THE FOUNDRY!

Joanie Jesse Hallie Erin Tyler (Jesse's Brother)

Well folks... He finally did it!! He checked into The Foundry on Tuesday morning (Eddie & Tina drove him, thank you!), and has been there a whole 2 days now, and counting...

As you all know by now, Hugh Thomas is on staff at The Foundry and is being wonderfully accomodating to help Dad settle in as comfortably as possible. Dad no longer has his cell phone, nor does he have phone access right now... BUT I spoke with Hugh yesterday evening, and he actually told me that dad said that he “really liked the people that he’s met there so far” – which is a great admission at such an early stage in his recovery! Hugh has checked on him a bunch of times when he has been surrounded by a group of guys - chatting or helping him out! He did have to go to the ER the very first night (of course!) because of his heart (probably nerves), and then The Foundry doc saw him yesterday & tweaked some of his meds, so maybe that will help physically (who knows!). They are supposed to maybe call me today from Hugh’s cell phone – I’m keeping my eye out.

Before he checked in he told me that he was "convinced that the medical field could no longer help him, so he was turning things over to the Baby Jesus..." - Go for it, Dad! Per his G.I. doctor, he does need a full esophagial replacement... Ugh... But he's not interested in that right now, he's going to see what happens at The Foundry first - The surgery would first entail me applying for programs at UAB and/or Cooper Green hospitals, as the surgeon at SV unfortunately does not do that surgery.

I will keep y'all updated (yeah right, Hallie!) on how to reach him, but for now you are all more than welcome to send words of encouragement to the following address (and please refrain from sneaking pills or alcohol into your letters... kidding...):

Billy Pierce
c/o The Foundry
P.O. Box 824
Bessemer, AL 35021

And on a different note - Joanie Thomas (Hugh's daughter of course) came to visit me in LA last weekend and WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! I just LOVED having her out here, and we did all kinds of stuff... Hollywood, movie stars homes, shopped, fancy dinner, you name it...! I wish I could have just kept her out here in my pocket... :)

Love y'all! Hallie