Well, Philip Hunt is a remarkable young man! He is 29 years old, and he is just starting to really walk in the things that God has in store for him!
Starting in the beginning of April, Philip's parents started to notice that he had been acting a little strange. He was having minor "memory problems," which his family had always kind of dubbed "Philip being himself." He got confused easily, his headaches (always diagnosed as migraines) were more frequent and severe, and he quit doing the leisure activities he had always enjoyed so much, including hanging out with his buddies.
When Philip came home one day having just been fired from his job, his parents knew that something was wrong. Phil was so excited about this job, and he was perfect for the job, so they knew that there was something strange... especially since Phil had NO IDEA why he was fired! (It ended up being because he was having trouble processing things in his cute little brain!) Philip went to work to talk to his manager about why he had been fired; on the way home from his meeting, Phil called his dad to tell him about their talk. Then, when he got home and his mom wanted to hear about how things went, Phil said, "Shouldn't we wait to tell Dad?"
Subsequently, his family started noticing his memory problems, personality changes, and brain processing troubles. Since Philip had just been fired from his job (THANK YOU Brighthouse! Seriously!), he had no medical insurance. With Philip's parents being teachers, they did what any good teachers would do - they tried to find someone to see Philip for free! (FYI, teachers don't make nearly as much money as people pretend they do!) Yay, they found a place!
On Friday, June 20th, Philip had a CT scan performed at a local hospital. The scan revealed a mass in his brain. He was immediately hospitalized in the Neuro ICU. It wasn't until Saturday, June 21st, that the doctors and nurses were referring to Philip as having a brain tumor. Two inches by two and a half inches, and that's not counting the five inch by seven inch sac of fluid in his brain (AKA hydrocephalus).
Originally, the surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, then on Monday they changed hospitals and rescheduled for Friday. Unfortunately, Phil slipped into a coma Wednesday morning and emergency surgery was performed at 1:00 that day.
From June 25, 2008 until April 2009, Philip was in a light coma. He spent 5 weeks in the Neuro ICU, then was moved to the Neuro floor at Bayfront Medical Center. He returned (Sept. 23, 2008) to Bayfront for another brain surgery. He was at Edinborough Healthcare Center in Dunedin until Dec 22, 2008, when his family was finally able to bring him home!
In April 2009, Philip began to "emerge" into consciousness. He is now in what is considered "emerging consciousness" or a minimally conscious state. He makes a little progress every day, so check back regularly to watch Philip's progress and "miracle in the making." The road ahead will be difficult, but Philip's family will do whatever it takes to help Philip achieve a complete recovery.