Give Hope With Thoughts & Stories
Please leave your comments, thoughts, or stories about Greg here. Let’s lift his spirits by showing we care. (Click on the write tab below to submit or email wil_chang@yahoo.com)
Please leave your comments, thoughts, or stories about Greg here. Let’s lift his spirits by showing we care. (Click on the write tab below to submit or email wil_chang@yahoo.com)
Hi Everyone,
I don’t think I need to update anyone on what is going on with Greg. Karyn is by his side during the days while his parents are at his side at night. And I’m sure you all feel as helpless as I do in finding out what you can do to help.
There is something we can do. I believe in the power of words. With the time that she is spending with him, I figure a few (alot) of choice stories from us would liven up the conversation. I think Greg would like to reminisce about the many colorful things we all did together and give Karyn a window into Greg’s past that he may not have shared. I think we are allowed to get him into some trouble, but not too much. And please forward this on to anyone who knows and loves Greg, so they can add their own stories.
Well I’ll be first: (The first of many):
It was the day before Greg’s 26th birthday and he was up in the Bay Area visiting Sehee and I. I think Wil was up also to visit Suzan. Being the great friend and bright guy that I am, I decided to take Greg deep sea salmon fishing for his birthday. We were all set to wake up at 4 to leave at 6 out to sea. Of course that night we started to drink and as you all probably know drinking with that bastard that I call my brother Wil. Wil proceeded to pressure us to drink more and more as the night went on. Fully knowing that he wasn’t going on the fishing trip with us. Everytime we said we were done he pushed more and more alcohol in front of us. Needless say we didn’t sleep that nite, but we got ourselves to the docks for the trip. I hear you’re suppose to eat Dramamine the day before a trip to fully be effective. Because of our escapades, Sehee and I didn’t really have a chance to dose ourselves. And of course Greg, being the great guy he is, made sandwiches for the trip while drunk and tired (trust me this is relevant to the story).
So we get out to sea, and the sea was choppy. I think the swells were like 10 feet. It was so bad that the experienced deckhands were throwing up. Sehee and I were extremely seasick 10 minutes into the trip and the trip was for the whole day. After I threw up for the second time, I looked at my watch and it read 7 am. We were in for a long day. Of course, Greg was fine. Couldn’t have been better but he felt really bad for us. I think Sehee’s lips and face were white the entire trip. All the young people were down for the count and only the crusty old fisherman and Greg were able to handle the high seas. Greg attributes it to being conceived on a boat. I’ve taken his work for it and haven’t really wanted to follow up on that one. As I threw up for the nth time around lunch, I actually started to feel pretty good. So I decided to have one of Greg’s sandwiches which are always really good. Everyone thought it was a bad idea but didn’t tell me so. Needless to say I chummed the fish immediately after I finished the sandwich. During the whole day trip, Greg felt so bad for us that he pretty much took care of us the whole trip and didn’t even really fish much. To say the least, it’s a memory that will last a lifetime. Of course we swore never to do that again until… a few months later when we went down to SD and he rented a boat for us to go deep sea fishing out there with “Navi”. Won’t go into details but after Greg rented the boat for the day we came back after 10 minutes out at sea. This time it was not driven by Sehee or Me, so by process of eliminatioin…Yes, we never learn.
Karyn, our thoughts and prayer go out to you, Liam, Greg and the whole Milligan Family. Don’t hesitate to ask anyone of us on the email for anything.
Love,
Johnny
Well here’s another story for today.
Here’s a drinking story for you. I’m sure Greg only has one or 2 of these. Greg was out visiting me in North Carolina while I was in school. So the first thing I did was to introduce him to a few of my drinking buddy’s there. We met at Michael Jordan’s favorite bar in Chapel Hill called “He’s not here” or “He’s not” for short. It was one of those college dive bars where the bathrooms were the size of a coat closet and had no sink. Real classy place, but it had a huge courtyard that was usually pack to the rafters. He visited during the winter so it was pretty empty and actually relatively cold. I’m thinking 30’s to mid 20’s. Well what He’s not was famous for was for it’s blue cups which are 33oz blue plastic cup of beer that cost 5 bucks and 2 buck on Tuesdays with a 3 dollar cover. I think we were there tuesday. Our group consisted of 4 guys probably all 220 to 230 lbs and heavy drinkers. We had 1.5 Irish, a fat asian and a pretty big white guy so we stacked our finished blue cups pretty high. I’m thinking we each had 6-8 blue cups each. During the time my buddies found out that Greg was a sport fishing boat captain. They were impressed So for the entire nite one of my friends would stand up and annonce to the bar that Greg was a captain of a boat noting how young he looked. Captain Greg! Needless to say he was getting embarassed and trying to get my buddies to stop. Of course it didn’t. He took it in good sport while being embarassed the whole time. By the end of the nite we were pretty much gone with Sehee as witness and we proceeded to walk down Franklin street which is the main college street in Chapel hill. Because it was pretty cold we started taking any object we could find and wearing it down the street. We were wearing traffic cones, pizza shop fold out signs, do not enter tape and many other things. I’m honestly surprised we didn’t get arrested cause we were stealing everything in sight and making a ruckus. Ah good times.
If you didn’t see the text from Karyn, Please send your thoughts and prays to Greg, he needs every single one of them.
Thanks,
Johnny
Hey Hommes!
Dude, the Colombians are back in town. 6 of them are here now, two more arrive next week and one more on August 6th. They don’t leave until August 11th! One of the lil bastards even tried to trip me….WE GOTTA GO FISHING!!!
Hey Guys how is it going. I just got word from Drew that Greg is not doing well and pointed me to this site. I have not hung out with you guys in a quite a while!! But Greg was a very close friend of mine all through highschool (you too Johnny). The things I remember the most about Greg, other than the time spent studing for all those AP test and classes, was our time camping up the along Apachee Cayon Road and Dick Smith wilderness. Greg had that red Mazda Truck, and man did he rear end everyone with that truck. Never hard, just a little tap, but enough to always have a messed up front grill. Several years ago, I somehow got Greg’s phone number, and gave him a call. We must have talked for close to an hour. We filled each other in on the recent happening of our lives. And I found out he live in the San Diego area, and was a fishing boat captain. Greg Buddy, I’m thinking of you.
Johnny-please e-mail me and fill me in of the situation. If there is anything I could do to help…
Check out the family’s site too, http://www.caringbrige.org/gregmilligan/visit
There’s definitely a lot of stories that I could list in our years of being roommates, but you’re usually there to fill in all the parts that I miss. I really don’t know what to say Greg. I just can’t wait to see you and tell you “I’m glad you’re getting better!”
Well lets go back to about 1995 or 1996. We had an annual guys trip to go skiing in Mammoth and Greg was always up for the abuse of ” hey lets try a double diamond on our first day!” But this wasn’t the only excitement on this trip. Lets just say we were young and dumb. We would take my old Ford Ranger and tie a large tow rope to it, then put 5 people on 3 inflatable tubes and hit the iced over parking lot. I remember driving and seeing the speedometer up around 50mph and then everyone would let go and fly into a huge powder embankment! Fun right? It gets better! After this we decided to see who could climb the ski run the furthest in thier truck. Greg and I in my truck… we almost won!
Next thing I know we see flashing red and blue lights reflecting off the snow as we sit in the parking lot. I coast backwards across the empty parking lot to hide while my other friends and brother slide back down the ski slope in his truck and almost run into Mammoth Police Dept. Next thing I know Greg and I are spotlighted by the police and they tell us to come back up. Thank god my brother is a smooth talker and talked the mountain representative and police into letting us fix the damage to the slope instead of all of us going to jail that night. Greg, myself, and many others worked up on the chilly mountain until about 2 AM until we had patched all the tire ruts on the slope! There were many great trips with Greg and I look forward to many more with Greg!
Greg… Get well, we’re going to Colorado this winter!
Love ya bud!
Ken
Greg is the “one that got away.” We were such good and close friends through high school, and even during my time in Tucson managed to get together frequently as it was “only” a 4.5 hour drive. Somehow as time went by we lost touch with each other and I now feel helpless that this good friend got away.
My fondest memories of Greg are simple: sitting on the curb, whether it was the curb of Hunter St, Baldwin Ave, or La Jolla Hermosa. We talked of everything on those curbs… religion, relationships, you name it.
Get better soon, Greg! I love you and miss you. As more stories surface in my brain, I’ll be sure to share them.
I don’t have a terribly funny story to share, but thought I would write about how and when I met Greg. We both went to Buena High School and met working at a video store, Video Tyme on Telegraph. Me, Greg, and Ken Gordon all worked together, when I was a junior in high school and they were seniors. Our assistant manager, Greg’s friend, was Ryan Politis. Before Video Tyme, I had never met Greg at school. The summer before my senior year was one of my favorite summers ever, and Greg was a part of that. He is such a wonderful, nice guy. I can honestly say he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. Me, Greg, Kenny, and Ryan all had fun hanging out that summer and going to the beach, oh yeah and working too. Ha ha. I remember Greg loved surfing and talked about it all the time (well that, and Hawaii, and Philly).
A bunch of us went to a Stone Temple Pilots concert in Irvine too. Good times! Greg, hang in there and stay strong. My prayers are with you!!!
It says something about Greg that he was first my boss, then my friend, then one of my groomsmen. I was Greg’s entire team for more than a year in Child Support, although our boss-employee relationship was always somewhat different. Between playing numerous pranks on each other, we bet for breakfast burritos from Rubio’s on the first floor of the building. We would bet on whether Greg would be on time the next morning (which I won probably 90% of the time). I was usually assured of a safe bet when Greg said that he was going out with friends from Ventura that night for “just one or two beers”. Then we would bet how many freethrows he could make with the Nerf basketball in his cubicle (which Greg won about 70% of the time – the guy is the Jordan or Bryant of Nerf basketball). Over the course of the year, we had many, many, burritos.
One day Greg and I were supposed to work on a project after lunch. 1:00 rolled around and there was no Greg. 1:30, he was still not back. Then 2:00, then 2:30. I was wondering what happened to him when Greg ran back in (we shared a cubicle at the time) looking groggy but in a complete state of panic. He said that he had gone to the hotel across the street and accidentally fallen asleep in one of the lawn chairs for 2.5 hours. Luckily, as long as we got our work done, we really had very little supervision (yes, that was probably a mistake on the part of our superiors), so I said “Don’t worry, I distinctly remember you coming back from lunch at 1:00.”
Greg, Karyn, you both are in our thoughts every moment. And Greg, recover quickly buddy, there’s still a lot of trouble we can get into.
Tony & Jo Ann Raeker
Heh Greg,
My thoughts and prayers are with you bud. Do you remember the Video Tyme days and the hikes we would do at Punchbowls? Those were the days, no worries and just good times. You went to San Diego, I went to Boulder, Co and we both continued living the outside dream, you on a boat and myself in Tahoe. It’s weird how crazy events can bring people back into your life. Keep fighting the good fight bro, we are all here for you.
Ken, you, and I must get together once you kick this thing!!
Take care,
Kristin
Hi Everyone,
Sorry it’s going to be a few quick hits today. Driving to Ohio from MN.
First for up-to-date news on Greg, please check out:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/gregmilligan
Thank you Dave and Kim for this.
1 short quick stories.
Conversation from the past:
Greg: How do you say Kimchee(korean spicy pickled napa cabbage) in Korean?
(Short pause in confusion)
Sehee: Kimchee
Greg: … (turns red immediately and proceeds to get made fun of by everyone in the room)
Here’s another on for the site:
Spoke to Mr. Milligan(Greg’s dad) a few days ago and got a chuckle out of him.
Told him that Greg was the most stubborn and hard-headed person I know.
Those attribute are going to serve him well through his fight.
He laughed and had to agree.
So it’s back to sandwiches and fishing again. Greg always has the ability to drop something in the water every time we fished. It was a warm San Diego day and we headed out on a small boat to fish off of Point Loma. Of course Greg brought the sandwiches and he decided to bring his Dad’s brand new fishing pole as well. We threw our lines in the water and maybe a half hour goes by and we decided it was sandwich time. I opened mine up and took a bite with pole in hand, wow they were delicious. Greg on the other hand has to give his sandwich the final touches before his work of art can be consumed. He is the only one I know that would put his Classic style potato chips in the sandwich. A dash of salt and a handful of pepper and he was off to the races. Just when he was done, wham!, his pole flew out of the boat only to drop beyond site instantly. Wow what a big fish that was I thought to myself laughing. Then I looked at Greg’s face and he seemed saddened by the whole incident only thinking of his father and the brand new pole he lost. That is Greg though, he didn’t care about himself and the fish he could have caught. He only thought of his father and how he might feel upon learning of the brand new fishing pole he lost. The always selfless Greg.
I’m sure many of us have lots of stories with and about Greg. Thats the kinda guy he was- always in the middle of the fun. Whether is was surfing, skiing, camping, fishing, or just hanging out- Greg always made sure people around him were taken care of.
I’ll never forget the Tahoe trip we took several (12?) years ago. Ike, Sean, myself and of course Greg. Just the four of us with in Tahoe and little money. There were drunked dog-piles, nasty spills down the mountain, but a great time had by all. The trip was a blast and we will never forget it. I’ll post pics if I can find them (pre-digital age).
Greg- you’ve rested enough. Time to step it up and get better!!!
Ok, so here’s another one. I don’t remember the exact situation, but I was at VideoTyme with my best friend’s little brother. We picked out the movie, went and saw Greg, who told me, “That’ll be X amount.” I said something jackass like, “I don’t pay here” and Greggie let me slide. Little brother wanted to know how come I didn’t have to pay, I told him I have “connections” and his response was “I hope I have connections someday!”
So many memories! Miss you Greg! I can’t wait for you to get better so we can reconnect.
Well, I have so many wonderful stories involving so many of the people on this site I am not sure where to start. (pictures to follow) I just want to say I am thinking of you and looking forward to seeing you again.
Greg and I were always fiercely competitive. I think a challenge, and getting into shenanigans have always been two of his favorite things. So much of our time in “the good ol’ days” was spent conceiving and challenging each other with a variety of ridiculous games. One of the first stories I always tell people about hanging out with Greg and Ryan in highschool comes from the days of working at Video Tyme. Certain nights we would get absolutely slammed with movies coming in. We devised a game to see how many movies we could carry and put away without dropping one. The rules were simple: you had to get the movies (VHS tapes in thick hard protective cases) off the counter in one stack, and put them all away without dropping any. If a customer came up and asked you about the movies, or wanted one (usually from the middle of the stack), you had to help them.
So, you had to squeeze the movies together tightly to be able to roll them off the counter in a stack, and maintain pressure with your top hand to make sure none fell. It seems so lame and simple, but by the time you got to about G you were already hurting, when you got to M your arm was burning, and by the time you got to the end of the alphabet/stack, the last couple movies were even hard to hold.
For a while the three of us went back and forth with who had the most, but eventually Greg beat me by two with a stack of 44 wrist-shattering, ligament-tearing new releases.
It’s this unrelenting spirit that Greg always applies to everything he does that will pull him through this. Of that much I am sure.
I must say that my high school memories of Greg are all positive. He exhibited qualities at that age that very few, including me, did. He was encouraging, positive, empathetic, and genuinely interested in the lives of his friends on more than a cursory level. Although we have only seen each other a few times in the last ten years, I value the memories we have.
Favorite story: during varsity baseball, Coach Hedegard was not known for his perfect people skills. I remember vividly in a game (we’d been a team for several months) Greg being called to pinch hit with the call of “Mahoney, grab a bat”. Of course, it wasn’t the first time Greg had been called that wrong last name by the coach, but it made for a great nickname for the remainder of the season and all of our wiffle ball antics over the years.
My thoughts and prayers are with you Mahoney.
James
Camping trips out in the bushes, skiing trips which always seemed to take place on the coldest mountain we could find, wiffle ball at Grampy Melcher’s, volley ball, basketball, ultimate Frisbee, poker, impromptu MMA matches on Johnny’s living room floor, chicken fights, etc. and so forth.
Greg always seemed to be in the middle of it, dishing it out every bit as well as he would take. Whenever someone would get hurt, he was always among the first there with hand extended, challenging you to, “walk it off”.
Always more dense than his frame would suggest, he was never a favorite to carry around in those chicken fights. Though not nearly as hilarious as watching 90 lb Navi trying to heft 200 lb Johnny into the air. But that’s hilarity for another time.
An old soul, not given to many of the idiosyncrasies of his age, he was often a voice of reason, always understanding and reliable.
You’ve got a lot of people pulling for you my friend.
Walk it off Greggy.
Sean
Just a few fond Greggy moments:
Greg-
Remember the time we were playing catch at Sergio’s? I was running down that pass like a gazelle, but didn’t notice the curb right in front of me and supermanned it in to the neighbor’s yard. We walked all the back to your house and I bitched and whined the whole way and you gave me a hard time for being such a baby- until I took my shoe off? The swollen, purple, throbbing thing was in fact a toe.
How about that time we were playing baseball and you fielded that hit with your face? I tried not to look panicked as your eye immediately began to swell to the exact size of a baseball. Greggy asks, “How’s it look?” and I very calmly replied, “Oh shit!- I mean, it looks ok. We should go now.”
Or there was the other time we went skiing in Mammoth. Ike drove the Astro-Van all night (I think we got pulled over too). We slept in the van until the runs opened. We slept on the floor, in the seats and man was it uncomfortable and hot.
We had a great time enjoying the sunny weather and fresh powder until we realized our faces were terribly sunburned. Of course, once we got back to the van, Ike miraculously found the sunscreen. Greg and I definitely suffered the worst. Somehow Ike and Sean managed to avoid the painful blistering about the nose and face that Greg and I enjoyed for quite some time.
Or one of your all time favorites- in Ike’s Astro-Van once again, and as Ike was likely to do, he drove erratically enough to roll you and I around in the back (no seats for some reason…). As I was rolling ass-over-head and fearing for my life, somehow you lost your balance and had to stabilize yourself by planting your slushy square on my ass. Glad I could help.
C’mon Greggy, there are more stories to tell, but they are more fun in person. You get better and I’ll buy the first round. I’ll even let you tell them your way.
Greg we miss you bud, get better soon! So i remember this time when we lived at La Jolla Hermosa and Wil and i decided to build this launch ramp for our skateboards. well we ended up with this little two foot plank of plywood on some two by fours and figured well what the heck. next thing you know greg comes bombing down the street on his skateboard and charges off this launch ramp. well he flew straight up about six feet in the air and went horizontal landing flat on his back on the concrete. dude i thought i would never see greg set foot on a skateboard again. but sure enough he was back up and at it again in no time charging down hills. of course the shots of jameson in between skate sessions probably didnt help. greg i know you are gonna be back chargin again soon. then we can take liam to the skateparks! we are keeping you in our prayers!
Sean M.
-UPDATE-
Hello everyone. On behalf of Karyn, Liam, and Greg and Karyn’s families as a whole, we’d like to say thank you for your continued love, support, prayers, stories, and pictures that you have shared. It is good to read all of the comments and see how much Greg has meant to everyone.
A quick update for the moment, as Greg’s condition changes hourly. For now, the doctors are concerned about his lungs. That seems to be the priority of the day. He’s dependent on the respirator for 75% of his breathing, which is more than he has been for the past couple days.
His legs are still bandaged, and the doctor worked on his skin earlier today. They are keeping a close watch on it to prevent infection. They’re concerned about his back, as it’s hard to keep that part dry.
It’s definitely going to be a long road. But we are hopeful that Greg will continue to make baby steps in the right direction.
Thank you again for your support. We can feel the love coming from all of you.
I’m going to keep my stories short and sweet. While living with Greg, we had many battles with anything we could get a hold of, so of course we have plenty of memorable stories – mostly you had to be there because, as most of you know, Greg’s reactions are priceless.
Chocolate war: Someone gave Greg a box of chocolate and he wanted to share, of course. The way I told him thank you was by mashing it into his face. I think he was still finding chocolate in his ear a week later.
Dining table chairs: I think I broke a couple on him and he broke a couple on me. I think I broke one with something involving his head. All of our surviving chairs had loose legs or some part missing. We always could find a way to relieve roommate issues.
Backdoor window: I ran Greg through it. We ended up with a nice cool draft throughout the house. The window stayed broken for years. I don’t think we fixed it until we moved out.
Jalapeno war: One of the most painful wars we had. Jalapeno vs. Face – Jalapeno won. We mashed them in each other’s faces, eyes, nose, ears. We ran out of the apartment screaming. Sean had to hose us down.
Waking up with “the bat”: Greg, Sean, and I have all experience the wrath of the bat.
Bleaching of Greg’s Hair: I think this incident happened because of a lost bet, but I made Greg bleach his hair. We didn’t know about toners, so we left the bleach in for hours. He ended up at work the next day with a burnt scalp and orange hair. I thought it went really well with his tie.
4am burritos: He blames me for gaining weight. Burrito Won.
Wiffle bat to the head: We decided to hit balls off each other’s heads; it doesn’t seem like a good idea but then again it didn’t sound so bad to do it with a wiffle bat. Everyone was successful other than me. and it as Sean’s head. I’m not so great at aiming, so the bat pretty much wrapped around Sean’s head, because I nailed it so hard. Greg and I couldn’t stop laughing for hours
We were roommates for about 6 years. There are many more stories, and of course I can’t share them all. Just get Greg and me together, and it’s a lot funnier coming from both of us. We got plenty more stories to make, Greg. Keep Fighting!
Just read Wil’s roommate stories, and yes, there are many many more, and I wanted to add one off the top of my head…
Graduation Party: Greg’s graduation from UCSD. Wild night for sure as everyone can imagine! Graduation cake that our parent’s bought Greg ended up all over the place… I think there was still cake on the ceiling when you guys moved out! All I remember was just as I was going to cut a piece of cake, Wil came over and took a handful and mashed it in Greg’s face… At one point I think the cake war went through Sean’s place upstairs.
Thank you so much Wil for putting this together and for updating the pictures! It’s so nice to go on everyday and see new things. We really appreciate it!
Greg, keep fighting!! You are one of the strongest people I know, and one of the most stubborn! ha ha. I know you can make it through this! We are right by your side. Love you! Your new little sis’ as you call me… Carrie xoxo
No funny stories just very fond memories we hold dear of Greg and the Buena High boys coming to our house with our son, Keith. We love each and every one of them. Greg, so know that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your beautiful family.
Jerry and Marti
-UPDATE-
Good morning everyone.
Greg had a difficult night, and he continues to need all of our prayers. His lungs aren’t doing too well, and he’s now dependent on the respirator for 100% of his breathing. We hope that this doesn’t last long, and that his body will respond in a positive way. For now, he’s in a difficult spot in his recovery and will need to jump another hurdle today.
Please continue thinking and praying for Greg. He’s still fighting, and we know that the support from everyone makes a difference.
-UPDATE-
Hello Everyone,
Our way of coming together as supporters has been to create the Greg Milligan Fund. The Greg Milligan Fund is a creatively named nonprofit organization established as a vehicle for all of us to help out and contribute in our own way. It goes without saying that in times like these, we can all use a little help. Donate what you can, every little bit helps. Obviously in this case- more is better.
Don’t forget to forward this message on to others!
Please share this link with Greg and Karyn’s family, friends and well wishers so everyone can be in touch and participate.
COME ON GREG!!! KEEP FIGHTING!!
-Keith Burchstead
http://captaingregmilligan.com/the-greg-milligan-fund/
(or simply click on “give” above…)
Please know that all of us that have gone through this journey are praying for and with you! We know how bad this SJS/TENS is but there are many survivors and we are here to encourage you thru this journey! We will not stop praying and telling others to pray until he is healed! God Bless you all and give you the strength you need for each moment!!
Cheri O’Neill
http://stevensjohnsonsyndrome.ning.com/
Dear Gregg and family
I read your story and would i be right in thinking that his reaction was not due to a pharmaceutical?
I would like to say my son ian has had SJS 23times in 15years and the last two episodes TENS.
I would also like to tell you that he is a strong young man who is at college plays sports and looks to the future.
I do know the power of positive thought as i have experienced and gone through it many times.
I hope this give yu all hope for a recovery fr gregg.
Lyn and ian
One of Sehee’s fondest memories of Greg was right after our wedding. After an exhausting day of meeting, greeting, laughing and chatting throughout the wedding reception, Sehee was exhausted and extremely hungry. She had only been in the US for about a year or so she still needed to eat at least one meal of Korean food a day. So the wedding food wasn’t really to her liking. Greg had helped throughout the wedding and even gave a pretty nice speech. He was thoughtful and observant enough to buy an order rice and kimchee and bring it to our apartment after the wedding. She still smiles about that incident
Another rice story. Greg’s polite to a fault sometimes. One of the first time he met Sehee, she made him a Korean meal. He loved it but he was trying to be polite and not eat too much rice (you know how much he likes rice). Sehee asked him numerous time if he wanted anymore and he politely decline. But throughout the night, he would open the rice cooker and take out a scoop of plain rice to munch on. So in the morning when Sehee would eat her morning rice, she opened the rice cooker to an empty cooker. When she asked where all the rice went, he turned bright red. Needless to say after that, Sehee would make an extra couple cups of rice when we all ate together.
One of the worst hangovers i’ve seen Greg have was after a night of drinking cocktail soju (Korean vodka made from rice mixed with a fruit juice). Ask him if he wants to have lemon or strawberry soju and he’ll make a face and say never again!
I don’t know Greg but I do know the harrowing impact of SJS on the mind and body and on the loved ones involved. This time two years ago I was in a coma from TEN (severe SJS) and I know that the prayers of others helped me in my days of need. I pray for Greg’s health and recovery and for the well-being of his family. Much love to all involved. This disease is so insidious, spread the word, it is being kept a dark secret that more and more are being afflicted with SJS.
Much love,
David
My name is Kate and I am a 2 year survivor of SJS/TEN. I decided to share my story with the idea that it will keep the hope going! But first, my little disclaimer: I have been in touch with a few people with SJS/TEN and the only thing I can say with absolute confidence is that everyone goes through their reaction differently – so please do not make assumptions about how Greg is doing based on comparisons with my experience, as that would not be fair to yourself or to him. He will have to go through this in his own way, at his own pace.
The extremely Short Version of my story is this: I reacted to a month’s long regimen of a prescription NSAID called Piroxicam (brand name: Feldene) in June 2007. I was in the trauma burn unit here in Atlanta for 5 weeks; 3+ of those weeks I was in a medically induced coma and on full life support. I did not loose my vision, but my tear ducts were scarred so I do have ongoing but manageable eye problems. The other after-effects I deal with are chronic fatigue and minor lung damage that gives me a cough that sounds like I’m a chain smoker (of course, I do not smoke at all!). And while my life has changed forever and I have to adjust to my “new normal,” I try to see this as a second chance and to make the most of the blessing of my survival.
The Long Version: Even though I was only 30 years old, I had been experiencing joint pain and was prescribed the piroxicam and physical therapy to resolve the problem. After being on the meds for one month, my mucus membrane tissues (mouth, eyes, etc.) started to become inflamed.
I went to one ER twice in one day and was told both times by different doctors that there was basically nothing wrong with me. I was given topical medications. But by the next day I had the beginnings of target lesions, my lips were beginning to swell and when I started to have difficulty breathing, I went to different ER.
Because the staff at this hospital did not know what was wring with me, they quarantined me and had a slew of specialists, some even from the Center for Disease Control here in Atlanta. It came down to either being Shingles (adult chicken pox) or Stevens Johnson Syndrome. They took a skin biopsy and came back the next day with the diagnosis of SJS and I was moved to Grady hospital’s trauma burn unit.
After a few days there, they decided to put me into a coma, which meant I had to be put on the ventilator and a feeding tube as well. I stayed in that drugged state for 3 1/2 weeks and at that point my care and treatment centered around pain management, daily hydrotherapy, and keeping me sterile and alive.
When I started to come out of the coma, it took me a while to become lucid and even those moments were fleeting, which made it very hard for me to fully grasp and understand what had happened to me. I don’t remember very much because the coma-inducing drug I was on also gives you amnesia and can also cause extremely vivid hallucinations. Oddly, I can recall my hallucinations quite clearly and while some were a little scary, mostly they were just plain silly and we laugh about them now!
The hospital staff had me out of bed and learning to walk again as soon as possible (it was not a neurological thing, my muscles were extremely weak from being bed-ridden). When it was time to change rooms out of the ICU and into a regular room, I was determined to make the trip using my own 2 legs (with a walker) and I did! Granted, it was only down a few long hallways, but it was a big accomplishment. My physical therapists, who were wonderfully supportive the whole time, were thrilled to see me do it.
I spent the last week doing physical therapy, weaning myself off my ventilator/tracheotomy and graduating from the feeding tube to eating soft foods. My Mom said she had never seen much of her Mother (my Grandmother) who I am named after in me before, but that last week, she saw my Grandma’s stubborn determination come shining through!
On my last day, 36 days since this whole thing started, I set out to walk myself (still with the walker) all the way from my room to our car. It took me a while, a couple short breathers and the trip really wiped me out, but I did it. Now, when I have a bad day, I think back to that time and how far I’ve come and how, when you have people who are fighting for you and who believe in you, it makes all the difference because you know you have to keep fighting and believing, too.
It has been 2 years since then and I am pleased to say that not only have I recovered (for the most part) but my husband (who stood by me as my fiance the whole time) and had a healthy baby boy in February!
Prayers and Love to Greg and everyone who is fighting for and believing in him ~ Kate
-UPDATE-
A special thank you to those SJS/TEN survivors for sending their support and sharing their stories. It is comforting to read these comments, and someday Greg will be sharing his story with others as well. This entire ordeal is still a shock. We still shake our heads in astonishment.
A quick update: Greg’s lungs continue to be the primary concern and center of attention. The good news is that baby steps are still being made in other areas, including skin condition, fluid intake, and oxygen levels.
His skin looks better, and the doctor is happy with the progress in this area. They lowered his fluid intake to 150 (it had been 400, and at one time it was 1800). It will still fluctuate depending on the stress level and blood pressure. But it’s still big for it to be decreased to this level. The saturation of oxygen remains good, so they lowered his ventilator support to 80%, and hopefully they are able to lower it more. He was at 100% ventilator support yesterday. What this all means is his body is trying to work, and hopefully it continues to heal itself.
Greg’s still on dialysis. But the doctors are hopeful that his kidney function will return.
His lungs are still the main concern at this point. Keep the faith, and keep the positive thoughts!
Thank you all again… Your support and words of encouragement mean so much to the family, and to Greg. Beyond the words, your love is felt by all of us.
Hi, i just want to encourage you all, My 3yr old almost died this past march from TENS and Stevens-Johnson syndrome. We believed that God would heal him and bring us through this. He was given a combonation of medication that almost took our little boy away from us. He is here playing with his sister. He was burned from the inside out and also on life support, But God heard us, and everyday I would pray in his ears and tell him to fight and to not give in. I also opened the Bibile to Psalm 116 and left it open, allow God in and let Him do his work, Greg will be healed and his story will help so many. God bless you all in Jesus name
Greg,
I had a feeling you were a “kind soul” when we met during Carrie & Jim’s wedding weekend. I was devastated when I heard of your illness and told my mom that you were one of the nicest guys I’d ever met, and that they don’t make ‘em like you very often! Your wife Karyn is a lucky woman to have such a wonderful gentleman. I’m sure you’ll pass on your gentle ways to Liam as he grows up.
After reading the notes on both this site and the Caring Bridge site, it’s plain to see that you have touched the live of many, and in many ways! It brings a smile to read the fun things you’ve done with your friends and how they look forward to many more fun times yet to come. You’ll “kick this” thing Greg! Hang in there Karyn!!
Erica (Carrie & Jim’s Neice-ha!)
Just wanted to add my name to the long list of friends and family that are pulling for you, Greg. I only shook your hand at Carrie and Jim’s wedding and admired that great smile of yours then, and hope that someday when you are well that you’ll return to NYS so we can all see it again.
Sounds like you are making progress and know that my thoughts and prayers are about you often.
Love to you and your family,
Carrie’s Aunt Gloria
I just came to know about this site through a mutual friend. Greg and I went to high school together. During that time we had many classes together. What I remember most was that greg was a great guy. He was always smiling, in a good mood or cracking jokes. Even when not in school we and always seemed to be doing the same things and running into each other, at the beach or hiking. My thoughts and prayers and with greg and his family through this time, and those that call greg a friend. It only took me a few min. to realize what a great person greg is many years ago and what spirit he posseses, which will help him in this journey and towards his recovery. My thoughts are with you, and will be everyday till we can speak again bud, keep fighting.
Ruben Rodarte
My best memories of Greg in high school was sitting in class quoting Back to Future lines. We could do this for hours. It never got old. Hence the name “slacker”. Get well my friend.
Steve
What’s the name of Greg’s boat and the marina where it’s docked? I know another commercial fisherman and it would be a small world if they knew eachother. Please reply to alethea_otero@hotmail.com.
Hang in there Greg!
Alethea
hmmmm…we haven’t had any bathroom stories yet. With Greg stories you pretty much can run the gambit. Well this is one of my Bro’s favorite stories about Greg. Both He and Greg were up visiting me in Berkeley. Don’t quite remember the circumstances, but we were having a fun time in Berkeley when we became hungry and decided to eat at a Berkeley institution, Top Dog. If you are ever in Berkeley, I would definitely recommend stopping in to have a dog or two. Apparently Joey Chestnut (the nathan’s coney island hot dog eating champ the last 2 years) eats at the north Berkeley one. Well back to the story as I mentioned before, Tog Dog has a variety of hot dogs all of them good. That particular day, I think we all had a lemon chicken dog and a hot link. Those hot links are spicy hot! Well after finishing the dogs we decided to walk back to my apartment. Apparently the hot links did not sit well in Greg or Wil’s stomach and once I opened the door to the apartment the both them rushed toward the bathroom. My bro’s a little thinner and quicker so he made it there first. As Greg kept banging on the door to tell him to hurry it up, Wil mocked him behind the closed door. Well after Wil finished his business, he crawled out and Greg rushed in. The reason Wil crawled out was that as Greg found out quickly after finishing his business…Wil had taken out the roll of toilet paper. What Greg said probably can’t be repeated here. Wil then proceeded to hand him ply by ply single pieces of toilet paper. That image of Greg’s head sticking out of a half opened bathroom door begging for toilet paper is clear as day. Needless to say Wil still chuckles anytime that gets mentioned…
i used to hang out with greg, wil and sean occasionally at the la jolla hermosa complex. i was always amazed by the craziness that was happening there. i definitely recall drunken nights of skateboarding through the neighborhood. greg always charged the hardest, even though he did the least amount of skateboarding between all of us. he just seemed to have no fear.
greg is just a decent, kind, funny dude. my thoughts are with you, friend.
There is nothing like going out on an all day fishing charter in the summer with all your close friends and anticipating a fun filled day catching fish. Well, unless of course there are no fish. Anywhere. All day. At all. Then it is suddenly the most absurd way to get sunburn and bait lines all day.
I will say that in our hours of baiting lines and hanging out with all the guys, it just so happens that as I was baiting Greg’s line for him (I am such a good friend), there turned out to be a small halibut on his line- just barely long enough to keep. Since this was one of the only fish caught that was large enough to keep, it was also the ‘catch of the day’. So I won the $45 pot.
‘Technically’ speaking, it was on Greg’s line, but I reeled in this monster of the deep. I don’t think I have yet heard the end of it. To this day- I ‘stole’ Greg’s catch to win the pot. Except for Greg. He didn’t seem to care in the least. Either way, we all had a great time doing nothing that day.
That reminds me- Greg, I think I still owe you $45.
The case of the burgled fish.
I remember the trip well, Keith. Though the story went slightly differently than you tell it. In an effort to somewhat justify your despicable actions that day, your facts have been altered.
Unless of course, by “baiting Greg’s line” you MEANT to say, “walking PAST Greg’s line”, while there seemed to be an obvious fish on it, then I apologize, because that’s exactly what happened.
Now, Keith’s undoubtedly generous act of pulling in Greg’s catch might have been admirable if not for the fact that Greg wasn’t more than 15 feet away, and could have easily managed it himself. Instead of punishing Keith for his brazen disregard for fishing etiquette, Greg simply shot him that blank look, shook his head slightly, and went back to whatever it was he was doing.
You stole that fish. The last fish in the ocean as far as we were concerned. You may as well have pulled Leviathan from the depths that day. The principle would have remained the same.
The shear disbelief at the gall to do what Keith did was written over all our faces. Well, almost all our faces. Greg was the one person who really didn’t seem to mind at all. Had it been anyone else, Keith would have been forced down a makeshift plank, into a now fishless ocean.
Keith promptly stuffed his wallet with the loot, and he didnt share a dime of it!
Concerning the whole ordeal, to his credit, Greg has yet to say a word.
Sean
Well, it looks to me as if time has fuzzied our memories a bit….
I guess I probably recall the occasion slightly different and I understand if you would like to take such liberties with interpreting the details, Thompson.
Allow me to summarize our combined recollections if you will…
It could be argued that I was overcome by a near case of heat stroke and grabbed the first thing in sight to stabilize myself. That very thing was Greg’s fishing pole. Out of courtesy, I then intended to bait his line for him. Imagine my own surprise to find this tiny – almost bait sized fish at the end of his line! Who would have known this to be a ‘catch of the day’? I assumed the rest of you would be able to achieve at least a moderate amount of fishing success that day. Alas, you all continued to disappoint.
This is probably the most accurate account of that afternoon.
I’m not even sure anyone even really minded. I mean- it’s not like you guys caught anything… aside from a very unbecoming case of jealousy.
And in true Greggy fashion, he really didn’t care. One way or the other. At all. Sadly, I cannot say the same for those other poor souls who failed to even see a fish that day.
OK, OK. I guess I still owe Greg $45.
Yeah, I think Greg was helping me bait my line…when this all happened.
Hey Greg! I’m glad to see you are still heading in the right direction. Little by little, you WILL get there! Now that we are home again, I can start to go through all of my pictures. I know I have some good ones of you from Liams baptism, Thanksgiving last year and from some of our trips when we visited you guys. So stay posted, hopefully I can get some out tonight and will email them to Wil to post. Stay strong my brother! I miss you sooooooooooo much! We all do, so hurry up and get better!! That’s an order!
xoxo
haha
Love you!
Your favorite sister named Carrie
Greg, here’s to hoping you’re going to have another good day! We hope you continue to make steady progress and are home with Liam and Karyn soon! You have been through the worst so only better days will be to come. You have proven your STRENGTH and RESILIENCY already….now continue to promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind as you continue to make babysteps in your recovery! YOU CAN DO IT!
Karyn, this has been horrible for you too but must be exciting to know Greg will be waking this weekend….another step in the positive direction! Hang tough as you have been…your boys need you and are so lucky to have you!
Amy, what beautiful boys you have! Beautiful inside & out as anyone can see from the stories and pictures. Soon you will all be together laughing and moving forward with more happy stories! Carrie is lucky to have met all of you! I’m happy Jim is a part of our huge family now too!
Liam…Daddy will be home before you know it!
My heart goes out to all of you throughout each day as we wait for more hopeful and positive news!
Sending happy thoughts when you need it!
xx
Teresa
(Carrie’s favorite sister and Jim’s favorite sister-in-law of course!)
Hey Greg,
Its been such a long time since those high school Video Tyme days. We all had some good times hagging out. Wether it was eatting pizza in the parking lot late at night after work just goofing off or camping at the beach and Lake Castias. You would always have a smile on your face. The photos on this site for you are amazing. It looks like you have made a great life for yourself and your beautiful family. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. I pray for the love and strength for you to get through each day. You have so much to life left to live for. May miracles happen everyday for you to improve and return home with your family.
With love,
Leah
Hey Greg, My thoughts and Prayers go out too you and your family. You are a strong man and I know you will pull through this. As for a funny memory there are so many that its hard to find just one. From the wild times at Video Tyme listening to Pearl Jam and bugging Ryan, Camping up in Ojai and trying to keep all the drunks in the campsite it was always so much easier with you there and waking up in the morning with all of us girls in the back of the truck and you jumping up and down on the tail gate to wake us up (fun for you not so much for us), Trips to San Diego, drinking (to many memories), Kellee and I trying to teach you to dance and the walks to the beach in the middle of the night just to get away from the crazyness at the apartment. Alot of memories and good times. You have alot more ahead of you Greg, this is just alittle bump in the road. My prayers go with you today and everyday through this hard time. You will pull through this in no time.
Hugs and Love, Jenn
glad you are home Greg! love from North Carolina.
Dear Friends,
Thank-you for being such good friends to Greg. Your love and support was a great comfort to us during this very trying time. We are truly grateful for all that you did for Greg. Loved all the great stories too.
All your support and kind thoughts, words and prayers have brought Greg back and although he still has a long road ahead of him he has come a long way. His voice and kidney functions are still not back 100% but the doctors are hopeful they will come back on their own. He is exhausted and has no energy yet but is trying really hard with all his physical therapies. This is another phase of his recovery and it is a challenge to keep his spirits up. He is understandably impatient and wants to be able to do everything “right now” which is frustrating him.
Please continue to keep Greg in your thoughts and prayers. We’re all back home now but will go back to San Diego hopefully soon.
With love and appreciation,
Jim & Amy Milligan & Family
My Dear Friend,
I am so glad to hear you are home with your amazing family. You are truly blessed to have such great friends and family. I just read an update and the word is you are fustrated………chin up, it’ll take some time. That is so you, to be fustrated….I can picture you now. I guess I”m supposed to share a good story about you, but I wouldn’t know where to begin. Just know that many of us are thinking of you and are looking forward to hearing from you.
Much love,
The Austin Family
Greg,
Was thinking about you the other day while going through some old journals. Looked you up online and was shocked and saddened to see what you’ve had to deal with most recently. You have such a beautiful family and support group- you are so blessed to have so many amazing people at your side.
As for my “greg memories”… once I started thinking about it, a million came to mind. Of course they’re all centered on Toad the Wet Sprocket- THE GREATEST BAND EVER- and the time we climbed up on the roof at my dad’s house because it had a better view of the stars. I remember visiting you in San Diego and going for long walks to chat- you always had something insightful to say.
I once borrowed your favorite sweatshirt… never to return it. I’m sorry about that- I kept it for eight years and finally let it go since we had lost touch. If you and your family are ever up near the Golden Gate Bridge- I owe you one.
Please take care-
Jaime