[ska todd]

I just saw this posted up on hcor and think it needs some wider audience attention. Jay is a total class act and an old school pinner. He is the man behind EWR of the 90's and is always up there near the top in DS and 4X races.

http://www.hcor.net/postp335816.html#335816

On Monday October 16 Jay became ill with a high fever and headache and on Tuesday night was hospitalized for an unknown illness. The illness progressed rapidly and according to his doctors is life threatening. He remains in critical condition in the ICU at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and is on life support systems. At this point his diagnosis has not been firmly established. The doctors suspect viral encephalitis, possibly the result of an insect bite and it is a great mystery as to how such a rapid onset and debilitating sickness could attack such a young and healthy man so quickly. His blood is being tested at outside labs and it may take days for results to influence the treatment. Please share this information with any of his friends so that we can all pray for his soonest recovery. Please don't call my cell number as I am in the hospital with him and trying to keep the phone for emergencies only. I will update you all as soon as I know something further. Val

Many of you know Jay DeJesus from the cycling industry. Two days ago, Jay was
admitted to the hospital and the following is an update on his condition.

Jay is in the ICU at Wilkes Barre General Hospital, Wilkes Barre, Pa. The
diagnosis today is that he has bacterial meningitis possibly caused by a tear in
his intestines that leaked into his spinal fluid They are treating the
bacteria with antibiotics but he is still in very critical condition and on life
support systems. As of right now he has a 50/50 chance, so please keep him in
your prayers.

Mark and I have started a fund to help Jay with his expenses. Anyone who wants
to help out would be greatly appreciated. Contact Mark or Sue. 602-7433 or
760-5559

Mark & Susan

An update from Val (gf)


Thanks so much to everyone for all the thoughts, prayers and support. Jay held steady through the night last night and his doctors have said they are hopeful it is a good step in the right direction. He is firmly diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and has suffered a life threatening septic shock. They have identified and now eradicated the bacteria from his body but are still trying to find out the exact cause and have ruled out injury/rupture to the intestine after MRI scans. They saw something to indicate the possibility he may have a liver abscess (total freak occurence) and this could be the source, but cannot give him radioactive dyes until he improves a bit more. At that point hopefully they can get a picture and eliminate any cause of reinfection later.

He is still on a ventilator and full life support care, including blood pressure support meds and platelets/plasma. They are going to try to start weaning him off blood pressure meds and hopefully sedative and ventilator over the next few days to a week. Improvements can be slow at this point and he is still very sick and it is touch and go. Please keep praying. He is heavily sedated so as not to move the tubes in his throat and cause bleeding there, or disrupt the many lines into his circulatory system including a subclavian catheter. For this reason his family asks his friends from this point until further notice to please respect the family-only policy at the ICU and not try to visit yet. His immune system is so weakened and compromised it is not worth the risk of bringing in an outside germ, nor is it productive to the nurses and staff who are watching him and monitoring machines surrounding him at all times and are uncomfortable when their view is disrupted by people standing in the line of sight and around the bedside.

The ICU staff has asked us in addition to inform friends not to call the ICU as the nurses were bombarded last night with calls and were disrupted from their routine in fielding those calls. Again, I will keep Nora Hottenstein, Mark and Sue Farrell, Rob Lichtenwalner and Joe Wychock updated with phone calls so you can call them and I will continue to try to send emails as soon as I have news. If you feel you must visit, Jay's family and I are camped out in the waiting room at the ICU, but please, don't go into the ICU.

Thanks again, and please keep sending the positive healing karma at Jay. I know he will be overwhelmed to know how many people care.

Val

-ska todd

 

[dump]

sorry to hear that - jay's a great guy. get well!

 

[Red Bull]

I hope this isn't the jay I know.

Seriously, akward way to ask but is he asian?
I was just racing dual with jay at Plattekill.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Jay and Gunnar were my mid-atlantic heroes growing up. Jay is such a ninja that I'm sure the doctors will blink and he will be out of there....


Fear is Death
Hesitatate and Die

 

[PatBranch]

That's bad. I hope he gets better quick and fully.

 

[S.K.C.]

Holy sh!t...

Bacterial Meningitis from a tear in the intestine? Leaked into the spinal fluid???

More likely he picked it up from an outside source???

Good God.

Thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family.

 

[sayndesyn]

No....

I hope this isn't the jay I know.

Seriously, akward way to ask but is he asian?
I was just racing dual with jay at Plattekill.

 

[Red Bull]

No....

Good.

Yet, still, very bad.

Get better.

 

[buildyourown]

I remember meeting Jay YEARS ago when he was riding trials on his Eastern Woods Research frame. I think I must have been 12-13yo.
That encounter was what got me hooked on trials and mountain biking in general.

Heel up quick, Jay.

 

[Discostu]

Oh no. I met Jay a little over a year ago while trail building over at the Steel City jumps. Heal up Jay!

 

[Toshi]

I remember meeting Jay YEARS ago when he was riding trials on his Eastern Woods Research frame. I think I must have been 12-13yo.
That encounter was what got me hooked on trials and mountain biking in general.

Heel up quick, Jay.

me, too, i remember that back of magazine how-to on sidehopping up a loading dock. i was floored back then. my best wishes to jay.

 

[bizutch]

I hope this isn't the jay I know.

Seriously, akward way to ask but is he asian?
I was just racing dual with jay at Plattekill.

actually that is the Jay you know. Some people mistake him for being Asian. His last name is DeJesus. No harm my friend.

I've known Jay since my first race in Helen in 95. Truly THE class act in mountain biking. God Bless.

To those unfamiliar with Jay, he's known for a few things. Ridiculously muscular, veined legs and moreso for being Don Hampton's original MTB ride film shot in Jamaica with Chase, March, Tribus, Ebbett and so on.

 

[dw]

Jay is the man, best wishes from the not too distant north buddy.

Dave

 

[RD]

best wishes Jay. Be strong.

 

[Red Bull]

actually that is the Jay you know. Some people mistake him for being Asian. His last name is DeJesus. No harm my friend.

I've known Jay since my first race in Helen in 95. Truly THE class act in mountain biking. God Bless.

To those unfamiliar with Jay, he's known for a few things. Ridiculously muscular, veined legs and moreso for being Don Hampton's original MTB ride film shot in Jamaica with Chase, March, Tribus, Ebbett and so on.

he seemed absolutely fine this past saturday, good enough to knock out little kids!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7291729172059421635

 

[Pip3r]

damn yea, i was gonna say i thought i saw some pics of him at plattekill just the other week. He really is a great guy to have on the scene, best wishes.

 

[Metal Dude]

Come on Jay We're pullin' for you

it's Bootesy and DeJesus
DeJesus and Bootesy
neck and neck

Com on Jay you can make it!
Only Jay knows what this means
so when he gets better to read this post he can have a laugh!

 

[Jeremy R]

Jay is one of those guys that goes to the races that everybody knows. He talked to everybody, and has a ridiculous amount of energy for our sport and I am assuming life in general.
Best wishes to him and his family.

 

[ska todd]

Update:

Good news finally! I don't know if I should attribute the absolute miraculous following report to the work of God and all your prayers and thoughts, the constant presence of family and loved ones, or the incredible healing vibe from a cycling physician. You decide.

Here are the facts:

It all started to go uphill when Dr. Bill Hottenstein arrived at 7:30 am this morning and laid the healing hands on our boy. I can't believe I can finally write this but Jay is awake, coherent and already writing notes demanding his favorite foods, body rubs and other pampering activities from the female nurses. They started weaning him off the supportive meds after Dr. Bill's visit, and Bill warned us the improvements could be in "baby steps" and it might take days before we could wake him up and remove the ventilator.

To the absolute surprise of his family, the ICU staff and myself, he responded so well that they got him off the support meds, and by this afternoon were able to focus on lowering sedation and waking him. After a long 5-day vigil it seems surreal. I just left him (with his okay) to come home and get a good night's sleep. Although very weak and still sick, his systems are getting close to normal, he is completely coherent and resting.

The plan is to remove the ventilator tomorrow morning and he is anxious to get the tubes out and start working his way out of the sickhouse. They are still going to do some more tests as they cannot confirm the source of the bacteria and it is still a mystery, one which would be best solved so he doesn't reinfect himself once the antibiotics are completely stopped. So that's it.

Thank God because I don't think I could have handled another day of worrying and stress without a straitjacket. People in my presence who said the wrong thing would be putting themselves at great risk to have their ear bitten off or stabbed with a pencil or something. I was considering pharmaceutical help for myself before the events of this afternoon.

Please, keep the prayers coming for Jay because he is still in the hospital and the ventilator is still on and we can't relax until he gets home. Oh, by the way, I told him Budji was teaching his mountain bike clinic that was scheduled for today and they had to put the restraints back on his arms.

Thanks everyone!!!

-ska todd

 

[bizutch]

Excellent news!

 

[tmx]

Keep up with the amazing strength and healing Jay.

With love and respect,
Terry

(Thanks for the news and updates Todd.)

 

[JohnnyBoyDH]

Was he a big trials guy WAAAAAAY back as well? I met him a couple times back in the early 90's. Total passion for bikes that dude has. Hope he is well and back riding soon!

 

[tmx]

Was he a big trials guy WAAAAAAY back as well? I met him a couple times back in the early 90's. Total passion for bikes that dude has. Hope he is well and back riding soon!

Yep, that's the guy.

 

[SDH]

Ska todd is right. Straight up old skool pinner. Helped me dial in a few Platty DS courses back in the day(late 90's).

Heal up dude, and my prayers are with you.

The good news is Jay is in GREAT shape which will definately help his healing!

 

[dw]

Thats great news that Jay is getting better!

What up Steve?!

Dave

 

[SDH]

Thats great news that Jay is getting better!

What up Steve?!

Dave

I got the kitchen pass for the Diabloween weekend, you heading down for it?

 

[nvd]

Just got off the phone with my bro, it sounds like Jay is possibly off of the ventilation machine, and definately off of full life support. He's one of the biggest mentors for cyclists I've ever met, sure helped my family out a lot. Anyone who has ever met him can feel the positive energy that is radiated, without question. Now it's our turn to send the positive vibes back in his direction, keep 'em flowin.

Thanks for the updates todd.

 

[nvd]

Here's one of Jay's Eastern Woods Research, E-Motion Race frames still in action almost 10 years after production ended. These days she's a single speed, but I actually rode this beast on about 30 miles of sweet Durango singletrack this morning, and she's always ready and willing to shred. Hell yeah for triple butted steel.

 

[bikenweed]

Good luck to Jay, his family, and friends. Here's to a speedy recovery.

 

[nvd]

Here's a little good news...


From: "Jay DeJesus" <jdejesus@epix.net>
Subject: My Own Update
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 09:16:01 -0400

Hello everyone . Jay here. It has been quite an experience for klebsiella bacterial meningitis, septic shock and multiple organ failure caused by an abcess in my liver after an impact to the upper-right quadrant of my torso. I was in an extremely dire situation for many days, and I nearly lost my life

I know you have all been reading Val’s updates for the last 10 days, so I wanted to add a few words of my own.

The outpouring of concern and kindness from everyone (from so many places) has been a major factor in helping my family through the horror of seeing their own on life support systems. Val has been tremendous in her care, and has been bedside throughout. After I woke up, 5 days into the situation, my condition was still extremely critical (I just checked in, to see what condition my condition was in. Yeah, yeah, yeeeeeaaaaaaa…. -- from “The Big Lebowski“). I came too with wrist restraints, a breathing tube, naso-gastric tube, urinary catheter (Van Dine, we now have something else in common), numerous life-support IV drips, and a subclavian catheter directly into my heart. Imagine my mom having to give permission for the doctor to do that. It was necessary for emergency injections of medication to immediately stimulate my heart to keep beating. They dumped over 16 pounds of fluids into my body to sustain blood pressure.

Recovery in the critical care unit has been remarkable they tell me, and the pace fairly rapid. I went from having them monitoring how many ice chips I could sooth my rough, dry throat with to being put on a high calorie and high protein diet in a few days.

Due to the complexity of the situation and the fact that I still cannot sleep more than a few minutes at a time due to the battery of testing and injections and all other related stress, visitation at the hospital from friends remains just not possible. Though I am progressing, I have a very long way to go before being out of the woods on this one. I will get there, and all the doctors and staff attribute my pulling out of a less than 30% chance to being an athlete and in excellent health. They have been excellent and deserve as much or more credit for the job that they performed upon me.

Please keep the positive thoughts and prayers flowing -- they are working. Jay de Jesus

 

[dw]

That right there is some great news to read. ROck on Jay.

Dave

 

[nvd]

Jay is home and on the mend. The doctors all expect a 100% recovery, but he has a long way to go. He's definately still gonna need the support of the riding community to fully recover from this one. There is a benifit jam going down in Philly, November 12.

For more info check out:
http://www.cannondalecommunity.com/default.asp?item=212118

 

[tmx]

Here's one of Jay's Eastern Woods Research, E-Motion Race frames still in action almost 10 years after production ended. These days she's a single speed, but I actually rode this beast on about 30 miles of sweet Durango singletrack this morning, and she's always ready and willing to shred. Hell yeah for triple butted steel.

awesome! totally awesome post.