Here is our address:

903 Woodcrest Dr.
Royal Oak Mi 48067

In lieu of flowers Corey and I ask that memorials in Brian James' memory be made to The Mott Childrens Hospital Holden NICU gift fund. Checks made payable to University of Michigan.

The funeral will be at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church at 11:00 on Saturday, September 26. The church is located at 1100 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Visitation will be at William Sullivan and Son on Friday at 2:00 to 8:00. The website is www.sullivanfuneraldirectors.com.

Alyssa and I would like to express how thankful we are to all the people who have followed Brian's story. You have no idea how much all your prayers and comments mean to us. Your love and encouragement is what has kept us going and will get us through these tough times. We love you all!! Corey and Alyssa


We are still working on the arrangements. We know the viewing will be on Friday at 2:00 to 8:00 at William Sullivan and Son which is on 11 Mile in Royal Oak, east of Woodward. The website is www.sullivanfuneraldirectors.com. The funeral will be on Saturday but we are not yet sure where or when. We will probably have the rest of the information to post tomorrow.

Goodbye Sweet Brian

When we got to the hospital today the doctors said that they felt they had done everything that they could for Brian. Brian was exhausted and had given everything he could... They were able to keep him comfortable for all of us to get here and say our goodbyes. Brian James Friedrich was taken by his angel this afternoon in his mommy's and daddy's arms. He will surely be missed. Thank you for all of your continuous prayers. They were able to get some family pictures today and Corey hopes to be able to post some pictures at a later time.

We had an opportunity to speak with the cardiologist. He told us it would take a few days to tell if the procedure is working. Brian has been fairly comfortable today. The nurses are very slowly trying to wean his oxygen.

Brian got through his procedure. The doctors were able to successfully balloon the clot even though it was much larger than they had thought. They were also able to stimulate his collateral circulation by pushing blood through the collateral veins. I attempted to explain collateral circulation in a previous update with our analogy about driving to Ann Arbor. If the expressway is the superior vena cava (artery with the clot) then the side streets are the collateral circulation. We hope that with a clear flow, fluid will no longer be forced into Brian's tissue and chest preventing Brian from continuing to lose his white blood cells. His swelling would also go down. The nurses have joked with us that Brian read the CDH manual because he has taken on every possible complication. Katie Naves (one of Alyssa's closest friends that spent the day with us) asked for a sneak preview of the next chapter. Complications after today's successful procedure still include infection and the possibility of the procedure not working. Another concern is the effect the dye or contrast will have on Brian's already struggling kidneys. Prior to the procedure Brian has had adequate urine output. His problem has been high creatinine levels which indicate he is not eliminating toxins from his body. The contrast is another toxin. Worst case is he may need dialysis for a period of time. This whole situation feels like it's never going to end. Today Brian is 50 days old. Alyssa and I would like to know how many pages this manual has.