and I just think it is unacceptable to have made us wait.”   The waiter took our drink order and left.  Tyler got up to go to the bathroom and Melissa and Scott looked at me.  I said, “just wait”.  By the middle of the brunch Tyler and the waiter were like old friends.  
He LOVES the Rock Bottom Brewery and the friends he made there.  He is a bit bossy and has been referred to as a “pit bull” by one of his contacts at BOAA Construction.  He is demanding of people and usually gets the best out of people.  He is also tough and caring in a big brother sort of way.

Extremely expressive.  Has phrases such as, “That’s ridiculous!”, “I’m starving!”,  “No!” (said with a particular inflection), “This is the BEST (insert object/meal/etc.) I’ve ever had!” (then the next thing the next day is “The BEST I’ve ever had”).   He can be very opinionated.  Many times I’ve been ready to leave for something and he looks at me and says....”what are you wearing?!  No.”  Clients have wanted particular things and have asked Tyler’s opinion and he was never shy in saying “No, you don’t really want that.  That won’t work.  Here is what you want.”

He always wants to contribute to causes and get people gifts.  “We should donate money to this, we should donate money to that.”   We have been to the Max Fund No-kill shelter benefit the past two years, he has donated money for politics,  he has donated money to cancer causes, wants to donate money to the latest cause talked about on 60 minutes, and adopted animals.  Couldn’t stand that the black lab next door was lonely after his owner passed away.  Now we have Bowser (the lab) living with us.  He wants to feed the stray cats in the neighborhood.  He wanted to take care of a squirrel that for some reason came up to him when we were living at the condo.....to the point that I had to put up with this squirrel spending the night in a shoe box in the bed room.  He truly has a tender heart (no pun intended).

He also is a “home body”.  Loves his house and family.  First concerns when becoming conscious were the animals and the house (especially Toby, our beagle).  Loves working in the yard and loves going to the Ameristar casino in Central City.  Can spend hours (and I mean 10 hours +) playing video poker and slots.  
He likes things to be in an orderly way.  A bit OCD.  The hanging shirts have to be in a certain order based on a combination of sleeve length, shirt type, and color scheme.

He loves watching his TV shows (Biggest Looser, Amazing Race, Grey’s Anatomy, crime stories, Intervention,....).  We always have a back log of shows and movies to watch because he likes so many of them.  Would always make sure his shows were being recorded when we would go out to dinner or hang with friends.   Hyper and ADD.  He can’t sit still through movies, always hoping up and down because he has “things to do”.  
He has redesigned our house many, many times.  Every time I would come back from a business trip, the house would be different, even if in a microscopic way.  Then he would feign disgust that I didn’t notice the change right away.

He gets lonely when I’m gone for a business trip and likes to surround himself with the animals and friends.  
Great interior designer.  Brings a homey, personal touch to each project.  Always makes friends with his clients.
He is smart and worked extremely hard to build up his business.  He comes up with different ideas constantly about how to enhance the business.  I have no doubt Tyler will be able to rebuild a business once he recovers.

He is tough and a survivor.  He has come through rehab and alcoholism and will come through this also.  We have survived 2009 starting off with ELE (Tyler’s cat of almost 13 years and mine of about 6 years) being killed in the front yard by a coyote, my cancer surgery and chemo, the ups and downs of both of our small businesses, and now heart surgery and waiting on a heart transplant.   He is taking charge of his care and dealing with the pump in his heart and the cord coming out of his body.