Help Brent Freeburg, Our Cameraman Hero

Friends, Family and all those that love Brent,

Today, we are 12 days through a nightmare. Never has our family experienced a tragedy like this. Our sweet, stubborn and strong Brent suffered two strokes and a subdural hematoma. He was found after family had a neighbor check on him. He wasn’t heard from for a few days, which is unlike Brent. You see, Brent was raised in Saranac Lake, Adirondack Park, New York. He spent his childhood with his 3 brothers adventuring through the mountains and also with his loving step brother and step sister. Living tall tales, and being admired by every cousin and friend watching from a distance. We watched each brother grow up, move out and journey all on their own. Brent, followed in his big brother’s footsteps. A camera operator, cinematography, documentation of the most upstanding and cinematic types of television, reality tv. We watched them going on jobs all over the world. Dancing through Pittsburgh on Dance Moms. Surviving the harsh wilderness in Alaska, and his claim to fame, Below Deck. Brent had no passion to be on camera, but quickly found his way to the forefront during one pivotal and life changing moment. Ashton was quickly whisked away to sea trapped, and drowning. Brent made the decision to break the dreaded fourth wall and quickly went from spectator to hero. Brentrick, as we lovingly call him, however, was always our hero. Our biggest hurdle we are facing with Brent’s needs being in this coma, is that this happened on the west coast outside of Los Angeles. Our family is on the east coast. We are desperate to transport him to the hospital so his family can be with him throughout this process. We are urgently seeking funds to help him continue his care. Without medical insurance currently, we are asking for your help. Please spread the word so Brent, our cameraman, our hero, can be at home with his family by his side.

Below is his day by day journey this far, as told by my aunt, his mother Cheri.

Tuesday, February 25

Brent has had a fever most of the day, it goes up and down. They're doing all kinds of blood tests, and urine sample, and respiratory sample, and blood culture, and chest x-ray, to figure out if and where an infection might be. Other than that a good thing is that his eyes open every once in a while even though they're not super focused, it's still good to see him. The cooling mat that he's on is making him shiver so they had to give him Tylenol and a little bit more sedation. I would've loved to had that cooling mat a few years ago for a couple of years. But fingers crossed that they'll find out what it is soon.❤️

Monday, February 24

Today Brent got his feeding peg out of his nose and into his stomach. He also got his stitches removed from his head. It also took three nurses and me to clean up his face and beard because of the crud from the tubes. We decided to give him a shave the best we could with a hospital electric razor. There is nothing left, procedure wise, for him now. He will be here for a few more days at least , and then on to a nearby rehab place. Not sure which one yet. I wish he could rehab here.

Sunday, February 23

Brent had to have a Percutaneous Tracheostomy today. It happened early afternoon so that's why I'm posting late today. The procedure went well. The whole idea was they had to get the breathing tube out of his mouth because they don't like to leave it in long-term for damage to his throat, the trach is reversible when he begins talking and is awake. He will be so much more comfortable now that he's got all that crap out of his mouth. Plus when he has to go to a rehab facility, he can't have that breathing tube.

He is resting quietly and comfortably right now. He's being slowly taken off of the sedation that he needed for the procedure. Eric and I were kicked out of the room while that happened, so we went to the ocean for a little peace and sunshine.

Saturday, Februray 22

So today's info on Brent.

He's still breathing on his own, but still has the tube for now. He is stable, and vitals are all good. Outside staples will be removed in a few days. He is still asleep.

The neurologist explained the damaged part of his brain from the stroke appears to be just his left side of the body and nothing else, so far. This may or may not be fixed with therapy down the road. It's mostly sit and wait. He also reminded us that there will be good days and bad days, but not to despair from the bad days because this is a long-term process. Today is just a normal sit and wait kind of day. Eric and I are grateful for this kind of day.❤️

Friday, February 21

Hi family and friends, not much to report today. Brent slept pretty peacefully last night. Still stable with all of his vitals.

Eric was at the hospital and I was as at Brent's, and we both slept better last night also.

Brent did have the embolization in his head this morning and all went well. He's getting another MRI today, honestly I don't know why, but it seems they want to make sure nothing was missed the first time around. He's still on a low dose of sedation. His fever broke, and hope it stays down this time. Time..... waiting... my thinking is that his brain is keeping him asleep so he can heal. Yep, that's what I'm telling myself. ❤️

Thursday, February 20

Ok so.... Brent is back on a mild sedative, he's back on the breathing tube, and he still has a mild fever. The sedative is because he's shivering again because they put him on the cold mat again for his fever. The breathing tube is so he is comfortable breathing so he can get some rest . He actually is still breathing on his own, but they just wanted to give him a boost.

Tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock he's going to have a procedure MMAE. It puts glue on the end of his vessels that were bleeding outside of his brain. This prevents any other bleeding, especially if his head gets bumped.

Fortunately, there is no new issues. He is sleeping now and not shivering. He won't wake up on his own with the sedation. After the procedure tomorrow, we'll try some more. If I didn't know better, I would say he's not waking up because his mom is telling him to do it! Just a little bit stubborn. I wish that was it.

Wednesday, February 19

Ok... today...

So last night, Brent had an external EEG to see if he was having seizures. He is not, but he is on a very very light dose of seizure medicine just in case. He did have another CT scan and no new problems there either.

Brent slept most of the night, except when they were tormenting him every couple of hours trying to wake him up. And I mean that in a very loving way.

He is still breathing on his own, he is off sedation medicines, except for the low dose of Keppra for anti-seizures. I haven't seen him shake once today, so we are near the end of all of that .

He still has a low-grade fever. And the nurse seems to think that maybe is just because maybe the part of his brain that regulates his temperature is a little screwed up at the moment. Because he's not showing any signs of being sick or infected. Something that can right itself eventually.

Right now it's 1:15 in the afternoon and he has been sleeping soundly most of today too. He has three different teams of Neurology specialists, surgeons and doctors.

Just waiting….

Update on Tuesday the 18th.

He is still breathing on his own and possibility of taking the breathing tube out tomorrow. He still has a feeding tube in his nose to his stomach.

Three tests he had last night... angiogram (to check blood flow in brain), left leg arterial has no blockage and right leg vein test showed no blood clots.

He did have a CAT scan last night, but he might need another one today to check if the vessels are still bleeding in his brain. He's on a low sedative so he's not responding very well to commands right now.

Staples in the head should come out in 10 days .

Not much more change.

I would love to give a shout out to all of his nurses, doctors, neurosurgeons, and the staff here at this hospital in Torrence. They are excellent , kind and I feel they have Brents best interest, totally in their hearts. They are very patient with very worried and non medical family members who bombard them with repeated questions.

If anyone wants to send Brent a card, that would be good. Eric and I are taking turns sleeping at his house and at the hospital.

Brent's address is:

2013 Havemeyer Avenue Apt B

Redondo Beach, CA 90278

Love you all! ❤️

So today is Monday the 17th. Brent's doctors said that his days were going to be up and down, today is more of a down day. He is being treated for infection with different antibiotics.

Because of his fever, he is on Tylenol and he is on an air conditioning cold mat which of course is making him shiver. Some of the shiver spasms make his machines go out of whack and scares the crap out of me, but his wonderful nurses assure me that is normal. Gave him some meds to help with the shaking.

They are checking on everything and he had an echo cardiogram to make sure his heart is ok. No results back yet, but she didn't seem alarmed at anything.

I don't think there's any more tests they can do for him right now. Just rest right now

Update on Sunday, today.

Brent has 3 IVs with multiple meds and fluids, a breathing tube, a bite block, catheter, ice packs, head staples, blood pressure cup and feeding tube at all times.

All vitals are still good, he is still breathing on his own, so will take out the tube in a day or two. He is no longer in a coma, but they are keeping him on light sedation till the tube is out.

He's on blood clot meds. He is still weak on his left side of the body. But the right side responds to verbal commands.

It's all a waiting game at this point. Waiting for the breathing tube to be removed, waiting for him to be awake (once he's no longer being sedated), then we will know what damage has been done due to the strokes. The doctors said he is doing as well as he can at this point and rest is the key.

Update for today… Brent had a stroke and is weak on his left side. He is still being sedated. He has a breathing tube, but it has been turned off for about an hour now, and he is breathing on his own. But as a precaution, keeping the tube in for right now. He had an MRI and doctor said it looked good. It’s going to take a little while…

Thank you everybody for your prayers and good vibes n the universe. I dont think Brent understands how many people love him! ❤️

Prayers needed please. My son Brent was admitted to the hospital last night and had emergency surgery because he has a subdural hematoma. The operation went OK. He is in a coma right now and has a breathing tube. I don’t know the backstory but I’m praying for healing and a complete recovery. Flying there tonight to be with him. ❤️ Brent Freeburg