School Nurse Goes The Extra (Thousand) Miles For A Friend

The following article is in this week's Milton Independent - Wade Besaw is the grandson of Reginald & Joyce Barkyoumb of Fairfax and the son of their daughter Ann (Barkyoumb) Besaw

MHS school nurse Robin Woods Brisson (right) is planning a very special “house call” this April, by accompanying recent grad Wade Besaw to Minnesota for a life saving heart surgery. Brisson stepped up when it became known late last month that Besaw's mother needed brain surgery and couldn't make the trip.

By NATHAN LAMB | Milton Independent Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

Ann Besaw was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor less than a month ago, but the longtime Milton resident remains a believer when it comes to getting help from a higher power.

Exhibit A in Besaw's book is Robin Woods-Brisson, a family friend and school nurse at MHS who volunteered to accompany Besaw's 18-year-old son, Wade, all the way to Minnesota for a life saving heart surgery, shortly after hearing brain surgery would prevent Ann from making the trip.

Given the circumstances, Ann said it meant a lot to get that offer from someone she trusts enough to take her place.

“Robin is a gift from God,” said Ann. “Without her, I wouldn't let him do this. It would be really difficult to have him out there without me or without her.”

The duo will be bound for the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on April 5, for a round of testing prior to the April 10 procedure, which is to fix a leaking valve in Wade's heart. All told, Woods-Brisson expects to be away for 15 days, while Wade's return will depend on how things go.

The trip also involves some sacrifice from Woods-Brisson, given that she'll miss two of her sons' birthdays while away. Even so, she said the decision to offer help came immediately after hearing that Ann had the tumor and would need immediate surgery. In general, Woods-Brison was matter-of-fact about making the commitment, saying her family understands and is supportive.

“This was some pretty extraordinary circumstances,” she said.

“It was the right thing to do,” she said at another point. “I'm a true believer that if someone needs help, you help them in whatever way you can. This is something I could do for the family.”

Wade Besaw was born with a birth defect known as Epstein's Anomaly, a misplaced valve in the heart that makes it difficult for the body to get sufficient oxygen. The condition required surgery shortly after Wade was born, and this latest surgery was scheduled at the Mayo Clinic, which specializes in the procedure, after the condition hospitalized him again in January.

Another successful surgery will fix this problem for good, said Wade, who added he's eager to get Epstein's Anomaly behind him and that he's not doing it alone.

“I'll finally get 100 percent healthy,” he said. “Robin's a lifesaver. We're lucky to have her.”

Woods-Brisson plans to be a medical proxy for Besaw, asking the right questions and possibly making decisions for him when he's medicated or sedated. Wade and Ann both said they're very comfortable with her in that role, given that she's known Wade and helped him in her capacity as school nurse since he was in middle school.

While she couldn't remember the first time they met, Woods-Brisson remembered the first time she'd helped Wade with the condition. He was having a cardiac dysrhythmia, where the heart beats too fast and doesn't properly supply oxygen to the body.

There are several ways to stop it, but Wade had already tried most of them. That meant they needed to go with ice water immersion, a technique where the patient is put face down into cold water and the act of gasping for breath would correct the heartbeat, said Woods-Brisson. While it doesn't sound like much fun, she said they developed a good relationship from there.

“It takes a certain amount of trust to hold someone's head under ice water and tell them you're not going to let them come up the first time they try to get out,” she explained.

That trust became all the more valuable when Ann's plan to accompany her son to Minnesota was scrapped in late March. The issue arose while Ann was at the regional one act festival on March 14 to see her son perform as the Master of Ceremonies. At one point she was talking and her speech became irregular, leading local nurse Kate Cadreact to believe Ann was having a stoke.

“She thought something was going on, so she drove me to the emergency room and lo and behold, this is what they found,” she said. “I told her she saved my life; who knows how long I would have gone around with that {tumor} in there?”

It turned out that Ann was having a seizure instead of a stroke, but the tumor was cancerous and surgery was needed right away to remove it. She had the procedure on March 24 and is already back home. While Ann doesn't expect things to be easy, she said the doctors are giving a favorable prognosis at this point.

“They feel comfortable that the radiation and chemo will take care of the rest,” she said.

Even so, Ann is expected to miss significant time at her job and people in the community are coming together to support the Besaws during this difficult time. School nurse Karen Reid has been soliciting donations from school staff. Meanwhile family friend Michele Christman has been collecting donations of Visa and Hannaford gift cards to help out; she can be contacted at 324-3513.

Elsewhere the Milton Colchester Rotary is organizing a pancake breakfast, and there's also a spaghetti dinner in the works as well, said Woods-Brisson. Besaw's classmates from the Class of “09 have also started a 50/50 raffle to benefit the family, with tickets starting at $1 and available by contacting Bryanna Ste. Marie at Briannachristina14@yahoo.com.

In a related matter, Besaw said he has already earned enough credits to graduate, saying this circumstance won't prevent him from marching alongside his classmates at the school's commencement ceremony this spring.

As for Woods-Brisson, she was just happy to see the community coming together to help out the Besaws.

“Ann said it best: this is why you live in Vermont,” she said. “When people hear things like this, they pull together and this community is just phenomenal in what we have for resources and how we pool them.”